I received a commission to paint a car from a photo. I thought the composition of the photo was interesting so I did not change anything in that regard. To scale up the photo to the full size 16×20 inch canvas, I used a grid. I did this by taking the photo into software and dividing the photo vertical and horizontal in half with a line until I had 16 squares. Then I drew the grid on a blank canvas with diluted paint. Next, I compared the grids of the photo and canvas and drew what was in each square with black paint.
After that dried, I painted basic color mid-tones and fixed up some lines. The green of the car was a large area to paint in this step. Next, I added very dark areas below the bumper and on the shaded side of the car. I started painting the stones dark near the car where there is a shadow and lightened them up as I went away from the car. Then I added the lighter highlights and finished up the background colors. Once this dried, I added two layers of gloss acrylic varnish to give it protection and shine.