Some days it takes me awhile to figure out what I'm doing...
:O) who me?
In the past, I've usually done small paintings using a single figure. This one started out that way, but I wanted the combined figures of a tiny boy riding a big draft horse - all on a small 8 x 10" canvas. That part was clear. What I didn't consider when I started the painting, was that I needed a place for this horse to go. Because of the size constraints of this canvas and the horses walking movement, it made things too boxed in. After about 8 hours, and three separate tries, I finally worked in a destination. The up side to this particular "exercise" (if you can call it that) is that it gave me some great ideas for a larger painting. Of course, I'll need to add that to my growing list of futures.

To show my dilemma, I've posted my first attempt above. As you can see, there is just no room (visually) for the horse to move. So I set this sketch aside on a small table easel, where I can use it as reference for my next try.

...alas, I plunge ahead!

Again on my table easel, I replace the first sketch with this (slightly better) second one and use it as reference for the final painting above. It reads much better now and fits well in a frame. The horse is not as big as I would've liked, but you can easily see it's a draft breed.
The moral of today's struggles:
Creativity cannot be measured in time, since the artist can only succeed through constant practice.
Happy Painting!