"I Want More!"

This painting I did from a sketch I made of a mouse hand puppet inside a big glass canister jar. For once I was able to let my imagination take a story and run. I am usually painting what I see, taking into factor my environment (landscape), which I experience before me, or a still-life I have set up. I do not work from photographs but try to rely on sketches and studies I do on location. Trying to figure out where I want to go before I begin a painting is usually the most rewarding route to take in the beginning. However, with this mouse in front of me posed with his hand hanging out of the jar, and a flat felt hand at that, suddenly possessed a  character and personality that only needed a bit of embellishment. And the entire time I painted was actually fun; no struggles with any analysis of what I was doing. If I could only paint like this more frequently I'd be a happy camper. Oil on linen 18"x 14".