I am suddenly the busiest I've ever been with portrait commissions, which is of course both exhilarating and terrifying.
I feel like the girl in the story of Rumpelstiltskin, I explained to Jason: I have told people that I can spin straw into gold, and now I have to find a way to actually do that.
So I distracted myself by doing a quick study of him, instead.
Infuriatingly, when I don't pressure myself to produce something amazing and perfect, I get the very quality of fresh brushwork and bold colors that I'm after when I want the thing to be amazing and perfect.
Forget the straw, forget the gold; the only rule is work.
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