Oh, what a mess! I'm starting a new painting. You can barely tell, it's going to be of two horses, scratching each other's backs. I have some refining to do. My favorite way to do an oil painting is to begin by smearing some color on the support. I don't care what colors it is, I just want something I can draw into. From that point, I start to "find" my horses in there. I know they're there! You can see all the things you've done wrong at this stage. It's a continuous process of refinement, right up to the moment when I can say I'm finished. donna