The Process

The Evolution of Umbria Autumn

I painted Umbria Autumn in 2009 but recently reworked a section of the painting and eliminated the wall on the left. I thought a slide show of the process, from the first sketch to the final painting, would help illustrate my thinking process.

There are 12 images as follows:

1) Pencil Sketch - I always like to do an initial sketch of a painting. It helps me to eliminate design problems and to understand the composition.
2) Initial Layout on the Canvas - I do a line drawing first in one color but this is a little farther into the painting with the sky already painted.
3) Adding Color and Value - The depth of the painting is worked out with the values.
4) Working in the Background Hills - Here the richness of the colors are developed.
5) Completing the Foreground - The scale of the scene is established with the foreground.
6) Adding the Details - Getting the richness of the autumn landscape.
7) Refining the Details - Final touches to the mid-ground.

At this point I thought I was finished and had the painting hung in my studio. Over the next year, I started to realize that something was bothering me about the composition. I decided that I didn't like the wall on the left side of the painting and started to work on solutions. The next 4 images are different ideas I worked out on my computer even before I attempted to change the painting.

8) Replacing the Wall with Trees - I thought this version had too much green.
9) Extending the Cliff - This one seemed to only replace one problem (the walls) with another (the dominant cliff).
10) Extending the Horizon - This version seemed to lead the eye right off the canvas to the left.
11) Combination of 8, 9, and 10 - I finally decided that this was the best way to resolve the painting and finally took brush to canvas to make the changes.
12) Final Painting

I am much happier with the final version of the painting and hope you agree.