Southern American Realism

On most paintings, I usually do a study either in pencil or in watercolor to get the feel of what I want out of the finished painting. For the egg tempra "Mariah" I did two pencil studies and this watercolor study. On this particular study, I was trying to get placement and a hint of color...........not so much of a detailed likeness or finished product. These studies are important on giving you a hint of how the finished painting will look and also you use these as a scale of how large the original painting will be. This watercolor study was done in about two hours time. The original egg tempra "Mariah" was six months in the making.