I paint primarily in oil, usually from a photographic reference. Sometimes I use my other paintings as a reference and often paint plein aire. When I start, a painting, I draw, with paint, a basic design, then shape in darks and lights, then dive in with full color. My process is a bit chaotic and I have to constantly remind myself why I started this particular painting in the first place. The process takes me all over the place, and I get excited by a surprise color juxtaposition or a scale relationship, so I often change my mind in the middle of the painting and go in a different direction. I always return to the source which is the landscape around me, and it renews my excitement and wonder, slows me down, even, to see what's in front of me. My return to the source adds another layer not just to the visual information but to the feeling I get while looking at the place around me. I'm never disappointed.