I figured out that I could paint from looking at the photos on my computer screen. It is a little annoying that I have to keep waking it up, but I can deal with some annoyance.

As I worked on this, several parts were not visible. So, I stepped out my door.

Would you look at that! Poppies on the hillside, poppy paintings drying on the steps. Poppies everywhere.

It’s pretty handy to just look out the door at the configuration and colors of the hillside I am painting. There have been California poppies on this ridge since late February, so it doesn’t matter where I put them in the painting. They keep showing up (popping up?) in new patches up there.

Painting from back to front is the normal method for oil. That means the furthest thing first – the sky; the hills come next. That paper has a sketch of the various hill details that I made while standing outside. I leaned two jar lids against it on the easel so it would stay put while I used it for reference.

Halfway through the day, the mail came and there was my long-awaited photo! Stay tuned, because more will be revealed in the fullness of time.

Tomorrow, I’ll show you more of the beauty of Three Rivers in the spring.