The whole idea for this particular painting started with an image of a moon and clouds which I saw for a split second on the TV weather report.

Inspiration can be peculiar!

Here's the first very rough sketch... trying to capture the image of the moon, the clouds, a fancy hat and mirrors..

Mostly I imagined the colors of the purple sky, the yellow moon and a green & blue interior...

With the next sketch I refined the elements... adding the lamp, the screen and more details.

This is just sort of 'free association' drawing... on a sheet of plain white paper.. 

Again, the sketch is further refined... more elements are clarified. Now the image has been reduced to about 40% of the size of the first drawings... using Photoshop.

Also I've switched over to tracing paper and place one sheet over the other.

I use extra layers of tissue paper in between to help to obscure the drawing beneath. Then I can see just enough to add more to the new drawing without being overwhelmed by the drawing beneath.

With each next sketch, the images change. Sometimes I don't like the changes... so I keep going back to the original sketches to make sure I keep all the things I like.

I might use Photoshop to pick out parts... switch them around... changing the size or angles.

Then I print it out and take it to the drawing table to redraw it again on heavier vellum tracing paper.

I didn't like the front figure... so I redrew it separately... and then added it in using Photoshop.

At last I arrive at the final pencil sketch. I use a heavy weight vellum tracing paper to draw this. There's lots of erasing and redrawing... but still I keep looking at the earlier sketches to make sure I don't stray from what I like about them.

I might take a break here and wait overnight to see how I feel about the drawing the next morning... keeps me from going ahead with something I'll regret.

Just because something is drawn with detail doesn't guarantee it's got any feeling to it. In fact often putting in too much drawing just removes the main emotional content.

Using a light box, I trace the drawing onto watercolor paper... this is a last chance to refine parts of the drawing. I keep a copy of the drawing beside the light box to choose how I want the finish drawing to appear... since it's often hard to actually see much through the watercolor paper.

I keep the line light at this point... it will all get touched up as a final step after the painting.

Sometimes (like in this case), before I actually start painting I make a color sample. I just open up the finish sketch in Photoshop and try out different color schemes.

It's a quick and easy way to avoid a major color disaster on the finished art. In the long run it probably saves time.

Photoshop works great to just zip through dozens of possible colors... and wait until something catches the eye.

And Voila! The finish painting...

I use acrylics which are thinned down to the consistency of heavy cream... to paint just like watercolors. The advantage is that the colors don't muddy with layers... and they can be inked and glazed over with washes without bleeding.

I build up the painting in layers... with the transparency of the colors working against the white of the paper. I work lightly at first, since it's easy to overdo the painting.

The last step is to touch up the pencil line with touches of ink (just little touches with full strength and diluted ink). Also I add in the highlights with gauche.

So there it is... simple as one two three.