Two days of sketching

 Since painting outside I haven't had the time to sit down and paint. The time to set up and get started just hasn't  presented itself. So the last two days I've had my sketchbook out drawing thumbnails and value studies for large paintings. Typically I spend anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour drawing a day to keep that skill from diminishing. The last two days I've been drawing for more than two hours. Usually it comes in 10-20 minute intervals though. The top thumbnail is from my front porch looking into the back yard. The second is from a photo of the Beverly shores train station. The last three are from photos taken from the top of Mt. Baldy at the dunes. Two of those final sketches are just variations on each other. The last thumbnail I've drawn close to thirty variations over the last couple of days and it will definitely become a large painting. These drawings usually take 1-2 minutes to do and will be used to make contour and value studies from. With as many variations as were done this should mean a fairly smooth process leading to a final painting. Doing these thumbnails and value studies have saved me a lot of time when it comes to finishing a piece.