Day 2 on "How Small We Are"

Worked on building up the sky and clouds today. I have to remind myself to step back more often to view the overall painting. The first time I painted in the darker values on the clouds they were a little too dark and I had to lighten them up a little. Clouds need to be soft around the edges and blended. So, it's important to work the whole sky together while the acrylic is still wet. My paints were better today. I also painted in the first layer of color on the houses and landscape. The paint slides around a lot on the Ampersand board, so it needs at least two layers for good coverage. Maybe one more day before this one's done.

Painting Progress

So, I've decided to be daring and document my painting process. Here is the first photo of "How Small We Are". It's 16"x12" acrylic on Ampersand primed artist board. Since it's winter and too cold for me to actually start a painting outside, I'm using some photos that I've taken over the years. This is a view out my back window (and I can look out there for more reference, too, if necessary). Of course, it's all about the sky, but, I also love the scale of the sky to the houses.

Back to the process. It starts with a sketch and planning out placement, proportions, and composition. Then, laying down the first coat of paint for the sky... largest areas first...and building the painting from background forward. Oddly, my paint is not covering as smoothly as I'd like. It's really dragging and I've had to scrape parts down and repaint. I think my paints may be too cold. I guess it's not such a good idea to store paints in the basement in winter. Hmmm. Hopefully, they'll warm up soon. To be continued...