This is a step-by-step demo of a painting I did of the Talisker Bay reference photo that is the inspiration for this month's[locked link]. I started with a continuous line drawing using ink.

If you look at the thumbnail sketches I did of the reference photo, you'll see that they all include the pebbles. And if you've been a reading my blog posts the past few months you'll know that I am currently enjoying drawing rocks and pebbles with [locked link]. So not really a surprise that this is what I decided to do for my project painting.

This is where I started, the very first bit of drawing, using the pipette from the bottle of acrylic ink as the drawing tool. I didn't sketch in any composition lines but had thought through where the horizon line would be and how far up the pebbles would extend. I think of it as "holding the composition in your mind's eye".

[locked image]

I worked my way across the bottom, then started moving up a little, into where there's shallow water across the sand and a few scattered pebbles.