From concept to paper

So I took my sketch and enlarged it to the dimensions I would need to create a full sized puzzle image, approx. 20 x 27.  Here again is the original B+W sketch: 

and here is the full-sized line drawing for the actual painting:

As you can see there are some significant changes though it may be harder to "read" them in this line drawing. Starting at the lower left and working clock-wise:
- I added a leafy gazebo to make that corner more interesting
- I changed the windows and door details on the big willow house so that they were more detailed and interesting and made a few more pathways connecting the house features to other parts of the image
- I added a lot of vines going up the willow for colour and texture
- I knew there will be people on the bridge above but they are not yet in the drawing
- I reluctantly removed the pea-pod boat because the scale of it was not right
- the distant arched bridge was removed to make room for more foliage and butterflies
- ferns were added to the massive root system of the right-hand house that is hidden under the roots
- the flowers in the foreground were changed from Snowdrops to a variety called Fairy Lanterns, a species from the American Northwest.

 Having sent this drawing to and gotten approval from the art director, I transferred it to the stretched watercolour paper and prepared to get started... stay tuned for the next post when the first layers of colour go down and you can see how the painting begins to develop!

    But because we have so far to go, let me give you just a teensie peek at a section of the painting as it looks fully finished! Here is where we are headed!