Take a deep calming breath. There are no new ones yet, but “Starting New Mineral King Oil Paintings” is too long a title. However, I have fired up the Mineral King Painting Machine (that is a particular part of my brain that gets a little time off in winter).

First, I read through my lists of what sold, what remains, what subjects and sizes are missing. (That step isn’t one that I can photograph for you.)

Then I decide on canvas sizes, look through my photos, and make decisions. Last year more medium sized paintings sold than small ones. I have plenty of small ones remaining, so the sizes I’ll be painting now are 8×8″, 10×10″, and 6×18″. “Medium”? In my world, yes, these are medium sizes. (This step was tricky in that I had to figure out what to do with my large oil paintings that are still wet in order to use the table.)

There are many ways to start oil paintings. I chose a haphazard semi-lazy just-draw-it-on-the-canvas method. I don’t have a lot of hustle right now – just plodding forward is getting the job done. (More coffee? Start eating sugar again? Nah.)

Scribble scribble, dab, pick any color, just do something.

That’s a decent start. 

Can I take a break now? A little recess, perhaps? Maybe I’ll go weed my baby poppies, because I love February.