Every artists develops their own techniques to a finished painting. I’ve developed mine, which was a painstaking work in progress. I found that I like to know all the problems I will encounter long before paint ever touches canvass. There is nothing original about this but after deciding on an idea for a picture, I do the following seven steps:
- Thumbnail sketches: I make as many as 30 or 40 of these, usually on 3X5 index cards. I work out placement, abstraction, and values.
Full-size drawing for future work of art. - Full-size study: I make this study with pencil or charcoal, working out value problems. This is done as detailed as possible.
- Compositional study: This is a small study loosely done with watercolor or gouache to get a sense of overall color pattern.
- Full-size tonal study: This I do in pastel. It is not the full-size picture as is the pencil or charcoal study, but rather selected parts on which I need to concentrate.
- Small medium study: This is a small, quick and loose painting in the medium I will use to finish the painting; oil, watercolor, gouache, or acrylic.
- Transfer the drawing: Here I transfer the picture to the canvass.
- Paint the picture
