Here is a recent 12″x16″ watercolor landscape that I posted in the watercolor gallery. This one was painted on Arches 140 lb. rough paper.

For most of my paintings I begin with a small thumbnail sketch to work out the composition of the piece. Once I’m happy with that, I’ll draw it out loosely on the paper or canvas. In the process of painting I almost always stray a bit from my original drawing or the concept I originally picture in my mind, but I generally stick to the same basic composition.

This painting went a little differently. I originally intended for the barn in the distance to be the focal point. This was based on a photo reference with the barn in the middle ground. When I put the drawing on the watercolor paper it just didn’t feel right, so I ended up pushing the barn to the distance and inventing a new foreground with the tree on the right becoming more of a focal point. I think the end result is a more interesting image.