Here I've started the under painting using a mix of cobalt blue and cadmium red medium mixed with some Cremnitz white and thinned out with turpentine. The shapes are more distinct and its now clear how I've changed the design. The drawing that I did was more of a vertical and now the painting will be more of a horizontal.

On a 36"x42" linen canvas, I have put the drawing down with a pastel pencil and started to go over the main shapes with Veronese green oil color thinned with turpentine. I use the green color because it will still be visible even when I start putting in the underpainting.

I started this next painting in October of 2007. Its of my friend Nathan, aka Andy, whom I felt would be an excellent subject. And he didn't disappoint! After taking many photos of him, I chose two to combine for the painting. This is the pastel drawing that I did from the photos. I did the drawing to get a better idea of the composition and the color. As you will see in the next few posts I changed the composition quite a bit.