This entry was originally posted on Friday, April 27, 2012
7.5
x11"
Up
until a couple of years ago, I hardly ever worked smaller than a half sheet of
watercolor paper (15x22").
I
had always loved working big.
But
that was before I met my match in a commission portrait.
A
very large commission portrait.
So
it sat on my easel for weeks.
Staring
at me. Taunting me.
I
turned it upside down.
I
turned it around.
I
even put it in another room.
Didn't
work.
It
had stopped my creative flow.
I
was frustrated and I felt guilty if I worked on anything else.
So
I didn't.
I
went weeks without picking up my brush.
Then
one day during a torrential rain storm, I had enough.
The
lack of painting was depressing me (and the rain didn't help)
I
had kept a stack of photos a mile high on my side table that I wanted to paint
someday.
Today
was that day.
However
I still felt guilty about working on a large piece. I felt like I didn't have a
right to do so until my commission was done.
But
a small piece is okay, right?
Just
a little bit won't hurt.
I
grabbed a scrap piece of paper and went to work.
And
you know what?
My
flow returned.
I
was back in the game.
After
I completed the first one, I painted another and another.
It
was so satisfying to feel successful at these small pieces, that I was able to
return to the commission with fresh eyes.
It
was completed the very next day.
