The Next Step for "Tea in the Hedge"

 

 

I've now gone as far as I'm planning to on the drawing for the "Tea in the Hedge" painting.  I've ordered a vintage frame from Etsy and the listing said that the inside dimension is 9 5/8" by 13 5/8".  I'm thinking she measured the actual opening on the frame rather than the size of the rabbet on the back, in which case, the painting itself would probably be 10" by 14".  But I'm not going to cut any board or go any further until I have the frame in hand and can be sure of the measurements.

 

Meanwhile, after drawing all this - what I consider to be - detail, I'm wondering how I will transfer the drawing to the board for an oil painting.  If I were working with acrylics, I'd work back to front and transfer the different elements as I needed them.  But I'm not sure I can work that way with oil.  For one thing, the paint might not be dry when I need to transfer, and for another I'm not sure whether the graphite paper impression would stick to oil.

 

So, I have a radical thought!  I think I might glue this drawing to the board then coat it will transparent gesso and go from there.  For the first layer, until I had all the elements established, I'd be painting around elements rather than over them.  In other words, I wouldn't paint the whole sky then paint the branches and leaves over it, but would paint the branches and then paint the sky in between.