Stage 6; I am working my way through the green seaweed areas, bringing them up to a finished level. The following sequence shows the development of one area towards the bottom right. At this stage I only have the basic blocked in colour with very little form, light or shade.

Stage 5; I've started adding some form and detail to the slimy, green seaweed and the mud. I'm working mainly from my field painting and from memory. Sitting for a couple of hours infront of the subject and accutely analysing the colours and forms of seaweed, mud and rocks in order to complete the field painting commits a lot of information to memory that can then be drawn on when executing the finished work. A few digital photos taken at the time help with details that there isn't time to get down in the field.

Stage 4: I've finished blocking in the shelducks and their reflections, so the next stage is to start painting the background to a suitable level of finish.

Stage 3; I've finished blocking in the main areas of colour, except for the ducks themselves, and when this is dry I can start painting in some texture, light and detail. At this stage I can stand back and really see if the painting is working.
I'm working from a field painting made on the spot, although I've changed some of the elements around in this studio painting for a more pleasing composition. Sometimes a real life scene will present itself to be painted almost without any changes or editting required, at other times a picture will be the result of certain elements of the landscape rearranged in the artist's mind to evoke the nature of a place or a habitat.

Stage 2; I've started blocking in the areas of water and mud and will attempt to cover the whole picture with 'local colour' today to quickly give me an idea of how the picture will look and if it needs any compositional changes.

Shelduck; stage 1

Stage 1; This will be an oil painting 48" x 24" and on day one I have roughed out the composition in thin oil paint. I will let this dry for a few days before working on it again.