The Planning Stage

Not enough is said about the planning stage of a painting. Sure, some artists don't plan or put much forethought into a painting, they just express themselves. That works great with expressionist style paintings, but many paintings must go through a planning stage. You need to find the right photo and composition and see what lends itself best to the particular style of painting you have in mind. Since I am experimenting with a more graphic style of painting, I am putting a little more time into planning a painting. I've selected my next project and it will be a painting of a lighthouse. It has a lot of dramatic shapes and lends itself well to this style of painting. I had a multitude of photos from which to select and decided on one that my sister sent to me. I'll have a print made and then rough in a sketch, select my color palette and start the fun part, the actual process of painting.