Two Down

After a really productive weekend I finished the rough drafts of Chapters One and Two of the book, and got a good start on the third. I find it's easier than I thought it would be to write this book, but then, it's not War and Peace we're talking about but a simple seven chapter walk-through.

The other thing that makes it a little easier than expected is that it's a simple process of jotting down what I do so there's really not a lot of plot invention or research I have to undertake. The only difficult part so far has been keeping it simple, honest and straightforward. I have a tendency toward privacy so the thought of letting people glimpse beyond the comfortable surface has been a little daunting.

It's not that I feel there's a lot more to me than meets the eye, it's just that there's the fear of being vulnerable. I don't think that's too crazy.

The next chapters are somewhat less demanding that way, anyway. Now the fun begins in detailing some of the exercises and techniques I use. I'm imagining that in the last chapter I'll have a photo journey of a painting from start to finish with some explanations of what I've done at each stage. Although it may take some of the mystery out of the process, I know that I would have treasured that kind of thing as a beginning artist. In fact, if an artist I admired did something like that for me right now I'd be overjoyed and fascinated.

I hope others will feel the same way about my work!

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On a completely unrelated note to be filed under "why I shouldn't write to my journal after midnight", I've just reached week one in The Great Moustache Extravaganza wherein I convince myself that my paltry growth will fill out into a lush pelt of manly pride. So far my native ancestry is defying my dream. I guess I didn't really get any of the Viking when it comes to facial hair but if I can muster the courage I'll take some photos tomorrow for the sake of posterity.