These artist’s notes are copyright to Graham Baker and may not be shared or copied without permission. Any enquiries, please email to grahambaker@gmail.com.
Our next and last in the series of four session paintings is the easiest, quickest and most realistic. This is the easiest of the four paintings. It is split into two distinct phases.
Sometimes it is a good idea to get both colour and black & white A4 copies. 
One for the colours, the other for clarity.
First I scale up the layout as we always do, transposing the image from the copy to the board. How simple the painting appears when it has been broken down to a pencil drawing. Just lines & shapes. At first glance it looked difficult.
Next I go over the pencil layout with fine painted lines. The images show the coming together of my monotone underpainting. Black & white and greys.
I am using a mahl stick. A straight edge will do. The most efficient and therefore the quickest way to go over so much detail is to put in all the vertical lines first. Then the horizontal lines. It is quick because we are not adjusting position much from line to line and several can be done without having to reload the brush. Also the artist has a clear view of where they are going next.
The paint is applied quite wet with a small liner brush. Water is OK to thin your paint down. Black paint can take the abuse and still have the opacity to cover the pencil lines.
The shadows, shading, form and line work is complete before the colour is introduced.
This way I can look carefully at tones without being distracted by the colours.
That’s the hard work finished and probably 75% of the painting as well. I have sprayed a matt fixative over the layout to keep it clean and avoid pulling up the lines. My colours are set out onto the palette, a decent amount of each so I am not held up reaching for more in the middle of blending. Near the colours I have a puddle of Hot Weather additive (extender) or water (thinner). I may need both.
Early stages of painting over the pencil lines. 
I have painted in the simple shapes and shading with a translucent wash and let them dry.
When I apply the colours I let them merge slightly. There are no boundaries for the colours. This is not a colouring-in exercise, it is not vital to stay in between the lines, use your layout as a guide only. Just follow the flow of the colours on your copy over your monotone layout.It is the translucent colours, applied natural and loose that give the effect we are after. I have started with a light tone over the rock walls adding a little more strength here and there. All wet.
The colours are different yet the tone levels are similar. 
All elements appear on the same plane.
The painting is a bit flat.
As I build up the strength of the tones including the greys for shadows the doorway is pushed back into its place behind the stairs. Along with more detailing to give us more depth of field.
I may have overworked this painting. Gone too far with the layering, it all looks a bit heavy. Turned into a different time of the day and the atmosphere has changed.
How simple was that, painting over the layout with fine lines and shadows, then colouring over the top with transparent tonal washes, finishing with detailing for strong contrasts.
These artist’s notes are copyright to Graham Baker and may not be shared or copied without permission. Any enquiries, please email to grahambaker@gmail.com.