Painting on linen

I thought I'd try painting on my new linen panels I ordered from ASW art supply, I've never tried painting on linen before, so I thought this would be a nice treat! and, it was. But, of course, as I'm painting- I always seem to start off ok, and then somewhere down the line I find that I am not focusing, and just making a mess. My palette is a mess of mixtures... my painting has too much paint on it, and I can't control what I want it to do... so, I wind up wiping off, and starting over... and over...
So, that's what I did today. I tried to paint a peeled orange. What I wound up with isn't too bad. I learned alot while I painted it, but I think I'll put my little painting away, and look at it again in a day or two. Then I'll be able to tell how I did.