Beginning Anew..

Well...I began a new double dog portrait yesterday.
I toned the 20" x 16" stretched canvas with a blend of raw sienna & burnt sienna by brushing the pigments on with a small amount of a medium made from 80% thinner and 20% stand oil. Then I rubbed off the excess with a soft cloth and did the rough sketch with the same colors using a #10 long handled hog bristle brush. After I had a fairly good rendering I went back in with a clean brush and just a touch of the medium and wet the areas that I wanted light and patted that up with my soft cloth to reveal the original white of the gesso on the canvas.
So ended the first session on this one.
Mahalo for stopping by. Aloha

Continuing the process

The new painting (Sonoma Mountain Autumn #5) has progressed a bit more and is becoming a very different picture than any of the others, owing to the dramatic mood change developing in the sky area. Compare this to the other smaller pieces done from the same reference photo, that preceded it (in the older posts).
It's fun to be working larger again. I'm going to have to build some more bigger canvases right away...The ideas are already accumulating for some new works, but I don't think I'm done exploring the possibilities in this series of Sonoma Mountain. There will be another larger version of it after this one is finished. Mahalo for stopping by.
Aloha

Progress on S.M.A. #5

Another painting session on Sonoma Mountain Autumn #5 has produced these changes.
This canvas measures 38"x 52"

Another Sonoma Mountain

I began paintingthe 5th of the Sonoma Mountain Autumn series that started with a very small (6"x 7") painting on an oakwood panel in May or June. Then 2 more slightly larger happened in rapid succession not very long after the first one. About 2 months ago I finished a fourth in the series that was larger still, but retained somewhat the freshness of the first small things that were all done fairly quickly. The last one measured 26"x 38" it was #4 in the series and like #1 it sold within days of it's completion.

This new canvas measures 38"x 52". The photos were taken after the first session of painting. It's mostly what I call underpainting. Colors that will alter & enhance the next layers that will follow. It also seals the canvas a bit so it's not quite so thirsty.