Stumbling blocks

I'm in my usual multi-tasking mode and have several paintings that I'm working on simultaneously.
I'm nearing completion of one portrait with another in the wings and a commission hot on its heels.I'm using watercolour and sort of fell into a technique that almost borders on pointillism.  I lay down the usual washes of colour but start adding to them with swatches of colour, allowing the viewer's eye to blend them optically.  This technique seems to give depth to skin tones rather than flat washes.

I am moving more towards impressionistic images in portraits.  I like the edginess of them and how they make you look twice.  I've never been drawn to 'sweet' portraits with pristine shading.  It smacks of chocolate box art and those paintings of innocent faced children in fancy frocks barefoot in the grass.  It may be the image of the monied class who want to depict their child as perfect, but its not for me.  I like a portrait to be a little different and yet represent the true personality of the sitter.

I need that push of a deadline to really get into production.  Without a deadline, even if self imposed, I tend to procrastinate.  Then suddenly, time is upon me and gives the incentive to get into action.  There's also a part of me that just loves having my time filled, so procrastination of one thing leads to production in another.

Production means forward movement and completion.  There are nearly always points in a painting that I start to lose interest in the process or the subject and need to concentrate to move through that phase to get to the end.

Stumbling blocks come in many forms in art and everyone has their own, often they are similar to others.  Procrastination, loss of inspiration, production blocks, the list goes on and on.  The common thread is that many people share these blocks and many get past them to continue producing art.