KOI STUDY #1
oil on panel
4 1/2" x 4 1/2"

Quick sketch using layers of thin paint on panel with thick gesso. Worked first layers almost like watercolor and lifted highlights. Like how the brush stroke marks of the gesso show through. Koi are fun to paint. This one is from a reference photo I shot at Selby Gardens in Sarasota. First the pond bottom is painted, then the koi and its shadow, next sky and reflections on the water surface, then the floating leaf. Selby's pond bottom was murky mud, I cleaned it up a bit and added pebbles.