Failures, stumbling blocks, and other gumption busters...

Ahhh well... it can't always be forward progress, can it? 

I apparantly have no idea how to work with turpentine, because old paint seems to go rancid in it, and just cleaning your brushes in the turp is'nt good enough... so says a small round that would rather look like a splayed bouquet of beach-grass. 

The painting itself seems to be coming along; though I do find myself inadvertantly returning to habits from my years of watercolor.

Going back through my WIPs (Works in Progress) you may notice that I start with light skintones... this is a very common thing to do with w/c, but apparantly something that is not as neccessary with oils, given their opaque nature. 

Painting in a background around an already existing foreground (subject/figure)  is not as easy as just painting a BG and then placing the figure/subject in the space you have created. Oh well... live and learn. I really need to start thinking more about the environment of the piece; at least as much as I regard the figure/subject...

...THAT being said, I started yet another painting. 

As they say in Poker, I am "all in".