Information Overload

I'm not ready to give up the likeness just yet. Expressionism, and a painting follows that i did today with Baselitz in mind, is so boggy, so muddy, so fixed to a form, i just can't do it. I want the paint to float away, not be bogged down, i want it to look effortless, with hints of patience. I want it acidic but not deathly. I want to paint from life, from appearances, create likenesses, i'm not ready to succumb to depicting only the inner world, not yet anyway. It's so insular. I'm just a little confused, i'm too aware of the history of painting, with every inch of paint i apply i know exactly which artist and which period this styles inspiration can be attributed to, and it's just impossible to paint like this. That's possibly why the paint is being bogged down, because i've got clumps of muddy art history stuck to my feet.