Fiddling

I had insomnia last night and woke up grumpy and out of sorts. Coffee helped a little, but basically it was one of those aimless days where you do a little of this and that and can't settle to something. It didn't help that I got hooked into watching the impeachment proceedings for a while and lost my "composure" every time a Republican got up to lie. Finally, I decided to do some painting. Sometimes that relieves the funk, but sometimes it just makes it worse, and today was one of the latter days.

I began by making another attempt at the first lesson of Let's Face It, since the majority of my art supplies arrived and I could now include charcoal, pastels, pens, and so on. But I was totally at a loss for an idea or a model, so when my friend Sassa's portrait popped up in my feed, I decided to use it and put my own spin on it. I was pretty happy with the early stages, but I didn't like what I did to the shirt and there was no undoing it; and then I put the big circle behind her head, which I shouldn't have done, because in Sassa's original portrait she has the moon behind her and I didn't want it to be a total copycat piece. At that point I decided I'd just keep adding little circles or "planets" until it seemed like the right number, and I think I exceeded that by several.

I took a break after that for a late lunch and some recreational reading; and when I finished, I had the urge to make some art that was more original, and possibly save the day for myself. I clicked through all the photos I have saved of people reading, and chose a cute one of a vaguely Eurasian girl with a neat bob haircut, sitting on some stairs holding up a book. I purposely prepped a cheerful background. I did my drawing and started to paint, then realized that her head was far too large for her shoulders, hands, and book, and made her look squashed onto the paper. But I didn't want it to be a totally wasted effort, so I followed through and finished it. It's not in my top 10, but...it's mine.

Mixed media on Fluid 140-lb. coldpress paper. 8x12 inches each.

I think I'm going to go read something facile and frivolous for the rest of the evening and hope tomorrow is better.