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I dont have to much experience painting in oil. I'm taking a workshop with Gretchen Lopez at the Sedona Art Center in Sedona. One approach to oil painting that was presented today is to block in the image, making sure that everything is where you want it. If you need to make changes you want to make them early in the painting. If your to far into the painting and find that something needs to be changed, it saps the wind from your sails, and you could loose your momentum and worse your enthusiasim. So you want to block everything in and establish your darks and lights. This is called the underpainting, and this is how the Old Masters painted. The color will be added when I go back to class next week. Until then, Happy Painting.

I sometimes forget - that not everyone is aware of the painting process. To get the best results it is a good idea to do at least one thumbnail of the image you are about to paint. The main reason is to see where your darkest darks will be and lightest lights. So this is my thumbnail done in my sketchbook.

Delicate colors for a delicate "Flower." I thought it would be fun to make the background an example of how to achieve different colors from a basic triad of color. So there you go - a little color wheel in the painting.