Color Studies and Thumbnails

Fog Color Study, 5 x 7 on wallis paper

I have written before about the value of color studies and thumbnails.  I did two quick color studies for the piece featured in yesterday's post "Cape Cod Fog."    I like both these color studies but ended up doing a kind of mix of both for the final piece.  I also violated one of the basic rules of doing thumbnails (not that there are really any "rules"):  use the same surface for your finished piece that you used for your thumbnail.  That should be obvious but I ignored it.  

Fog Color Study 2, 5 x 7 on wallis paper

I used wallis sanded paper for the two studies and my homemade sanded paper for the finished piece because I wanted a little more texture.  The two surfaces are very different both in texture and pastel application.  It's kind of like the difference between fine portrait linen and rough textured cotton or other material.  I do like the finished piece but I think I would have preferred the more painterly effect from the first study that was done on the wallis paper.  All of these pieces are available at the Mark Twain Show until next week.  The little color studies are sold unframed.