I'mmmmmm Back!

After three and a half months of recovery from the open heart surgery and complications that followed, I finally had the desire to paint again!  I went out to lunch with a friend and fellow painter, and on the way back to my car, I spotted this scene in old Webster.  I took a photo, and to get back in the groove, I did my usual value sketch.  Then I did the drawing on the Arches 140 lb. half sheet.  I was nervous as heck about putting brush to paper for the first time in so long, but sailed into it anyway. 

I kept it to a limited palette and disregarded any local color.  That's why working from a value sketch is so.... well, valuable!  If you work directly from the photo, the tendency is to think in terms of local color and details, rather than shapes, values, and a color scheme that is of your choosing and imagination.

As I've said often, planning is crucial to any endeavor.  The plan that utilizes a value sketch to plot out your washes and layering will most likely give you the confidence to place that first brush-to-paper procedure!