Strike the Arabesque

The canvas is stretched, stained, and ready to go (and been sitting for a couple of months...bathroom remodel is my excuse).  The subject matter has been chosen.  I'll be working from a photograph for this particular piece.  Now I decide how I want the scene to lay out on the canvas.  In this instance, I really like the layout/composition as photographed so I will not rearrange much. 

After some basic marks of where I will locate the major focal points, I need to strike the arabesque.  The arabesque is the outline/shape of the object with proper proportions, it is typically drawn using a series of short strait lines.  Scale and proportion must be considered and used appropriately to convey a realistic appearance.  This is where all the practice of drawing from life helps to simplify the process.  You let the eye guide the hand, this is a very "right brain" experience.  

Here is an example of how the arabesque might look in relation to the object:

Sample Arabesque

Once this is sketched to the canvas I can start mixing color and painting or draw in more detail that I want to be sure not to miss while painting.  I'm usually too anxious and start painting at this point adding the details as I paint...we'll see what happens.

This is the canvas with the very basic arabesque and landmarks sketched in ( I will do some refining later):

Arabesque and basic landmarks added to canvas

Thank you for looking,
Rob