Progressive painting: Acrylic on canvas- HOME

Here's my most recent painting! 

I just got to give it to my amazing friend Cindy for her birthday.

This her and her husband Brian's house that they've been in for over 18 years.

So here's how it went. :)

My canvas is 1ft by 3ft.

I did 3 coats of Gesso. Canvases usually come pre-gessoed, but I prefer to do enough coats to cover some of the canvas texture.

Here's my genius idea for between coats, waiting for each to dry, I won't want to wash my brush every time or let it dry out: 

Canvas drying:

Then I draw it out on the canvas (very lightly, otherwise the graphite from your pencil can get into your paint and make life miserable, especially for lighter colors)

Sky and roof:

Once I got the main colors of the house, I moved onto the foliage. I did quite a bit of detail in the house but knew I'd go back later to add more shadows and highlights.

Then the main portions of the tree branches and the foliage that was farthest away.

Then I started on the grass and underpainting for the driveway.

More detail on.....all of it.

And then the trees.....

More detail in the grass...

And more detail in the distant trees...

Once it's finished add a protective coat. I use Krylon Crystal Clear spray fixative. 3 coats

And.....here it is: