going forward with a painting...

going ahead... or, back to making something. In this case I will be talking about painting, but most of these suggestions are transferable to any of the arts. Once I have an idea I can't shake, I start the painting by composing onto the surface with light pencil sketching. I used to start right away with washes of paint but now I find that way of starting harder to edit and distracting to good impulses at the beginning of visualizing a painting. These impulses can be fleeting and the easier it is to make them happen, the better. Erasing pencil and shifting sketch lines here and there is much simpler to do than moving or ignoring unwanted washes of paint. With pencil you can relax and try different compositions and weights of space and form, change your mind anytime, till you feel things work. When you are satisfied with your sketch, begin to paint. I start with washes at this point, bringing the image into focus with light washes to which I gradually increase the load of paint as needed and as I find what I want. In this way, I also don't loose important spontaneity that exits in the under drawing. Sometimes, pencil lines in that original drawing remain exposed in the final piece and are essential to the success of the finished painting.

Everyone has their own rituals when they prepare to paint, favorite colors you like to start with , selecting the best brushes for the situation at hand... but in the end, clear all advise and thoughts of preparation from your mind. This is the point where you trust your ability and previous experience, you get down to work, allow your thoughts to recede and paint.

considering a 30 hour work week...

one result would be that everyone would have more time for creative thinking.  another would be, anyone who wanted a job could have a job.  existing salaries would remain the same and companies that could not meet the pay role with extra employees, would be subsidized by the government.  now, everyone would be working.  this would be a manditory 30 hour work week.  no one could work a job more than 30 hours a week.  it's like job sharing but there is no cut in pay.  this would truely be a free market enterprise - because everyone would be employed.  where would the money come from?  the government just prints more, like it is a;ready doing to bail out banks and 'too big to fail' businesses.  and you suddenly have more tax payers and consumers, which is a dynamic that circulates money back into the local economies, immediatly.  i know this would really annoy the workaholics among us.  but it may help them to discover other interesting and equally engrossing things to do with their time.  what would happen if 'time off'' was valued as much as 'work time'?  not just considered time to recover from work, but an opportunity to think creativly or learn something new or develope a theory -  help make living better for humans and other forms of life on earth?  what if the worth of an individual wasn't based on how much money they have accumulated?