Thumbnail Sketching
Thumbnail sketching is the first stage in my art process before working on a final painting. It's a typical art practice for many artists in their creation process. It's an essential part in mine, as it determines key aspects of an artwork, like placing subjects, value, and even color. I adapted to sketching thumbnails after a brief season of redoing final paintings. I ended up painting over areas of the artwork because I didn't like how they looked. I would get so eager and would jump to a final piece without testing the painting first with a brief sketch. My thumbnail sketches So what are thumbnail sketches? They are simple, quick sketches that test composition and value within a frame. They take no longer than 15 minutes to do. They have no details and can be messy. They can be mini-sized (I typically do 2x2 inches. You don't have to do that small, but I wouldn't go larger than 4x6 inches). You don’t want to spend hours on one. Think of them as "thinking ...
