Having set myself a goal to paint at least once each week I have continued. Soon I need to advance to better lighting and less of this stuff with the dark shadows. But for right now, it’s about establishing a habit. Getting used to being at the easel and developing the focus and perseverance to be able to keep going even when I’m frustrated with the shadows or whatever else is difficult in whatever little still life I’ve set up. I have found that with anything new, the biggest obstacle is just showing up. So as much as I can’t avoid passing judgement on the results, the important thing here is to show up and make an attempt and develop the ability to maintain focus long enough to finish something. I certainly have much higher expectations than this (as I suspect is pretty typical), but it’s a starting point and I kind of have a bit of an issue with setting unrealistic expectations… Here are my oranges -for what they are worth. Completed with the aid of a musical accompaniment by Brand New (played very loudly on my iPhone), The Lumineers, old Shawn Colvin, old Blue Rodeo, even older Leonard Cohen and then reverting back to my 80’s and 90’s favourites. I have no illusions of the quality of this piece and would welcome any constructive criticism…