Looking Up - blocked in

  

Looking Up - Blocked In

Earlier in this blog I posted a sketch of my idea for this painting.  It is on a 40" H by 30" W canvas.  I used a block by block transfer of the image onto the canvas.  Next I block in the painting with thin acrylic paints.  I have added, removed and changed some things already.

I do this to audition the colors, values and placement of the design.  I mostly like it.  It will change.  I already decided to bring the blue figure in the lower left corner into the green more.  I think it will balance the upper right area better.

I will do more blending, different colors when I switch to oils.  The acrylics dry faster and are easier to quickly slap onto the canvas.  At this stage I do not want to spend too much time on applying the layer of color.  I think of this as just another step of transferring the idea from paper to canvas.  Only with the next step do I consider myself creating the painting.  However, if for some reason a small portion of this layer does show through, it will just blend in to the finish product.  

Now for the fun part!