Stages of a Painting

Stages of a painting with three cubs in the forest.  title: ("Out of the Den")

A follower asked me if I could show the stages of one of my paintings. Here they are.

Step 1

I spend many days researching. I look for reference pictures on the web and at the library.  

                                  11" x 14" pencil and pen sketch

After I know how I am going to arrange the composition I spend about 7 minutes sketching out the design. If I am happy with the sketch I use a 5B or 6B graphite drawing pencil and scribble the entire back of the sketch. I then place the sketch with the carbon covered back over my primed panel. I use a ballpoint pen to trace over the sketch, pressing down hard enough for the image to transfer.

Step 2

11" x 14" acrylic on gessoed panel

Now that the image has been transferred to the primed panel, I color block using thin, transparent layers of acrylic paint. Using bright colors will help the finished painting glow.

Step 3

11" x 14" acrylic on gessoed panel

I then put the details on the primary area of interest. This allows me to make changes before adding the background and foreground details; see changes to size of bear on the right. 

  

Step 4

11" x 14" acrylic on gessoed panel

I added many layers of transparent acrylic paint to the fallen logs.

Step 5

11" x 14" acrylic on gessoed panel

I decided to add bark to the fallen logs.

Step 6

11" x 14" acrylic on gessoed panel

Added branches that have snapped off and their shadows to the fallen logs

Step 7

11" x 14" acrylic on gessoed panel

Glazed the trees in the forest with layers of thin transparent paint. The color of the closer tree trunks are warmer and more saturated whereas the trees in the far background are cooler and faded. I also added color to the rocks. Notice I made the rock on the far right smaller; see in Step 6 how it is a similar height to the bear on the far right. By making the rock smaller,a visual pyramid is created, going from that rock up to the bears, down the back of the far left bear, over to the two rocks and then moving back to the right along the line of the log. This movement creates a strong visual composition. Your eye might also go from the two rocks to the single, right hand side bear because they are all on the same diagonal plane, making that bear the focal point. 

Step 8

11" x 14" acrylic on gessoed panel

Added bark to the standing trees, darkened the left side of the trees and added highlights to the right side of the trees to show the direction the sun light is coming from. 

Step 9

11" x 14" acrylic on gessoed panel

Added the grasses to the foreground and middle ground. This photo was taken on a cloudy day, notice the colors aren't as vivid as earlier steps.

Step 10

11" x 14" acrylic on gessoed panel NFS

This is the finished painting. I changed the eyes so they are not so pronounced.

This painting is not for sale. Please Email Me if you are interested in commissioning one similar to this.

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