Waikaremoana from Panekiri Bluff

I have been commissioned to paint a large panorama of Lake Waikaremoana from Panekiri Bluff. I will post progress photos of this painting on this blog for those who are interested in viewing the process as a tutorial. The client has a bach at Onepoto, a little village in the bush by the lake. I drove the 500km from Wellington two months ago to tramp up the Panekiri Bluff to take panorama photos of the amazing views. I also arranged to meet friends there and we kayaked the beautiful Ruakituri River and the Hopuruahine Stream (see the separate post with some great photos).

Below is the panorama photo of the lake that I am painting. It is composed of about 5 photos. Click on any image below to enlarge it.

1.7.11 Waikaremoana 1: The first photo in the sequence shows the pencil drawing of the grid that I abstract from the photograph above (more work than it looks). I get this enlarged to the size of the canvas and then transfer it onto the canvas using chalk as 'carbon paper'.

2.7.11 Waikaremoana 2: I have transferred the grid onto the new canvas and I am now ready to begin painting. The canvas measures approximately 2m x 0.7m.

9.7.11 Waikaremoana 3: I have made a start on the background hills.

13.7.11 Waikaremoana 4: Further development of background hills and some fiddly sections of the lake.

14.7.11 Waikaremoana 5

20.7.11 Waikaremoana 6: The background hills are complete, bar a bit of twiddling with colours. I have made a start on the lake and will complete this as the next step.