Sort:  

Thank you! Yes, I took my photo reference and pumped up the saturation in photoshop, and used that as a starting point. From there I tried to exaggerate even more to push the colors as far as my paint will allow. Photoshop is a great way to get a sense of where I'm headed, but I do that computer work quick and sloppy--I try and not get distracted by the tool too much because I I'd rather be painting.

I agree with you on that, the computer gets some kind of reference in place and then rest is worked out on canvas. Often I am working from black and white references and then I have to take and educated guess of where to take it. I may look at other images for colour references to figure the whole thing out.

B&W....I imagine there is freedom in that. As long as your values are good, lots of color possibilities!

I must admit I am still training my eye with judging values. Colourising a B&W has its challenges if I'm aiming for a "natural" result.