Painting Angst: Process of a Work in Progress

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to decide I would chronicle the progress of 2 paintings I was starting simultaneously Friday. Maybe it made me a little self-conscious and stilted, maybe a little bit more critical as I was painting.

Friday was an absolutely gorgeous day to be outside painting. It was 80 degrees, and I was on the deck barefoot and in a tank top, having shed my oversize paint shirt. (As a follow-up to my last post about Texas winter weather, I want to add that Saturday was a windy 31.)

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to track the stages of the two canvases. Here's what I got:

Making early color choices, starting to define areas with blocks of color

This is the beginning of the "Ahgg, I don't know if this is working" stage.

My little helper in right top corner, usually a skittish, fairly wary cat, was fascinated by the movement of the paint brush. Later she came up onto the canvas to play.

Well into the "I think I hate this painting, what can I do to fix it" stage.

I can see now that by this time, things had started to get better, forms had taken shape, I'd made some good changes, but I think at the time I felt like the painting, as Edward put it, "was kicking your butt."
You can see that between this photo and the previous one, the kitten had been replaced by a glass of wine.

I had to walk away for a couple of hours, then I finally decided that this one is finished.

This one is close, but the amount of yellow at the very top near the left still bugs me and will probably be messed with some more. When I get out the paintbrush, who knows what else I may tweak...

It's almost 4 am (still kind of Saturday to me, since I only slept a few hours), and Edward leaves noon Sunday for a week in Iowa, so I am going to try to sleep some more now and be awake for his last few hours at home.