underpaintings and methods

I had to be home today because my porch was being rebuilt...........of course it was gorgeous, in the 70s and I would have loved to be painting outside. I began two paintings - an 8" square in the beach people theme and another 10" square of the "vernal pool" I hiked to the other day. When I work from a photo I often grid it into quarters to help me not waste a ton of time with placement; you can see this in the beach people picture.....I really don't pay too much attention to the photo after I have placed the figures. The woodsy picture is going to be very difficult, I have already wiped it down twice and decided that I had to let the under painting dry or I would make a mess. The values are quite limited but there are a kazillion shades of every color and grey.................I wanted to capture all of that and the movement of the water distorting the reflections in circular patterns. Needless to say, you may never see this one again but I am really attracted to the abstract quality of the design. I am also posting a photo of the sirius..............I am unsure if this is the final stage of the bloom but it is pretty spectacular as it is right now. I would love to paint it but am afraid I would kill it if I moved it and would have to lie on the floor and look up to actually paint it (not likely).