Today at the Studio

I thought I would share a bit of my painting process today. I worked on several paintings in this series today, but spent the most time getting this one started. I had previously laid down the base color on this 12x12 stretched canvas. The base color is actually several layers of paint...it's all a process! 

Today I started by using a white chalk pencil to lay out the design of the painting--just a light outline so I can image how the finished painting will look. I'm doing this more and more...it's easy to erase and it's only a guide. When I start painting, things sometimes change!

After I was happy with the outline, I started laying down the green of the leaves/vines...

I go back and add more color and detail to the leaves...it's hard to tell in the picture, but I used a bit of gold to highlight the leaves.

Once I was finished with the leaves/vines, I moved on to laying down some color for the flowers and laying down a off-white base for the bird. This included two layers of color to help me reach the intensity of color I'm after. I will still add another layer of color before adding the details to the flowers and bird.

At this point, I was done with the painting for the day. Sometimes you need to step back for a day...plus paint needs to dry thoroughly before you keep adding layers. 

But I switched gears a bit and continued work on some other paintings in this series. It was a productive day! 

My only problem--I still need a name for this series! Any suggestions?