Yes. I will do another of Skye someday. It's a good exercise for getting all those blocks of color (white, brindle and merle no less) looking like they belong on the same surface. Thanks for everyone's encouragement and thoughtful responses. I did this one (8x10) in just a couple of hours while the girls were being their normal talkative and rambunctious selves so I have hope I can paint more often. A very good day yesterday as far as personal fulfillment goes.

This is my first portrait of one of my dogs. Skye was my first Cardigan Welsh Corgi. He has a bit too much coat for the breed standard but it was fun to paint.
Click on the image to see a larger view and the detail.

two hours later

Well, I figured it out. Now for the daily practice.

I painted this over a month ago. It is small. Only 4x5. So I was able to finish it quickly. The tricky part was the light. The baseball was lying on our deck and the sun was bright. Most of us never pay much attention but the earth rotates pretty fast. When you paint in the sun the most frustrating thing is the light is constantly changing. The shadows change form. The quality of the light, the actual colors it produces, shift from one shade to another until there are an entirely different set of colors. So for the outdoors there really is no such thing as still life.

Getting going

Sometimes the hardest part is the beginning. As you can see it has been over a month now. I've accomplished one small painting. It's a nice painting I think. But I haven't taken a picture of it yet. I realize that if I was working for an employer I would have been fired by now. Okay after the first couple of days. I have to be more determined to get to my "other job."

Starting next Monday I am implementing a regular schedule of painting, photographing that day's work and posting the image here. By creating this routine I will not be challenged (overwhelmed) by my lack of technological expertise and struggle for an hour or longer (time I don't have) with remembering how to download and import and so on.

But today and over the next few days I am going to try to master these basic skills so I'll be ready. So off I go to take a picture of my first little painting, Baseball #1.