Painting in oils - the new me

I have begun a hard core exploration into oils.  I quickly found that working on one oil painting start to finish is nearly impossible.  Going back to certain areas too quickly just pulls up all your previous work and leaves you wondering how to cover up the bits of white canvas now staring back at you.  I started 2 large canvases last night, each 24" x 36" and both of Koi fish.  They are not really intended to hang side by side but the color palette is the same so they could easily go in the same room. 

I still struggle with the directness of the oils and find myself falling back into my Acrylic based habit of laying in the background colors loosely before going back in to refine details.  I am hoping to develop a more "alla prima" method and lay in as much detail as possible on the first pass through.

These are my koi paintings in progress: 

In progress - Koi at Top of Water

And In Progress - Koi Underwater View:

Trying new things cubism

Can you be stuck in a rut and not know?  Possibly.  I think it's essential to get out of your comfort zone once in a while: play with other mediums, other styles, or even just refresh yourself with the people who inspired you in the first place.

I am taking a drawing class - because as much as I paint - I tend to forgo the niceities of actual, finished drawings.  We went to Eden Park in Cincinnati and spent a few days wandering and drawing from life.  I wasn't overly impressed with my results - but the instructor furthered the assignment by having us take our drawings and do a composite drawing in a Cubist manner.  I still regressed to paint for the final product but I used gouache (not my usual) because the satiny yet flat finish seemed to help me switch gears to Cubism.  I read quite a bit and refreshed myself with images of Cubist work.  I do not claim to comprehend Cubism fully but it seemed to reveal more and more to me as I worked.  I was so happy with my Eden Park scene that I went on to start a portrait of my boyfriend in oils (still in progress).      

I am not changing over to cubism as yet but I am happy with the new perspective this little exploration has given me.