Winter Blues

I have been a funk for a long time now and I just can't snap out of it.  I would be worried if I didn't have the prior knowledge of knowing that I always feel this way this time of year.  Everything is so dead looking and the weather has been cold that it has been hard to drag myself out of bed in the morning.

Add to the fact that I know it has been a good solid 2 weeks since I have gone out for a walk.  I pretty much walk every day in the woods near my home.  Even if it is a short walk I still feel like it does wonders to my mental outlook.  This weekend it has been so cold that I can't fathom going out for a walk.

I was laying around yesterday and I finally convinced myself that I needed to have my mind engaged to temporarily get myself out of this funk.  I find that even if I spend a small amount of time in my studio using my hands to create or focus on something creative that it keeps my mind off of other things.

A typical view in my studio.  It's daylight though; I rarely have the luxury of painting during the day.

I have been meaning to paint a dog portrait of a good friend of mine's dog who passed away a couple of weeks ago.  I always feel better when I do something for someone else that I thought it would be a win-win situation.

My walking companion is down and depressed too!

I scanned her photos on Facebook to come up with some good pictures to work with.  Here are a couple:

Lexie Reference Photo #1

Lexie Reference Photo #2

I am finding that I am having more success working with bad reference photos then I did a few years ago.  I actually tried to paint "Lexie"about 6-7 years ago and absolutely *hated* the results.  The only thing that I liked was the Persian rug that Lexie was laying on.  Hence, I ended up trashing the painting.  I ended up choosing Reference Photo #1 to work with.

I am working on a 6"x6" panel which I glazed with Prussian Blue and then Quinacridone Red

I got a good start on it and started getting into it.  I worked out all of the major areas and took a break in order to make my kids dinner.

The start of my dog portrait

My plan is to finish up this painting this weekend.  Check by the blog tomorrow and I should have the finished painting.  

Thanks for stopping by!