Today's painting session felt unsatisfying and frustrating. I did not find my rhythm while painting and struggled through every color change. Yesterday I drove to Michael's and bought $150 worth of new paints, automatically making painting easier.(because you don't have the restriction of limited paint colors) To have problems with a full arsenal of paints is somewhat unusual although not unheard of. Every painting goes through a cycle of like-dislike-like. I'll like the freeness of a layer then paint over some of it to get the colors I want and feel the freeness has been lost. Sometimes the subject starts to bore me and I have been known to start over and paint an alternative painting on top of the old one. I recently completed a painting, sent it out to be photographed and painted over it when returned home because I still was not happy with the results.
One of the problems I'm having with "Jackson's Trip to Heaven" is that there is no compositional focus the focus points (first, second, third, etc.) will be managed through color. Right now there are only spots of color as I am still filling in the canvas with basic colors. Today I focused a bit on the mountain range that is below and to the left of the red dog (Jackson). I'm assuming that heaven has different ecosystems and felt sure that Jackson would have chosen his familiar mountains to surround himself.
