A few months ago I started a series of large oil paintings of my neighborhood. After a decade of daily sketching in ink wash and watercolor, spending a week or more on a single image took some adjustment.

 

Oils, as many of you are aware, take a long time to dry, and if one wants to work quickly, it can be frustrating to wait to layer on hues and details.

 

In order to keep working during drying times, I'd begin a new painting. Eventually that second painting would reach a stage where I needed to wait, but the first was still not dry enough to continue with.

 

West Queen Anne

Many times I grew impatient and tried to continue anyway, but I'd set my hand in wet paint, or the new layer would blend with the previous layer in unanticipated ways.

I'd start yet a third painting and soon my studio was crowded with various pieces in different stages of completion.