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This is the initial sketch of an oil painting I'm currently working on. I began painting with indigo on a gessoed hardboard, from several photos of a specific location. In my photos, there wasn't much in the foreground, so my challenge was to create an interesting foreground that would develop the painting into an interesting composition. I began with a monochromatic sketch so I could concentrate on values.

The second day, I began adding color, working to retain the value pattern I established in the original sketch. Getting some ideas from the actual landscape, I began to develop an midground of native pinon trees and scrub oaks. I thought I'd try some old worn fenceposts in the near ground, with more shrubs, and grasses.

The next sessions involved developing the colors. I decided it was too blue and began to warm up the mountain slopes with some greenish hues, as well as purples.

Now I am at the point of deciding how much more I should do!

After taking a break from this painting, to work on others, as well as to put up a show at the local Ryus Ave. Bakery, I worked some more on the details and composition. I worked on the values of the middle ground trees, the grass & flowers in the foreground and the scrub oaks. Now I'm letting it rest some more before I decide whether it's finished.