:: How I pick a subject as a series ::

One thing I really love about living here in Sequim is that we get some of the most amazing skies!  

This area is known as The Blue Hole.  We can have beautiful sun and blue sky above us and if you look out at the surrounding areas you would swear that a storm was brewing.  

A lot of times when I decide to upon a painting subject I choose to do some studies of it first. I need to become familiar with the scene before I try to capture it in something other than a sketch.  

Sky to the southeast over Bell Hill

About a month ago I took this photo in the late afternoon.  It started getting dark out and looked like it was going to rain off to the south east.  If you look at the upper right hand corner you can see the blue sky ... the blue hole.

Ink sketch 

I wanted to see if I could create the same drama on paper using my pen and paper.  It just doesn't feel the same as what I saw in the sky.  I see lines with no drama.

Marker sketch 

Then I decided to try using markers to create some emotion that read like the photo and sky that I saw.

Sky Over Bell Hill, 6" x 8", oil on canvas panel, © Nancy Van Blaricom

Finally I got out my oils and decided to do a color sketch. My sky didn't show the drama I saw but I did enjoy getting my brush in the oils and producing all the color in the sky.

The sketching in pen, marker and oils can usually let me know if I want to continue with a series or not.

How do you pick a series to work on? Do you keep working on one scene until you feel you got it right and then move on?  Or ... do you even work in a series?