Breaking Down the Painting Process: Chevy Chase Commission

After a long hiatus, I'm finally back with another painting update/"breaking down the painting process" post. Why the long break? Because I was working on this commission (see below) and it's quite a large painting, so it took me a while to finish (!). So anyhoo, I'm finally done, the painting has been gifted to it's new owner (was a surprise gift!), and I'm ready to share what I've been working on :) 

Read on for a glimpse into the painting process...

The first step? The commissioner (my friend, Sara) gave me a bunch of photographs to work from. We met, and discussed what she wanted. Then, I came up with this to-scale sketch, to give her an idea of what I was thinking, composition-wise.

Once she approved, I started on the painting. I did a blue underpainting (basically a sketch in paint), and then began adding the basic color blocks/shapes of the buildings.

From there, I began to add more details--the lines in the sidewalk, the bricks on the movie theatre, the flowers and fruits in front of the grocery store.

Then I just continued to add layers, details, and shadows (sorry for the glare in the corner of this pic!)...

And continuing with the details...you can see I started adding leaves to the trees, reflections in the windows, signs to the produce in front of the grocery, etc.

The finished product! The painting is 24" x 30."

So there you have it! I hope you find the progression as interesting as I do...I didn't always document the progress of my paintings, but now that I'm doing so, I find it really fascinating to look back at once I'm done :)

Speaking of paintings, I've added a couple of small mixed media pieces to my Etsy shop, and am excited to announce that I'll be selling prints (i.e. affordable versions) of my work *very soon.* I'll keep you updated and let you know once they're available! As you can tell, I'm excited...

Hope you have an inspirational day!

Namaste,
Mary Catherine