I made a Painting

I didn’t want to do it. But I did want to. But I didn’t.

But I had to or I’d never do it because it had been three months since I painted anything.

In late 2022 and early 2023 I was on a small painting run. Whenever I could sneak or steal some time I’d dash off a 6” painting. At most I could get an hour, maybe 2 if the kids were napping particularly long that day. It felt good to get practice and I could see improvement.

I was following the guidance in “The beginner’s guide to Oil Painting” by Craig Stephens. That book is exactly what I needed to get me going—simple introductory painting projects to get a person started.

Summer Hiatus

But then summer arrived (and by now has mostly past). I hadn’t touched a paintbrush in three months, making me feel rusty and hesitant. I was a little scared that I’d already lost the very meager skills I had picked up from making all those first paintings.

The number of days between me saying “I should make a painting” and the last time I actually made a painting kept growing longer.

You need to say F. it!

Finally, on a random weekday lunch break I said “Forget it!” I set a timer for 30 minutes, squirted some paint on my palette, and went for it.

And surprise! It was fun!

A lot of fun!

There’s a long list of mistakes and things I don’t like about it, but I’ll save that for other posts when I critique my work.

What matters is the thing that I LOVE ABOUT IT…

That I did it.

My recent oil painting of a lemon