City of the Sky People - stage 8

Probably finished the city barring a few later tweaks and have now put in some colour underpainting on the river meander landscape. I misted over the top of the city to make it look like it was virtually in the clouds and blurred the edges of the left side of the city to make it recede. I have chosen a few areas where the sun has broken through the clouds on the foreground landscape.

City of the Sky People - stage 7

Not really a stage, just the result of an hour's work this morning before being away from the studio back on Saturday/Sunday. Just worked a bit more on the city including a start on the very top which will get knocked back a bit and slightly mistier on my return.

City of the Sky People - stage 6

Working on the city itself now. While I was away from the studio I decided to have one area of the city illuminated by the sun through a gap in the clouds and chose the area near the approach. There might just be some sunlight on the top too, I will decide overnight for tomorrow morning's painting session.

City of the Sky People - stage 5

Worked on finishing the sky this morning (subtle changes) including adding definition and tones to the thunder cloud anvil at left. I then blocked in some architecture and land definition to the city and the approaching ridge. I will be away from the studio today, back on Tuesday which will give me time to think about the way I'm going to paint the city and the colours that I am going to use when I get back.

City of the Sky People - stage 4

Sorted out the sky today including a bit of a redesign of the clouds and the basic shape of the city. I will have a final tweak of the sky tomorrow morning before I am away for a couple of days.

City of the Sky People - stage 3

In the couple of hours I had this morning before being away from the studio back Friday, I have roughly painted in the colour underpainting for the sky and distant cliffs. I want a cold somewhat desolate sky and landscape so I'm using cool blue mixes with Zinc White, Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Violet and Ultramarine Blue.

City of the Sky People - stages 1 & 2

Stage 1

As mentioned in my previous post I intended to paint a more naturalistic sky and landscape but with much more of a Fantasy content so I came up with this: an imaginary city set in a cold and desolate landscape against a big sky, this time painted in more cold, naturalistic colours.
The river meanders are influenced by Cuckmere Haven, an iconic landscape half an hour away from where I live in East Sussex UK. I think I'm channeling a battleship's conning tower for the city!
The first stage was "drawn" up with a small bristle brush using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Winsor Violet thinned with Liquin, Lukas Number 5 medium and turpentine. The Lukas Medium was used to speed the drying time so that the morning session for stage 1 was dry enough for the application of a tonal underpainting in the afternoon. This used the same paint mix but with more turpentine so that it could be applied with a rag.

Stage 2