Finally, painting again.

The last 2 months have been non-stop computer/Photoshop work, and that's great. Because of the work and deadlines involved, naturally I've had to let this sit, but in the last week, I would step away from the computer a bit and almost therapeutically, get the ball rolling on this painting. What a great feeling! 

I joked elsewhere that my dreams started taking on a virtual reality within Photoshop, and that doesn't exactly leave you feeling rested when you wake up in the morning. Now that my deadline is behind me, I've been taking some time and rearranging my painting area, and getting this canvas prepped.

It's going to be a drive-in theater as seen from the viewpoint of a passing car...or at least from the outside, looking in from the road. The horizon line strictly follows the Rule of Thirds, and I find myself doing that instinctively more than foreplanning. I intend to keep the brush strokes loose on this, but right now, that horizon line is razor sharp. Over time, that will probably change. 

What we have here is 20" tall by 60" wide. I've sketched out the basics in charcoal, and most of that is wiped away as I am drawing details in with a brush and a clear dark glaze. The sky area has been covered in a pearlescent glaze, with further layers of color to be laid over that. Everything else is being built up in layers of dark monochromatic glaze, with color eventually being introduced through glazes, drybrushing and scumbling.

The snack bar/projection house is too centered for my liking, but when I sketched out that little box and the projection screen, it took on a better composition, so I have every faith that will work itself out, you'll see.......the right side in the sketch also featured a distant mountain with gradual slopes, but I have a couple other ideas brewing for that side, at the moment. I'll be taking pics as I go along here, and posting progress. I expect that this will be done in a week.

My goal is to have this all somewhat backlit by the night sky, distant lights of a town on the horizon, no foreground lights, no cars in the theater, yet an image being projected faintly onto the screen.  Things may evolve and take on a life of their own, but that's the plan I hope to stick to.