My painting process begins with a very loose sketch to plan the composition followed by an underpainting to block in masses of shapes. When painting in oils, the underpainting is a loose wash in three to four values, sometimes in color, other times all in a burnt reddish orange. When painting in pastel, I also do an underpainting but then I begin with hard pastels washed with water. At times I will substitute thin washes of oil for the hard pastels in this layer. Once the underpainting drys, I build layers of soft pastel over top. My pastels are all painted on Wallis sanded paper.
All of my paintings are done en plein air. This is a great challenge that I feel brings a great deal of truth to the process. There are no photographs to paint from, just the joy of observation and interpretation at that exact moment.
