What Have I Been Doing?

Where have I been since my last posting? And what have I been doing?

Well, for one thing, I have been concentrating on a painting as time permitted. In fact, a total of 23 hours and 45 minutes of time, spread out over a number of days, with many intervening duties and pleasurable things occurring. I must say, however, it seems like many more hours went into this particular painting! But I do not usually spend more than an hour at a time in a painting session.

I have never before kept a record of the time spent doing a painting, and people are constantly asking how long did such and such a painting take to accomplish. So, I decided to "take the time" to keep a record. Perhaps a more appropriate question would be over what span of months or even a year has it taken to finish some I have done. The ones I have painted purely for my own pleasure usually take longer in this regard, because their execution usually gets interrupted several times for intervening works for someone else. This is true at this time as well. I had been working on a particular painting for about a year. This was one which was inspired by the death of a woman who gathered and ate some poison mushrooms by mistake. More about this at some future date.

As my landscapes go, the one I have just finished was one of the larger ones, being 24x36 inches. I don't mean to make it sound like it has been a drudgery, because it certainly has not. But toward the end of a painting, my enthusiasm has a tendency to flag a bit and I want to get it done, and start something fresh. For instance in this case, I am ready to begin another one already. It is also a commission, and is of a totally different subject and having an entirely different color scheme. This will be a seascape with a lighthouse. More about this later also.