Biting off more than I can chew

 Every once in a while I start a pastel that I consider biting off more than I can chew. In other words, a subject matter that I think will be challenging for some reason. Often times it's an out-of-the-ordinary reference. In this case it's apple peels (which, of course works well with the chew metaphor :)  Here is the drawing and block in that I did today. Hopefully I will update it as I work on it.

I often do this after I've had a few days in a row of lousy painting. It's a way of working out my feelings of frustration. If I create a challenge that I think is beyond my skills, then it's fine if it doesn't work out. This frees me up to to enjoy the process which is what I really want to be doing all the time anyway. It serves as a sort of restart button.

What gets you out of a painting funk?