A technique that really works for me after a studio day is to snap a photo of what I am leaving on the easel so I can worry about it later or even sometimes give it an approving nod.
Making an appointment with your photographer for a phote shoot offers you a deadline to step pestering a canvas and submit it as finished as it can be. Or you cancel the appointment which you knew in your heart was pre mature and tuck the painting on a back easel for consideration at a later date as you ponder it.
The most friendly chicken in our flock of six is Rose. She enjoys my conversations when having afternoon coffee in their coop yard. She often sits on my knee while listening to me talk about a day of making contacts, supply errands, and studio work.
Whether you are using photos you have taken or researched, or simply watched a specific animal at the zoo or your own backyard, it all seems to come down to how you perceive and act on what you think you have seen . That's the beauty of painting. The artist can take liberties to celebrate the image as it comes down on the canvas.
After spending the winter choosing animals that prowl and pounce I have decided to look up and find entertainment in the flyers. Spring and summer are providing a canopy of life among the feeders and gardens in our backyard.
