Peace of the Day

What could be more enticing than layers of downy comfort on a warm, sunlit bed?  After a long, hectic drive on the Jersey Turnpike, this is the wonderful view that welcomed us to the Sleepy Hollow Country Club for my cousin's wedding this Fall.  It was definitely our peace of the day.

As I thought about painting this scene, I knew that I wanted to emphasize its strong light and dark patterns, so I started with a small "thumbnail" sketch to establish my values with dark, light, and medium.  This quick sketch was my road map for both an 8x10 study and a larger 12x24 painting.

 For both paintings, I began with a lightly toned canvas and basic placement of the elements, giving special attention to getting the perspective correct. 

The next steps involved adding color, focusing on warm and cool, while trying to be true to the values that I established in my initial thumbnail sketch.  If you squint at this final painting, you'll see that I managed to stay pretty close! :)
Peace of the Day, 8x10 Oil, framed (available)

For the larger painting, I decided to use a wider canvas for my composition, which I think worked really well:
Peace of the Day II, 12x24 Oil (available)