View of Mill Through a Window (Oil Bar with Digital Overlay)

View of Mill Through a Window (Oil Bar Painting with Digital Overlay) Originally uploaded by randubnick

Before returning the studio to continue working on this painting of the mills in Manchester, I decided to do a digital overlay to try out some color changes. I knew I wanted the building to have more red and purple tones. I was also searching for the right color for the window blinds that would be more subtle but would work with the surrounding colors. With the time pressure of the upcoming show, I thought that trying out the colors digitally would eliminate some trial and error on the canvas. Painting and re-painting is time-consuming in itself, but even worse, can wreak havoc with drying time. So I opened the image in Painter IX, and used digital pastel to change the colors of the building and the window blinds. By the time I finished the digital overlay, I had arrived at the colors in this image as a solution. I printed this image out and took it along to my next painting session in the studio.