The pleasure of frustration

Untitled
(Work in progress)
charcoal on bond paper
18 x 24 inches
Barbara Muir © 2022

I have a beautiful photo of my friend Georgia, that I've
been meaning to use for reference for a portrait.  I like
the mood, which is both contemplative, and content in
one expression.

So I spent yesterday afternoon trying to finish a portrait I'd
begun based on this photo, and I could not get it right. So far
it's okay as a drawing, it just isn't Georgia. 

There is an exciting time in a portrait painting when you
come into the room to start work again, and say "Hi" to
the person in the painting. This is not happening in this work.

But the positive in not getting right, is that I get to keep
working on it. I call it a work in progress.  And I can 
obsess about this drawing, instead of about the world, and
all of the other things spinning around my head.

Have a working on it day.