Sketch Book
Following are some examples of my prep work before I begin a painting. I often start with a rough sketch in charcoal before I move to a more detailed sketch in the graphite. I find this helps me to concentrate on the larger shapes and not get bogged down in the finer details too soon. Some sketches never make it to a painting, or are set aside for another time. I also play around a lot with different view points and postures in my sketches With the wildlife pieces in particular this helps me to get a much better understanding of how different creatures move and their biological design. I so often find patterns that I can work with to keep the subject looking in proportion and natural – even though I might move it’s posture around to suit, rather than slavishly copying photographs.
