A lesson I’ve learned over and over now, is to do the preliminary work first. That is, before the ‘real’ work. A preliminary sketch, a preliminary drawing, and a color rough. Those are the things that I need to know which way a painting is going to go. This week I am working on a 40 x 60 inch painting of a flock of bats. Since the painting is about bats, it’s easy to think that that is where to spend the time, on the bats. But the bats need to live in a landscape and that landscape doesn’t find someone else to paint it. So, this morning I worked up a smaller color rough to work out my color scheme, vanishing point, and actual technique. Even though those color roughs can seem inconsequential, they should be done. It’s a bit like a cook tasting the chili as he cooks it.

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