One thing I love about digital cameras/smartphones is that I can take pictures while I work.

Lots and lots of photos.

Taking progress shots allows you to see the evolution of an art journal page or painting instead of simply feel it. You know what I mean....that truth, the deep-seeded knowledge that something has happened, here, progressed while you were engrossed in your work. You can track the choices and follow the threads. Grabbing the teal for the eyes, you then made the heart, then added the stripes, which made you grab the pink to add dots here and marks there.

I'm happy, oh-so-happy with this one because I decided to get the heck out of my own way and just give in and do whatever -- just because I was painting outside my journal and on a panel didn't mean I had to do something more "worthwhile," "painting-like," or "better." It simply meant I was painting on something different.

So paint. Make marks. Grab whatever color and whatever brush and prove to yourself that you can make something beautiful.

With all this talk about progress shots, I thought I'd share this painting's evolution.