Pre-planning

Somebody once said, Plan like a turtle, paint like a rabbit.  I used to think that I could visualize my paintings in advance.  I would draw directly on the paper, and end up erasing a lot of what I was trying to compose.  These days my sketchbook is filling up fast with all kinds of images.  I've learned to slow things down and plan my strategy of attack.  That way the  spontaneity of brush work is possible because I've already got a plan as to how to proceed and what colors I want to utilize.

Here's a pen and ink drawing from my sketchbook.  I mostly liked the result, but I did notice one thing.  The floating log in the distant water was pointing the same direction as the focal piece of driftwood in the foreground.  To stop the eye, in the drawing on the watercolor paper I decided to point the log back into the composition when I do the final painting, something I may not have thought of until the painting was finished.

Get those sketchbooks out!   Doodle, sketch, draw, and plan, plan, plan.