The process of creating a new painting varies a little depending upon medium and subject but these images should give an idea into how changes are sometimes made and generally showing that the painting evolves throughout until the finished piece is arrived at.
Initially, I visited the subject matter and spent a lot of time observing and photographing. These images were then edited with the most interesting and useable compositions placed in a separate file on my computer to be called upon as time and inspiration allowed.
In most cases I will produce a few compositional sketches. Sometimes they will be very quick boxes of shapes to give me an idea of the balance of the composition and tweaked until I'm satisfied. I'll often then complete a more detailed sketch but sometimes I'll just go straight in, confident that the painting will start to come alive. As you can see with the two America's Cup paintings, changes have been made during the painting process. This is a benefit of oil painting that isn't afforded so much to watercolour painting where I have in the past painted the full composition more than once before I have been satisfied with the end result.
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