In The Beginning

One question I get is how do you do it?  First comes an idea, which is sometimes the hard part.  I have lots of ideas, but they don't all turn into paintings.  Next I set up a still life (or go outside to find something I'd like to draw) & take photographs.  I often take 50 or more!  There's that delete button, so it doesn't matter how many I take - and more photos mean more possibilities.  I set this one up on a large white foam board.  You can see the desk lamp in the back right of this photo.  I wanted back lighting for long dramatic shadows.  Then I take a look at them on my computer, in Picasa. http://picasa.google.com/  It's a free photo editing software download and it's really good.  I fine tune the photo, resize & crop.  One of the set up photos is above and here's the finished drawing.