three new canvases

There's something provoking and mesmerizing about a fresh canvas. To have three in various states of beginning is ticklish and galvanizing.
Painting has commenced on the first one - two rounds so far. It still has a third or more of the white gessoed canvas visible, but I work steadily and patiently. It's the second in the Venice Laundry series, a commission, and the elements are familiar to me from previous works; crusty brick and stucco walls, boats and reflections in water, shifting sliding water, iron railing, laundry like prayer flags, sky.
The second canvas is drawn, and the initial paint is mixed, but I haven't started. Tomorrow looks promising since the Venice canvas will be too wet to proceed without extreme caution. Better it has another day to dry. This is a larger canvas of ocean and skyscape that requires different brush work, lavish motion, melting edges.
The third canvas is the biggest - 30x40" - and I am experimenting gessoing it a mid tone of a neutral gray before I do any drawing. The reference photo is gridded into 5" squares in one half and 2.5" squares on the other. It's an image from Florence of a bench and a chair and an open book. Quite simple and for some reason indelible. I'd like to start drawing on it, but I have a deadline looming.

I worked on ithe copy for the article today, but I need to buckle down and get a sizable portion of completed by Monday. I'm distracted by a possible opportunity to go to Venice.

The Twinhouse show will open soon. Must focus on the here and now.
Life is good.