There are several commissioned paintings that need to be done before the mural begins. This is not one of them – it is a commission, but the commissioner said, “No Hurry”. (music to my ears!) He has a great 16×20″ photo of Sawtooth with Mineral Peak behind it and has been wanting a painting. His vision is a panorama shaped painting on wrapped canvas. I looked up available sizes, and he chose 18×36″. I cropped his photo using brown craft paper and began to outline the shapes in a gray-blue color.
Next, I turned both pieces upside down, changed to a reddish brown, and corrected the shapes. Sounds crazy, but it works! Why? When it is right side up my brain tells my eye “You know what Sawtooth looks like; just draw it!” When it is upside down, my eye says “A little longer here, a little wider there, this is in line with that, that is to the right of this. . .” while my brain says, “Hunh?”
