Painting #11 – Destinations (process)

After the slow pace at which I found myself working on my last painting, I decided to repaint an image I have painted a couple of times in the past, simply because it is pure type, my favourite. It has been enlightening to see how much faster the process goes when I am painting something that I truly enjoy. I realize now that the reason my last painting took me so long was that it was so detailed, with so many colours, that I couldn't mix large batches of paint, and work with a bigger brush. The constant colour mixing and nit-picky work were not fun, and I found myself procrastinating.

I am seriously considering taking a break from the buses after the next two paintings are completed (with those done I will be ready for my February show), to start a smaller scale side project. I am thinking of creating drapery banners with favourite words and verses on them, photographing them, and painting them, much like this destination sign. I could play with colour, typeface, texture, lighting, and meaning. Perhaps I could collect favourite words, quotations and scripture verses from friends and family. There are lots of possibilities. In any case, after I finish painting number 12 of the bus series, I will be halfway through my project, and I think I will take a break for at least 3 months to work on other ideas.

Here is a process photo of my eleventh painting.