Blocking in the Background

After a several week break for a cruise with the family, a bunch of days (and nights) at the regular job, a painting for charity and a painting for a baby nursery (congrats, Melissa, I expect that the baby has arrived by now), I'm finally back to this one.  If I get started on a project and don't have many intervening obligations, they go quickly, but once I get distracted it's often diffucult to get back into the swing.  I have another portrait that I've been itching to do and I almost started it today instead of getting back to this one.  I had to give myself a little mental push to keep my focus.  I have sometimes had more than one painting going at a time, and I suppose if I didn't have the forced breaks to go to work, I would do it more, if for no other reason than to have something to do while I waited for a layer of paint to dry.

Which brings us to where we are today.  I have blocked in the background with a thin layer of paint.  This layer is intended to get the basic lights and darks without specific color or detail.  After this dries completely, I'll add another layer to start deepening the tones and begin to add more color.  I don't have time today to do the same with the foreground figure, but will get to that in the next session or two.

As I was painting the white upper background, I got the idea to use a mountain scene from the summer trip my son took to Philmont Scout Ranch in Arizona this summer.  So, before I paint again, I'll be looking for a photo to incorporate into the background.  I love the way these things evolve!