Hard pastel and alcohol underpainting

I decided to use hard pastel for my underpainting, rather than watercolor, as I want really rich color and plan to cover the entire surface with pastel. I wanted to get a rich dark behind the locust tree and I certainly got it!  The grasses inside the fence appear cooler

This next picture shows where I’m at right now. I’ve added pastel to the sky and house. My original thought was to put a brighter blue in the sky, but the photo influenced me and I went with a light, warm green, and some pale orange (not visible in this photo, I’m afraid). The roof of  the house is painted with a slightly cooler green that distinguishes it from the sky but keeps the values similar. There is more house right now than what I see in the photo and my plan is to add more foliage over it. I’ve used light applications of two values of cool green Girault on the house and have let the underpainting color show through. This adds more interest to the bland walls.  One of the things I notice at this point is that I’ve lost the angle of the upper fence–it needs to go down more on the left–and I will need to correct that. (Note: you might notice that the corners are taped. The board is stuck on foam core with artist’s tape, but it’s too heavy to stay and I find I need to tape the edges to keep if from landing on the floor!  I’ll finish the corners later.)