While I love the idea of painting every single day, reality doesn't always allow it. However, I do know I can get better at it. It's easy to have an excuse not to paint - especially when I'm not working on a commission piece and in-between paintings for the book I'm illustrating. So I've given myself the challenge of painting every day possible, and if there's not a major work in progress to simply paint small and fast.

So here is my attempt at completing a painting in one day... I didn't make it.

Someone once said that excuses are like armpits - they all stink. So my stinky excuse for not finishing this painting in one day is that we were invited last minute to dinner with friends. Good excuse, right? In reality, however, I could have started painting earlier in the day, or prioritized my painting over socializing. Nevertheless, I did what I did and here is the result.

The first image was when I remembered I hadn't take a photo of just the sketch. The second image is how far I got before my tummy and my head distracted me from my work...

Time management has always been an issue for me. I can't really wrap my brain around time any more than I can wrap it around spacial distance - like how far way 10 feet is. If the world revolved around me (and all too often I forget that it doesn't) I really wouldn't worry about it. But since my choices effect other people, it becomes an area of my life that I'd really like to improve. I've stolen from a couple of other creative sources for this post... the Steve Miller Band gets the credit for my time that most definitely keeps on slippin'. And Salvador Dahli was the inspiration of my melting timepiece. Not only does time melt away, but my energy seems to go alone with it.

My biggest issue is finding a way to manage my energy without wasting my time. If I had the energy to do all that I want, then I'd be going 100 mph non-stop 24/7/365. Unfortunately, I no longer have that kind of energy. So how can I allow my physical body to maintain a balance and still stay productive? As will all things in life, it's a matter of trial and error and practice, practice, practice.