stage 1 of dp creek III, 42x66”
4:42 PM: this morning i began study # 3 in gouache on paper, for dp creek III, which will be 42x66” oil, crayon & colored pencil on portrait linen. as i was working on the gouache study, i kept looking over at that freshly stretched linen sitting on my easel. when i could no longer resist, up i jumped, grabbed a blue colored pencil & began the drawing. it seems to me that the only way i can resist over-working it tomorrow is to start my day by continuing work on the gouache study, pretending as far as possible that i’m not going to transition to the oil when i can no longer resist. it’s an interesting strategy, which i may adopt when i’m able to continue my taiga/kyoto series. it’s smart, it’s fun & it’s a clever fakeout. i’m seeing increasingly that my time in the zone is only about 60-90 minutes. i have to allow that to be enough! just do other stuff, philip! you most certainly have enough backed up paperwork to keep you busy once you have left your flow state! on the RIGHT: stage 1 of the gouache study