Well it's been a generally depressing week. A foot injury and stress over the need for a quick but impressive R.B.S.A. portrait design has meant a delay in completing other paintings. I've not finished a picture since January despite working on pictures solidly since the start of the year. Today I've transferred the sketch to the new Judith-Holofernes painting (eight and a half hour's tedious work), and also done the same for the quickly envisaged RBSA picture. I plan to start the R.B.S.A. picture this Friday. Now I need £70 worth of painting supplies. No matter how much I buy I seem to be short of supplies. Am I alone in this?
To do: Underpaint the R.B.S.A. portrait (7-10 days), first glaze to Art of Painting (8 days), underpaint Judith (7-10 days), top glaze The Joyous Birth of the All-New Transhumanic Super Beings (1/2 day), glaze Rhino (2-3 days), glaze Christmas painting (1-2 days), plan The Death of Cleopatra by her Own Hand (6 days - at best - ideally spread over 4 months but I haven't the time because ideally I will enter this into the Threadneedle competition due in June), trace the Crucifiction underdrawing (1 boring day), and Escape (1 day).
There's lots more beyond that too. It proves that advance planning can be stress inducing. I'm left with no freedom, despite having as much as I take. At times like this I glance at Raphael, who died in his 30s after painting loads of huge pictures. I wonder if stress and anxiety like I feel caused his premature death; and conclude yes.
So, the choice for tomorrow is to trace something or paint the Christmas one.
