More France Studies....

I've decided to post a couple of studies in preparation for my upcoming workshop next weekend, "Painting Small to Large". I wanted to paint some samples to share with the class to help them understand my process..
These pieces are just very small, 8x6's and 8x10's that I will use to demonstrate painting a large painting from a small study. I painted them to decide on the value plan and color design that I plan to use.

 This is from a photo I took in Lagrasse, France. It is a beautiful ancient city with a working Abbey and an old bridge. I took the photo from the bridge. I wanted to paint this small and make decisions about the color plan for my larger painting.

 I painted this value study before I painted the color study, to plan my values in advance. I had a piece that I painted that day, but unfortunately it got carried away in a wind gust and was ruined.. I was painting inside the square and thought I was in a relatively safe spot. But one gust and that was it! It was very hot up on the bridge where I took this photo, with no shade. So, sometimes ya gotta go with a photo. I have to say though, that it is more difficult to paint from a photo without plenty of plein air experience.

This one is in Limoux. We walked across this bridge every day and I loved this view. If you want to learn how to make a small painting large, there's still time to join us next weekend at Patris Studio..