The process: reference photo to painting (Patreon)

I've selected the perfect reference photo for an archery painting! That's the easy part!

My next step is printing the image and drawing a grid on it. My grid will break the image into one inch squares.

That's where all the math comes in. In order to keep an accurate aspect ratio, I have to crunch some numbers. If I were painting this the exact same size as the photo, I wouldn't put much thought in. But I want this to be a larger painting! I'm thinking about 32 by 40 inches.

You'll notice that in my photo there's a sketch of a geometric shape. That is a sketch of the profile of brick molding. As you may have guessed, it's used for laying brick. But I use it for stretching canvas! I can build stretcher bars specific to my needs!

The next step in this process is building the frame and stretching the canvas, which I buy in bolts.

Once my canvas is stretched, and stapled, I'll cover it in gesso. Which protects the canvas and prepares it for paint.

Next , I'll draw a grid and begin sketching my reference photo. Each box from my photo is carefully sketched into its corresponding box on my canvas!

Finally, I'll paint!