Process vs Content

It has been too long since I have made a post here. I have been working on a portrait but it is much more difficult than expected. Michael always says not to think of it as a face but as shapes with lights and darks. This has made me think about the idea of process versus content. In my other life I am a couple and family therapist, and this is one thing that we are taught and I stress in my work. It is the process not the content that matters. That is, it is not what you argue about with your partner, but how you argue that makes the difference. I think this can be applied to painting. It is that anything you paint is “just” shapes with lights and darks and hues. Unfortunately, when I am doing a portrait, I get hung up on eyes, and noses, and ears, rather than thinking of them only as shapes with lights and darks. The more I think about the “content” the less able I am to see the shapes and lights and darks. On top of this, I am working on a portrait of my mother and her twin sister, and unfortunately my mother has since died. This makes the “content” even more important to me, and thus the work takes longer and I get more frustrated. I am showing my progress so far, but it is far from done. I’m hoping that I can begin to think about process when I paint rather than the content and get lost in the process rather than get frustrated by my lack of ability.