This was painted over a two value underpainting. The advantage of starting with a two value underpainting is you automatically set up a very strong light /dark relationship. It's easy to intrepret subjects into two values simply by squinting at your subject. I forgot to photograph the underpainting so I recreated it in paintshop. (see below) Note how much information about the subject is communicated with just two values. The lights in the underpainting were painted with a mix of burnt sienna and alizarin crimson. The dark was just a dark grey which was then tinted with the light mixture. I then palette mixed and painted in the various home colors. To help control saturation, I used thin washes of paint over the sky and light areas of the gravel, and thicker applications in the grasses and buildings. It's 11x14 on canvas panel.
This is a photoshop recreation of the two value underpainting:
Reference Photo:
