I outline the drawing with yellow ochre and turpentine, and then brush painting medium over the surface. I usually underpaint with bristle brushes, but since I want a smooth surface for this painting, I will use white sable brushes instead.

I mix burnt umber and white for a brown gray, then cool it with ultramarine blue and warm it with Naples yellow. Using a size 6 white sable bright, I paint in the shadowed logs on the front of the barn. With darker portions of the mixture, I paint an indication of cracks and then the dark shadows under the sheds on each side of the barn. For sunlight colors on the door and the front, I bring in more Naples yellow.

With the same brush, I paint the tin roof with burnt umber, burnt sienna, and yellow ochre. For some cooler tones, I use a gray of cerulean blue and cadmium red light.

Using a size 10 white sable bright, I paint the foggy sky with the gray colors I used in the barn. Then, with ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, I stroke in the pine tree on the right. Viridian, burnt umber, and Naples yellow suggest pine needles.

The tree trunk on the left and the dogwood trees are painted with grays used in the barn. I bring some greens into the background trees with Naples yellow and viridian.

With cadmium yellow light, Naples yellow, and white with a touch of flesh, I paint the patch of sunlight in front of the barn. I stroke in some green with cadmium yellow light and viridian, grayed with the fog color. With ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, and raw sienna, along with darks from the barn, I paint the shadowed ground. I also use touches of burnt sienna and yellow ochre, cadmium red light, cerulean blue, and yellow ochre and white.

The first day's work is allowed to dry, then I brush painting medium over the surface. Using the same brush and colors as before, I restate the sky, fog-covered trees in the background, and the barn. I use a worn, old size 6 white sable and repaint the ground area with the same colors as before, but with more of a scrubbing stroke. I work back and forth between the dark mixtures used previously and various mixtures of grays, greens, and burnt sienna and yellow ochre. I repaint the sunlit area and the tree trunks on each side.

The painting is again allowed to dry, and I oil in the upper two thirds with medium. With the same basic grays used before, I scrub a light, foggy, gray color over the barn and the trees. I begin to refine the barn using a size 6 white sable round. The round contours are indicated, and I suggest the crossing of the logs at the corners. I paint the door with a stronger highlight to pull it away from the building. I paint the shadowed sections, trying to avoid a solid dark tone, but one that has depth and space.

I let the painting dry and, to reduce the shine on the picture, I brush turpentine over the surface, making sure I'm not stripping off paint. Then I oil in only the areas where I intend to work.

I scrub a very faint, gray fog color over the background trees on the left. With a size 4 white sable bright, I paint the foliage of the large tree using a gray-green mixture of Naples yellow and viridian to delicately paint the patterns of leaves overlapping the sky. I restate the tree trunk and limbs with burnt umber and ultramarine blue. A darker gray-green is painted down into the dogwoods for more contrast. Then I brighten some of the blossoms with white and Naples yellow.

I paint the pine needles with more detail using a size 4 white sable bright and a size 6 white sable round, and the colors used before. I then paint over the trunk with a little more detail, working back and forth between darks and lights.

When the painting dries, I paint very thinly over the sky. I overpaint the shadowed ground area once again, and also the sunlit area in front of the barn. I indicate a wagon, a tub, and other "junk" in the shadows of the shed on the right. A touch of light green from the grass is reflected into the shadows of the barn. A fence is suggested near the back of the barn. The painting is now finished.