Till Midnight.

Every night this week I've stayed up till midnight. It's not quite the almost-dawn, V'd up paint sessions of my earlier artistic years, but it's certainly an improvement on the more recent months.
It's getting warmer, which helps, and I'm about to tackle the third trimester which, if I remember anything from last time, came with a suitable amount of energy.

Thankfully for my crafts this has happened during a several week stint of The Boy working early (therefore going to bed early) and with a mostly cooperative toddler I've managed to spew out a few new paintings.

I'd like to do something a little more consistent, but there's a little alarm in my brain reminding me that, come November, my time won't be my own once again - for all the best reasons.

 

This week's accomplishments.

Recently on the Easel.

Being playing with gouache again lately. I like when it acts like watercolour, but isn't watercolour.

How Does One Paint Without Chocolate?

Working on a commissioned piece tonight.
Struggling to stay awake long after Our Monster and The Boy are snuggled up in bed together.
Thoroughly enjoying the feel of a paintbrush back in my hands after two months away from a canvas, but here's my question: how does one paint without chocolate? Chocolate, or chiccos or chips at the very least. Hell, right now I'd settle for a honey sandwich.
No energy and temporary diabetes are the two fun things I get stuck with during pregnancy. Looking forward to meeting the reason for my first world suffering :)

Productivity.

These past few weeks I've had to relearn a lot of things when it came to painting. But as the nights ticked by I felt like I got the hang of it again.

Little By Little.

It's taken a lot of patience to stare at my incomplete work day after day. But every now and then, when it's way past my bedtime and the house is fast asleep, I add a smudge here or a stroke there and, little by little, the faces grow personalities.

Blank Canvases.

I bought some random, off white, paint from Bunnings last week (thank you whichever person was not happy with their sample pot, allowing me to purchase it for three dollars), and brushed over some old pictures. 

I have more bad portraits than I can count on my fingers and toes, lining the walls of our crammed shed; unseen and unappealing. There's sentimental attachment that goes along with a lot of them, but there's also a lot of wasted canvas. 

On Friday I blocked in a few new sketches.

Draw, draw, draw.

The Sketchbook Project...

A few of the pages: