Agony finished product

Here is the first of many paintings to come. 

I have been working on preliminary sketches, but I wasn't excited about this project. Themes, motifs, colors, value -the technical aspects-were a millstone around my neck. Not an environment where creativity can flourish. 

So I rethought everything. 

I stopped sketching and just started painting. Getting back into the flow of the paint was crucial. It is amazing how you can plan and sketch and predict how picture should come out, but once you put that first stroke of paint down, everything can change. 

It was freeing. 

4 hours later- 2.5 paintings done!

[disclaimer] I cannot take credit for the main figures in these paintings. I have gathered pictures from the internet to create these compositions. The settings are original, but the main figures are not. I do take credit for the ability to reproduce these images, and manipulate a paint brush in a way that describes what is going on ;)