When painting from reference photos, do you copy what you see? The answer is a resounding NO unless the reference photo makes for a perfect painting.

This has never happened in my painting excursions here on this tiny Greek island. I suppose there are some places where you do need to paint what you see, such as the Tetons or the Taj Mahal, but usually you need to make a few changes.

That's what I'm doing here establishing the large dark mass and the gazillion rocks that are in the actual scene.

This is a timelapse, and so limited in information, but it is enough to see how I begin to create a rock pattern within this dark, abstract shape, and lay in a rock "pathway" to help move the eye through this mass and up to the areas of interest I intend on painting.

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