Brain Block

Been playing around with so many different sketch ideas for new paintings, that I have rubbed my poor eraser to death. I almost feel sorry for it. Jimi had this idea to carve a small hole into the wood and glue down a small jewel to accent the right spots. So I drew a little bee in this sketch to give it a try. I'd like to see how it looks to be-jewel the tips of the bee's antennae. Suggestions at school that gave me much inspiration:

1. when finished painting, gloss over only the finished painting, not the bare wood
2. sandblast, or carve into the wood around the image (or vice versa)
3. use many more colors to indicate skin tone, rather than the "bandaid" mixture
4. gear the images to fit particular genres, get more concept specific
5. use the grain of the wood to accentuate the drawing better

I know there were more...mush brain. I'm so tired of trying to make a good picture and coming up blank. Need to work things out concept to image, rather than the other way around. Life could be so much easier if I would do this.