Starting Over

Starting to paint again after several years ~ and why does it seem as if I'm starting all over? It's bad enough from painting to painting. Every time I start one, I think, "I can do this." Then come the trouble spots, the halfway points... it's as if I'm having to teach myself to paint again with each painting. But, after several years of not doing any canvas paintings, it really is as if I've never done a painting before. Well, I won't say it's that bad. I can see improvements in form, more confidence in laying the drawing on the canvas, a little bit of know-how in blocking out the major forms. But somehow, the color doesn't go on right. I've switched back from Winsor and Newton Finity colors to Liquitex. There's that to account for, and it might be making a difference; but, I'll wager, it's just the same old problem, it's as if I've just forgotten how to paint, which colors to mix. And... I've gotten lazier. I can see I've picked up some lazy habits ~ mixing paint with my brush, mixing in white as I go. Well, I've always done that to some extent, but when I was really working out "how" to use acrylics, I did a lot more of mixing with my palette knife, having definite, solid colors to work with. I also knew the trick of laying in a glaze of medium with a little color and then painting into it while it was still wet. I'm having to remind myself to do that now.