"Near Pouzilhac"

"Near Pouzilhac"

6"x8" oil on canvas panel

Nathan asked yesterday about the process I used on the olive grove painting. It's the same as I used here, both paintings were done from photos in the studio, with daylight temperature lighting. The lighting is nothing fancy, I just replaced the bulbs in the existing fixtures in the small room I use as a studio.

First I did a sketch (sometimes more than one). For the painting in this post, the sketch is here. Then I toned a canvas with an orange-ish color and wiped it off. Some bits of that are visible where the trees and sky meet. Then I sketched with a small brush and hardly any paint, just the basic placement. Next was a block in of the major shapes with a really big brush, no detail and the sketch was pretty much wiped out, the canvas was covered with the block in (no empty spots). For instance the foreground tree foliage was just one color and value at that point (should have taken a photo...). Then with a smaller brush I went for more detail, for example in the tree foliage, adding darks and lights. I left the sky as it was in the block in. I hope this makes sense.