Here's the painting resulting from these studies:

A Place to Sing      Oil on Canvas

Doing studies has taught me that there are at least three layers of seeing asking for exploration before a painting begins: 

 1. There's the first impression, whatever it is that causes us to choose a subject.  If I dive right into the painting at this point, things go into a default mode, meaning the painting might or might not be successful. 

 2.  There's the value analysis, how the shadows and areas not in shadow are arranged.  This is where the notan comes in for me.  By squinting my eyes and doing several thumbnail size notan drawings, I am able to get the spirit of light and shadow and find the value pattern that will make a strong painting. This level of seeing is also where I find the composition of shapes.

3.  There's the color analysis, finding a palette of colors that will best interpret what I'm seeing and feeling about the scene.  This is where I decide whether an analogous, a complementary, a double-split complementary or another palette scheme will work best give harmony to the interpretation.  I might do several experiments before I find the right combination.

Here's another approach to doing studies:

On these pages I am searching.  I am moving from scene to scene and with notan drawings and color studies, exploring what's there.  Among these, I might or might not find a painting.  With this series of studies, I found three paintings.

TIP: Whether painting in plein air or in the studio, artists often will dive right in to their painting without first getting to know their subject.  Actually, this doesn't make a lot of sense when we consider that in every other endeavor, we value practice time.  Professional golfers spend hours off the course practicing individual moves and strokes.  Theater performances require multiple rehearsals.  Concert pianists practice every day.  So why not visual artists?  

Dianne