1. The first stage is a clear precise lineal drawing on a board or paper.
It outlines the composition and arranges the main figure and the rug pool.
Gary Wood’s reference materials are from his first hand experience with Gallop Navajo Rug Makers,
with New Mexico sketches. This he refers to, to refresh his memory on an event he has experienced for his work.

2. The pen and ink sketch could be one directly from the sketch pad, giving more advanced order.
At this position, Wood’s reference pieces are used to draw in light and negative areas to harmonize together.
This gives direction a needed quality in each of this images. Each shadow follows an order,
to make up the full design of each of his pieces. What this does is to move forward more detail as needed
for the whole composition and design.

3. The actual talent of an inventory process is with a general color scheme.
Gary steadily distributes stroke by stroke of a colored pencil into a pen and ink.
He started from the top, (the sky to foreground) to the bottom of the painting.
Thos is no loss of any work already completed. In handling the illustration,
he does it like that of his outdoor sketch work.
Once the shades are located and the main colors are contrasted, he finishes the painting by portions,
instead of proceeding on the whole work. This is the method followed by John Clymer, one of Wood’s early instructors.

4. The artist is very meticulous, as to treating a seamless image at this stage.
His objective is to present realism, but with a ‘painting’ in mind to the viewer.
It has just enough realism to appeal to the American viewpoint of art, yet always keeping in touch,
the real need of display a painting. A painting that is versatile, that will hand well on a museum wall,
corporate office wall, or home and still be able to appear in a publication.
As you can see, very little pen and ink are detected, but just enough.
This is to show the blending of mixed media in action.

5. This shows the mixes media, as it comes together in a final stage, as it advances toward the conclusion of the artwork.
The right pen sketch, the right contrast and vital complementary colors work together.
The shades working with hues make for a striking dramatic and romantic setting of true life on the Indian Reservation.
‘For it’s not easy to live on a reservation’, the artist says.
Gary’s goal is to bring all the different mediums into a like photographic marriage of color,
hue and composition as is shown in the final results.