June Landscape - "Arohanui" and in the studio

About.com's painting project for the month is to do a landscape twice as long as it is high so I am painting one of the local churches which has a stunning ocean view from one direction and mountainous view from the other. All very mathematical initially - dividing the canvas into thirds for placement of horizon lines and objects (the taller figure is on an upright third - the ocean at the top on the horizontal third). There was something missing in the top right in the sky so I have decided to put a Maori kite in that corner so to get the placement where I wanted it once again maths with circles and triangles and strong diagonal lines.

.

So anyway - lines in blue chalk and initial sketch placement in yellow (I like chalk better than pencil as it does not show through at all in the final work and also is easier to shift things if you do not like where you put them.).

Two pics at the start of entry show the studio with the initial sketch and the work at the end of the first day (June 1). Pic below shows pic at end of first day - lots of work still to be done...