Kamloops is the city of big amazing skies! This next 3x5 ft painting is all about the sky. The photo I took as you can see wasn't a good one at all but it had this ominousness stormy look to it with a beautiful light on the North Thompson.  The dark foreground also heightened the drama and intense contrast.
The sketch is pretty detailed as you can see and I added my own creative lines just as a starting point. I'm a believer in a good map of where your journey is going. Diversions are going to happen and that is the fun and creative part.
After toning the canvas the first section was completed in a few days. You can see I've changed the foreground tree line already. The sky has to be done in one day so a good nights sleep and an early start are necessary! Hopefully my dog won't decide to go outside 4 times through the night like last night! grrrr! I really have to have my brain wrapped around what my plans are like colours , tones and how much light etc. I want and where. It's kind of like sky diving (not that I've ever done that or ever will!) you just jump in (out)!
I want to paint the mountains also at the same time so I can soften the edges between the sky and hills.

'My Favorite Corner' 3x5ft,  a Kamloops urban scene is finished other than waiting till it drys so I can adjust a few things.  I love doing commissions for many reasons, I love seeing happy clients, I love the challenge of composing a painting will all the elements the client wants in their painting and of course its a guaranteed sale!  The client I'm painting these 8 large paintings for has only given me one criteria, they have to be all about Kamloops which is fabulous because I have alot of creative freedom.
I was taking this photo and my client just happened to come out of his building and walked across the street, so (with permission) he became a part of this piece!
I'm asked how I paint reflective surfaces like these cars. My reply is, as simply as you can get away with. Reflective surfaces are really just a combination of coloured shapes like putting a puzzle together. The one skill that you do need is the ability to mix colours you see. I encourage all my students to get to know their tube colours, like a marriage spend lots of quality time with them.
Technical stuff: foreground shadow on the street had to be painted wet into wet to achieve the diffused light. I painted the darks first then went in to paint the light. Working back and forth  I adjusted values and softened edges. The sky gave me a little grief. I had the clouds quite distinct and obvious and it drew too much attention so I had a nape and then grabbed a 3 in. brush and swiped from left to right blurring the whole sky... bingo, the look I wanted!