The Evolution of "Lavascape"

I had to sit with this one for about a month. That happens sometimes.

I laid in a "wash and lift" sky then used a "swipe and drip" technique with some fairly bold colors... cadmium red, cadmium yellow, lamp black, burnt sienna and sepia. Laid plastic wrap on the foreground sepia to create texture. Then I felt like I didn't really know what I wanted to do next.

Finally I pulled out my composition frames and extracted a composition that I considered for about another week. Hmmmm. OK I like it.

For me this is a process that works for me quite often, but it can take some time.  It is not at all unusual for paintings in process to linger on the "consideration shelf" while I figure them out. They have to come to me gradually sometimes. They truly have a life of their own.