Welcome to my studio! Here is a reference photo I took about two months ago when I visited the fishing port in Eureka, CA. I loved the complementary shapes of massed darks and lights in this image. Can you see them too? The darks are mainly in the right side plus lower left area. The light area is smaller, covering mainly the upper left area extending somewhat into the lower right. Now I am in the process of working out my composition and making notes about aspects of the image that I want to emphasize or change.

 As in this photo, I often crop and define my basic composition with the camera view finder. Seeing the world through the camera has helped me "see pictures" much better than I used to. I used a paper view finder then, but not nearly as often as I use my camera now. Once you have your painting skills developed, identifying your artistic  strengths and weaknesses becomes important to becoming a better painter. Once known, they can be worked with consciously.

Anyway I am very excited about expressing my delight with this intriguing fishing craft! Check back here for the next stage soon. Thanks for stopping by, Carol