In Progress-Finding my BIg Style-22x28

just started another 22x28 and thought i'd take you along for the ride. this first shot is the block-in using my bastardized version of the cape school technique. the orange you see all over is the original wash color. then i put the darks in with alizarin crimson and the light lights with yellow (and in the water, some white) i try real hard to leave white out of my underpainting colors because it tends to lock down the painting too early. it also starts to cool and gray shapes. i want the opposite to happen.

further along in the process you can see where i'm putting saturated color over the underpainting. i'm using very large brushes (2" down to 3/4") i'm correcting the initial drawing. also very cognizant of whats in the light and whats in shadow and reflecting this in the differences between their respective values .this gives you the structure for the painting. as you can see, an underpainting with the right values and shapes will nearly look finished in an image on the computer (or digital pic) or when i stand back a distance. if it doesnt read well from 12 feet away you better stop and regroup and work on that before you even think about taking out smaller brushes