Here is a photo reference I decided to paint recently. (Materials: Pastel Mat white)

First, I analyzed the photo for interest as a painting. Applying Karen’s method:
Does it tell story I am excited about? Does it have an interesting arrangement of shapes? Do the shapes have clear values? Does it have an area that could be a clear focal point? YES!

Next, the “edit” step. This is the step where you go from photo replicator to artist.
E-njoy it? leave it in
D-istracting? Take it out
I-t? Make it the star
T-one it down if not important
There was nothing that I could say I didn’t enjoy, but the next step (Distracting) got several players kicked off the stage. The distant tree groupings were useful but not placed in a way that led into the painting focal point. The two large rocks right at the edge of the path also did not add to the journey but rather became somewhat of a blocking point. Sorry chaps, but, your services are no longer needed. The other thing I noticed that was not necessary to the story was the large expanse of sandy area in the foreground and all the cloud/sky height at the background. So, taking my trusty L-shaped mat pieces, I moved them around until the composition seemed good.

Next, taking the glassine paper, I laid it over the image and traced the large shapes. Then I took a dark marker, mid marker and letting the glassine paper represent the lightest areas, I did a value thumbnail. You can see it below on the left:

I didn’t like the way the value shapes worked as they did not lead to my chosen focal area which was where the clouds, sky, land and sea met, so I repeated the exercise changing the value arrangement slightly. (See above right thumbnail)

The value block in for the under painting is below. I used nupastels with an alcohol wash under
painting method.

Now I was ready to paint. The below image was what I had at the end of the session. At that point I called it quits, took a quick pic with my phone and walked away. I looked at it several times over the course of the evening to let it kind of cook. I call this my “crock pot” time. I taste it and let the flavors become savory but all the while I think about adjustments I may need to make to really tighten up the flavor.

I decided that the distant land areas were too warm and too bright which fought against the impression that they were, indeed, distant. Since that was the impression I was trying to portray, I needed to cool them down and lighten them up. Then I kept just a few splashes of the complementary orange to create a little excitement, cooled the green in the more distant areas, added just a few sandy path highlights, toned down the rocks along the right and took the path just a bit more to the right at the end to bring it to the focal point and that was it. That was my process. Not that I am a pro, but, it is a useful process for really getting where you want to go and for improving over time. I think I like the changes. What do you think?