Process of Painting

For this 16x20 painting I started today with some of the prep work already completed - the initial layer of paint and the rough sketching of the rocks. 

I frequently start by painting the entire canvas with cadmium red light hue. This encourages warm undertones in the painting.

I then sketch in the outline in a deep purple a mixture of phthalocyanine blue and cadmium red deep hue. It looks like black, but I almost never use actual black paint.

From there I block in the other colors, building up highlights and shadows. ​

I try not to perfect any one area until the end since that could make my painting uneven.

Finished product at 9:49 am. When things are going well I can complete a painting very quickly with acrylic paint. When things don't go well there is a lot more pacing and muttering involved.