Winter Scene Workup

Warning: ​Long post ahead. This is an exercise in the online art group I belong to on Mighty Networks called 4C, owned and lead by Sharon Lynn Williams. It is a community of artists who are serious about improving their paintings and growing their art practice.

I was "Mining My Photograph" as an art exercise. The top photo is the winter scene photograph I am working from. The top right is the work I did on paper to find the shape and what I wanted to paint from the scene. The ones underneath those are the oil painting I first did (8" x 10") on canvas pad. I will often look through my phone at the image in black and white to check the values.

​I also tried to paint in oil in my sketchbook on thin gesso'd water colour paper. It was interesting and very dry to work on. The gesso just seemed to soak up the paint and not move it well. I used a two page spread to make it 12" x 6 1/2". If you click on the photos you will see it full size.

I want to make a larger painting in a rectangular format so this is my working page on oil canvas paper. The squiggly lines in the preliminary drawing is an evergreen tree. Deciding on a format, values and shapes are always easier to do in pencil rather than in oil at the easel. These exercises are so valuable to do but I am always eager to get the brush in my hand and often skip these steps. I will post the final larger version when it is completed.