Beginning a new piece

I don't generally use a ruler. But if there are really long

lines in the painting, or a lot of perspective that needs to

be really right, it saves me a lot of trouble if I find something

needs changing after I get into applying paint!

The thing is, doing this before I start painting gives me the

control I need to get it down right. Then I follow those drawn

lines with careful application of paint (but no ruler), and it

doesn't look mechanical because of the aliveness of my hand

and body movement, however slight. Doing it this way gives

life to those lines.

This is the beginning of a cafe scene at night. I love the bike

which has its own perspective challenges!

In order for this painting to have the composition I wanted

I added pieces of paper to the edges of the photo.

If you go to my teaching blog, you can find out more.

The link is on the right side of this page....Teacher Tips.