Cogitating.

A painting has struck. The idea has spread from the initial itch - a flicker of thought, to first lines in a sketch book, to a roughed out design on canvas. Now the idea cogitates in my head, mulling around colours and blends, pursuing lines to their logical and illogical ends - trying to identify where to make the first mark. I look, and try to layer the scene, mapping out sky, mid and foreground. Then there is the sun, and how the light plays tricks on clouds and objects - how it stretches out, and flirts away. I am anxious to paint the central characters - capture the detail and the fun of the scene, but if I rush too quickly into this I risk deforming or alienating them from the rest of the scene.

I'm trying not to over think this - after all going too far down this route will just see me keep putting the painting off, so that instead of an excited idea wagging it's tail up and down, it becomes a cold nose pressed into your face at dawn. I know too much consideration will simply kill the painting, yet I also know some thought about the approach will elevate the idea beyond whimsy, through technique, to a piece of art. Also, there's the simple fact that oils take a long time to dry - a long time; so if I start in the wrong place, and end up reworking and reworking it... well, suddenly this painting takes a lot longer. If this has to be, well so be it - but I'm not going out of my way to complicate things in advance. 

So in the mean time my head is working on the time in the painting and the hue of the sky, considering how to bring out key features and how I want to use contrast. I know the painting should have an air of realism, but I know that the point of the painting needs to break out of that and have fun with the viewer. I also know there are spaces I should leave vague, waiting  for the instinct of my hand and brush to take over when the time comes. 

This cogitation is fun of course, but the proof will be when I pick up that brush. Ah, well, here goes...