It has seemed to be a long time coming, but I was able to get a lot of painting done today, in addition to the many other things that occupy a typical Monday.

Mondays are my usual day off, so it is generally intended to be a studio day.

However, since Monday is the only day I have to do housework, the studio work is usually either pieced in with house chores (either painting is a break from house chores or the house chores are a break from painting) or I do the house chores in the quiet of the day and any painting that gets done is done in the late afternoon and/or early evening.

Today was no different in some respects.

In other respects, it was very pleasantly different.

I got a late start because I was up until nearly 3 a.m. reading a novel co-authored by Hank Hanegraaf and Sigmund Brouwer. Shame on me, I know, but it was their first collaborative effort and I had been wanting to read it since it first came out a couple of years ago. I just couldn’t put it down. I read almost the entire 391-page novel in one sitting and read the entire novel in a little over 24 hours (I checked it out of the library after work on Saturday). The Last Disciple was riveting, to say the least. The next thing I need to do, I suppose, is look up the sequels.

Anyway, that meant I was late getting up the following morning and that meant I was a little bit slow getting started.

But after getting the laundry started, I went right to the studio and started painting, accompanied by Bro, my studio assistant, in his usual spot. By the time Neal came home for lunch, I had the under painting for a new at liberty aceo horse painting almost completed and by mid-afternoon, I’d finished work on that one AND a companion aceo. The results were very satisfying, although I later saw some areas on each one that will need to be corrected or adjusted before I move on to color.

After that, a break to cut back some house plants that will be coming back inside as soon as the weather gets too cool for them, more laundry, lunch dishes and work on the checkbook, then it was back to painting.

This time, the painting is a little bit larger; 5 by 3-1/2 inches. Huge by comparison! I had already roughed in the under painting on this one so the work today was all about placing details. I spent quite a bit of time on this one and by the time I finished with it this evening, I was wondering if I should just sign it and consider it done. The movement and lighting are almost exactly what I was looking for, so the notion was very tempting.

Instead, I set it aside to dry and decided to mow the lawn.

Since it was about 7 p.m. by then, I had the immense pleasure of mowing the lawns in gorgeous evening light, even if I did have to squint against the sun on every west-bound trip across the front yard. It felt good to do something physical and the yard sure looked good when I finished, campaign sign and all.

(Had I thought of it, I might have been tempted to break out some colors and a piece of canvas and paint outside, but I didn’t think of that until it was too late to do anything about it.)

Afterward, I made myself a hot tea, then sat down with the novel I set aside to read The Last Disciple and did some reading until Mom made her weekly call. After visiting with her, I went back to the studio and worked on the fourth painting for the day.

This one is the first oil study of October Skies, which I’ve been referring to as Buddy Study #1. It is at the color stage, but it’s been several days since I last worked on it. Tonight’s work was almost a personal dare. A case of ‘I dare you to mess this up!’.

I was very pleased to work several transparent washes over the existing painting, make some rather dramatic changes and realize that I hadn’t messed it up.

What’s more, it’s looking very close to completion. There are a couple of areas yet to be adjusted and the color isn’t quite right, but it’s looking like it could very well be completed by the end of the week, depending on how quickly this paint dries.

The only other painting I would have liked to have been able to work on is the current larger portrait project, but that 16×20 portrait is in the drying room. Monday marked the one-week point in the drying process, which usually takes two weeks. Most of the painting was dry to the touch when I looked at it, but there were a few areas that were still a bit tacky. So it was left alone. Next week, I’ll check it again and proceed from there.

©Copyright 2008 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Carrie Lewis’s website.