This is a close up study of the barn structure. When I paint, I always start at the upper left-hand corner and work toward the lower right hand corner so as not to work over a previously painted area. This means that I have to know what I’m doing. Maybe I do and maybe I don’t. Since I work on a drawing board (because of my architectural background) it’s easy for me. I prefer to work this way because I can detail as much as I did when I worked as a draftsman. I have also worked vertically and like that also, but only when I do oil paintings.

Back to the painting. While the tin looks like white has been used here it in fact hasn’t. Various colors of gray are worked in with burnt sienna, raw umber, burnt umber, mars violet all do their dance across the canvas. Isn’t it wonderful to have control over something like this?

At some areas I have used stumps to press black color into the LaCarte. It is used as a background color under painting is another term and is similar to painting on black board. It’s just a feeling of doing what has to be done to achieve a finished product.

I didn’t like stumps until I started using them and found out what they could do. Now I use them frequently if I think about them.