I'm fascinated by the rocks in Leonardo's Virgin on the Rocks. It seemed that he had a formula for painting them as opposed to a mere image to copy from. I'm getting better at using that formula. The trick is no trick but a simple matter of observing enough rocks, building up a mental library of images so that when a random collection of light and dark patches is gazed upon the rocks appear there before the artist's eyes, just waiting for the highlights and shadows to be painted in.
In that way I painted my mountains for The First Grasp of Rebirth today. The underpainting in other parts is so well finished that I'm not sure if another layer is necessary. It would add more detail and depth and perhaps visual beauty, but the effect on the artistic message is negligible and a day's work is a day's work. I will ponder this on another day for tomorrow is Wednesday and my day of fun and relaxation at my art group!
