I stayed up late last night painting. These past two or three weeks haven’t really seen me doing much painting and it felt good to get back to it. I spent those weeks of inactivity surrounded by paintings in progress and staring at them, thinking about what needed to be done, how to do it and most importantly: why. The painting I was working on last night has two new elements not seen in my other paintings yet, but in hindsight a logical next step. I used an energetic-looking, free-flowing style to write the text (which roughly translates as “I surrendered”). Previously I would very meticulously write out the text in perfectly aligned square grids and try to make sure every character was painted the same way. I am very happy with the results of the brush writing. Second is the large outlined figure in the background. I have been trying for some time now to compose to opposing figures together in the same picture frame and have had a wonderful time with all the different possibilities and results. This is one of them. The painting is still not yet finished but will be soon.