Another less than perfect morning in the studio, but I did do some editing of the shape of the head, the shoulder and the knee which I’ll keep. He should probably get an ear sometime, or he’ll be a perpetual Van Gogh. Being deaf to the universe is not the allegory I’m trying to get over in this one. The face is still not right and I expect to rework that fairly soon, but it’s better than it was. The work I did today will add variety to the surface of the paint in the end, even if I change it radically.
It’s really a drag to be in a slow patch like this. The only solution I know is to keep working and get through it. It can get you down, but you have to keep working.
I think painters get “painter’s block” just as writers get their block, but I don’t want to indulge it. I’m nearly forty three, so I can expect to paint for another 27 years unless I get hit by a bus or perish in some other accident. At the rate I paint now I complete about four big paintings a year if I work hard, so I should be able to finish 108 more large scale pieces by the time I die, if I do happen to make it to my three score and ten years. That’s not much! When I crashed that car eleven years ago it was made abundantly clear to me how easily we can go, and how important it is to make this life worth while. For me, making paintings and teaching other people how to do it are what I need to do in order to live a fulfilling life and play my role in making the world a better place. The bottom line is to keep working, hell or high water.
I’m not particularly thrilled with my drawing of the hermit figure. I think I’ll have to spend a day playing with the construction of the legs in particular. 
