The Painting Begins!

So I'm finally going to start the painting project I mentioned a bazillion years ago (or last month - whenever). I'm going to paint a picture for my sister Cayce. It will be in her living room for all to see... assuming it doesn't turn out looking like yesterday's trash...

We finally (we meaning them not me) decided on size, layout and content.
And the verdict was a triptych!
A 30 x 30 middle square with 15 x 30 rectangles on either side. The painting will be a romantic Venice theme. Scott, the brother in law, went to Italy at some point and took lots of photos, some of which were at strange angles for some odd reason (inside joke folks, ask Cayce about her husband's photo theory). Anyway - we went through the photo album and found lots of pictures for me to reference for the three pieces. I think there will be some sort of passage way in the center square, a bridge over a water way flanked by buildings. One side piece will have a doorway above the water. The other side piece will have an arched window on an interesting wall. All in very romantic Tuscan colors and hopefully it won't suck.

So to begin the documentation of the project I will include for you the very first stage... the FINALLY cut boards!


And here are the paint sketches for the first two panels:

***Cayce: please feel free to critique or dictate changes if you see something that isn't to your liking - this will, after all, be large and in charge in your living room.***