Behind the Scenes - The Planning Behind a Painting

Some have expressed an enjoyment in seeing the "behind the scenes" of my work;

the Sneak-A-Peeks of my sketchbook and such...

so I have decided to begin a little series titled: "The Planning Behind a Painting"

I realized while working on my Visit To Elderberry Hedge 

post last week that it has been almost 3 years 

since I did the preliminary sketch for Nicholas' 

"Antiquities and Things Found" shop!

3 years!!

That's crazy!

It's high time I did something about it!!

So I'm determined to give Nicholas and his quaint shop their due

and I'm bringing you along on the journey!!

Let me introduce you to Nicholas:

Back in 2012 when Nicholas popped out of 

my pencil, I couldn't help but say, "Oh, hello!"

This is just a tiny sampling of some of the collected treasures from Nicholas' shop:

As I stated back in my original post: 

"Nicholas has been a long-time resident of Elderberry Hedge

and his curious shop, "Antiquities and Things Found" has long been

 a part of the village.  Nicholas comes from a long line of pack rats and...."

aaannnd, I left you hanging for 3 years!!

Okay, wait, let's just begin again shall we?

    Nicholas has been a long-time resident of Elderberry Hedge and his curious shop, "Antiquities and Things Found" has long been a part of the village.  Nicholas comes from a long line of pack rats who have been known for their ability to sniff out treasures most anywhere!  

    

    Nicholas' great-grandfather, Nicodemus, was a  fearless adventurer who in one day, scaled a small mountain, battled an angry vole over a plump and tasty tulip bulb, ran breathlessly from a pursuing hawk and in making one last ditch effort to escape dove under a toadstool encrusted log and there discovered a string of pearls - each pearl as big as his own head! The adventures of Nicodemus in the Large Canopied Forest and how he got that great string of pearls home, well those are other stories for other times!

    Late in his life, Nicodemus, wishing for one more great adventure, set sail on the nearby river. All was smooth sailing for several hours until a small mishap involving a sleeping otter caused a wee bit of a commotion, but the still-hearty adventurer was able, after some quick maneuvering and shouted apologies, to safely bring his sailing vessel to a nearby shore. Whilst dragging his boat aground, ol' Nico's foot slipped across the wet earth and hit something hard. Interest sparked, Nicodemus quickly secured his boat to a nearby reed and began to scrape away at the mud and soon unearthed a large silver dollar!  The idea of another treasure filling his head, the ol' pack rat sniffed and dug and scraped around the riverbank for the rest of the day and the result of his diligence? More than a dozen shining silver coins!

    It may be needless to say, but between the string of pearls, the multiple silver coins and several discovered treasures in between, Nicholas' family could happily adventure to their hearts content, for many generations, without much worrying about making ends meet back home!

    ...

And for today, that is where I must leave off.

More to come with future posts, as God wills.

So where does my painting stand as of this moment?

   

Well, this is the preliminary from June 2012:

 And here is my current under drawing of my painting (February 11, 2015):

(c) Catharine Fairchild 2015

I'm still working out the foreground (bottom left hand corner) and will be adding

subject matter to the paintings propped against the wall (under the window).

Definitely a work in progress!! ;)

Looking forward to sharing more about Nicholas and his shop 

through the coming days and weeks!

♥ Cath-