Since I am sort of newish to oil painting (any kind of painting, actually), when weeks go buy without working in oils, fear strikes my heart. What if I can’t remember how to mix colors? What if I can’t control the brushes? What if I am so used to quickly slapping acrylic down in large quantities that I won’t be able to do tight detail anymore? The more I horriblize it, the more I procrastinate! Sure, it is still working to organize files, prepare a deposit, return some calls, work on my website, blah, blah, blah. But procrastination is procrastination, no matter what form it takes. (ow.)                                                             After blowing off an hour or two with non-essential work this a.m., I finally returned to oil painting. Wow, is it ever fun! Maybe I am glad I got that not-so-fun stuff out of the way this a.m. after all. I began several more paintings (shows are coming) and went back to the others that have been so patiently waiting for The Mural to be finished. 

 

They start out so very sloppy looking that it is sometimes hard to believe these paintings will actually turn into something worth the effort! (PL, can you see yours beginning to take shape? )

 

But look, this is the second pass over this one, working from the top down, and you can see the upper half is starting to look worth the effort. And look! Here are my primary colors used to mix all the colors you see in this painting – phew! I can remember how to mix colors after all. Silly me. (The photo photographed darker than the painting, but in actuality, they are quite close in color.)