Too many interests

I really like pen and ink. I also really like oil paints. Lately, I’ve had a strong urge to do some more linocut prints. On top of that, I’d very much like to get some acrylic painting done.  Prioritizing and focusing can be so difficult.

I’ve started another horse and jockey pen and ink drawing.  I’ll be working at it in my spare time between mural painting and another house drawing commission I am due to get started.

This pen and ink drawing (plus the act of having reproductions made of them) somehow triggers in me the increased desire to do linocuts.  I think it’s a combination of equal-but-opposite reaction to the fine line cross-hatching of pen and ink, and the notion of searching for graphical clarity with very limited colors, and the idea of creating multiple reproductions.

It wasn’t until fairly recently (just the past few years) that I became interested in relief printing, and I haven’t done much of it, and I can’t say I’m very good at it.  However, I now find block prints very alluring, and the process is intriguing.  Despite that, my inexperience and lack of advanced equipment (I don’t have good inks, I use a wooden spoon as a brayer) is a reason not to pursue it further and focus on other things instead.

Oil painting is even worse.  I don’t have much space for it, and the set-up and take-down time is troublesome.  But the return of spring and all its colors, on top of all the stored-up ideas in my head for paintings, plus the feeling that my pen and ink work has given me more experience from which to draw, makes me really really want to paint.

I spent some time last night setting up my PayPal seller account.  I think I have it ready to go, but I’ll be spending more time—when I can make the time—exploring effective uses for it.  Also, I have re-opened my Etsy store, although I only have four items listed right now.