Devoid of a Center

There was a piece of heavy paper lying around, and I can't get myself to sleep just yet.  When worries and woes numb the mind, I really appreciate regressing into momentary peace that working on a simple piece such as this affords me.  It has no center, and nothing is really defined.  Anything more is just added burden that I don't need.

Ortigas
10.25 x 7.75 in
Oil Pastel on Paper

Hitting the Pavement Running

There was no sense in prolonging this hiatus from art which I found myself stuck in.  Come to think of it, these past couple of weeks I've been going over in my head works which I am yet to do.  Also, it is hard not to think about art after coming back from Batanes last weekend.  There, the medium that was at my disposal was photography.  It was a perfect medium to capture the fickleness and dynamism of the landscape - it was a landscape in flux!

I've decided to work on this image I had sketched out for quite some time, just to get me back into rhythm.  I told myself to use the plate to just loosen up - no expectations, no direction.  I just wanted to shake off the cobwebs.

Pilipit
Oil Pastel on Paper
12x15 inches
Unmounted

I've been rock and wall climbing these past few months - since November actually.  I've always had reservations in that the activity might affect the tactile feelings on my fingers. It does, apparently.

I find my hands less nimble, working on this sketch.  I don't think it was because I haven't held a brush for more than a year.  The brush still felt the same, and after a few minutes on this work, I felt I was back into it.  But my strokes felt more forced - there is too much jerkiness at the end of every movement.  I knew what I wanted to do with my hands, but all the movements seem exaggerated.

I don't know how all this will play out when I start painting with oils again.