Motivation, Interrupted

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth,  I can at least thank the force of gravity for that.  It's been a simple case of being mired in the Doldrums, where any hint of a creative spark was promptly doused by a bucket full of "meh".  My Muse took a vacation, and was probably lounging on a beach somewhere with the Travelocity Gnome.

To be sure that my brain was still working, and not reduced to just a gelatinous mass whose sole purpose is to keep my skull from collapsing inward like a dying planet, I prodded a few inert neurons into life and sat down at the easel to do a little alla prima painting.

Now, I'm not an alla prima kinda gal.  I don't whip up a painting in a single sitting like a cake recipe.  I tweak.  I adjust.  I calibrate.  I fully admit that I'm powerless over my addiction to multiple layers of glazing.  But this was all about zapping dormant creativity back to life, so here goes.

The sketch was done on black gessoed paper, then a Cad Red Light underpainting was applied.

First some background....

Then on to the turtle herself....

And finally, an alla prima painting:

I had to make myself put down the brushes and back away from the easel before my trembling hand could reach for the glazing liquid.  But like the Polar Bear Series before her, I can see the potential for experimenting with various techniques with this subject.

Ahh...it's good to be back.