Next painting subject

 

I have two more house portrait commissions in the works, so if it's cold or rainy this coming weekend, I guess that's what I'll try to focus on.  Commissions should take precedence, right?

I also want to get in some more painting.  I'm happy with how that last one turned out, and I'm itching for more.

However, I don't know what the subject will be.  Here's how my internal debate runs: I want to work outside, but the weather this weekend might not be so great.  I want to work larger, but that requires perhaps a little more time, and makes finding room to finish up at home a little more difficult.  I also have an idea I've been thinking about for a couple of years, but it would be working from a photograph (and so can be done indoors) and would be more detailed, and so require more planning and more sessions to complete.  I can save that one for when it's definitely too cold to work outside.  But I like working outside because ventilation is an issue in the house, besides the fact that there's not a lot of elbow room.  The trees outside are interesting right now, and they would be kind of nice to work with.  But I haven't settled on a subject, so I'll probably need to do some driving and looking around to figure out what I'll do. This could waste a whole day. I also want to mess around with other subjects. I'd like to paint a giraffe or some other animals, which I can do from my own photo references. I want to paint some buildings.  I want to work on a small canvas because it's quicker and more portable, and I want to work on a large canvas because it's more versatile and dramatic and, if successful, satisfying.  I want to work on something that someone might want to buy, but most of the subjects to which I'm most attracted are things that most people wouldn't consider great subjects to hang in their houses.

So… I don't know.  Regardless, I stretched a canvas this weekend.  I'm not sure what size, something around 24 x 36.  I also cradled and primed a panel to paint on.  It's around the same size.  Those are larger than the several canvases I already had prepared, which are all kind of small.

I also have some very irregular sized pieces of panel that I'd like to prime and paint.  I'd have to think hard about how to use them, because they are long and skinny (around 8 x 24 inches). 

Besides all that, I also have another pen-and-ink drawing idea to work on for myself, and to be later turned into prints for sale.