From the Back Burner - Day 14 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

It's day 14 of the challenge and for the first time, I've fallen behind. I finally crashed after 13 days of painting til dawn. I made it to 3 AM and with my painting only half done, I went to sleep.
Managing my time is turning out to be for me the most difficult part of this challenge.
I'm still playing with the store-bought linen and canvas panels that I was getting ready to throw in the garbage early in the challenge. I won't buy them again but I have found that they are much easier to work with by using soft sable brushes instead of bristle brushes.
Today, it was dark and grey as ever, but I made an interesting discovery. I took day 13's painting outside to photograph it, and was surprised to find that the colors showed up as well as on a clear day. So, here it is. The photo reference is from the town of Cayucos. Every chance I get to visit the family house in Templeton, I make sure to include a visit to Cayucos and Morro Bay. Have I said how much I like it there? - I'd have moved to the coast yesterday if I had no ties or duties.

Cayucos Sunset - oil on canvas panel - 12x16
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From The Back Burner - Day 4 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Continuing my exploration with things I've put off, I treated myself to a new work surface. Or at least I thought it would be a treat. Usually I work on a rather heavyweight canvas with a bit of tooth. When I want a panel, I make my own archival product. But I've heard such great things about working on linen, I'd thought I'd try some linen panels. I bought 6 oil primed linen panels after reading rave product reviews about what a pleasure they are to work on and how well they hold colors.
Well, I couldn't have been more disappointed. The panels are so smooth and slick that it's like painting on a sheet of waxed paper. The key words in the product description were "non-absorbent surface". I can see them working quite nicely for someone who paints in thin layers. I work by layering on top of the underneath strokes. Since the paint skims the surface of these panels, there is nothing for the next layer to react with. I found myself painting on top of un-anchored strokes and fighting the surface the whole way. I kept persevering though and this day 4 painting is the result.

The Sound at Night -9x12 - oil on linen panel
Sold!

I know I will not be using the other five 9x12 panels. If there are any artists out there who want to conduct their own explorations with these panels, I purchased them on sale and will pass the savings on to them. For today's painting,  I'll be trying yet another panel. Wish me luck!