For a long time, I approached paintings by moving quickly toward a finished piece and letting decisions resolve themselves on the canvas. That approach worked, but over time it started to feel incomplete.
After stepping away from the easel for a few months, I began rebuilding my process from the beginning. What became clear almost immediately was that drawing needed to sit at the center of the work again.
Sketches are now where ideas are tested, questioned, and often abandoned before they ever become paint.
The Role of Sketches in Wildlife Art
Drawing slows everything down. It removes the pressure to resolve color, surface, and finish, and instead forces attention onto structure, proportion, balance, and intent.
Sketches allow me to sit with uncertainty longer. Not every idea deserves to become a painting. Some drawings exist only to answer a question. Others reveal problems early enough that they never need to go further.
That clarity has changed how I move forward.
From Sketch to Color Study
Once a drawing holds up, it often becomes the foundation for a study.
Studies are not small versions of finished paintings. They are focused explorations meant to solve specific problems. Light, color, atmosphere, movement, or weight. Many never progress beyond this stage, and that is intentional.
Accepting that not every study needs to become something larger has removed a lot of unnecessary pressure from the work.
Working Through Frustration and Growth
This process isn’t easy or fast. There are moments where progress feels distant and the work itself pushes back. Frustration is part of it.
But drawing consistently has made the path forward clearer. The more time I spend sketching, the more I understand how this kind of work can be built repeatedly without forcing results.
What once felt scattered now feels aligned.
The Importance of Being Outdoors
Even as the work shifts more toward the studio, time outdoors continues to shape everything.
Changing light, especially at dawn and dusk, reveals color relationships that are easy to miss otherwise. Those moments don’t always lead directly to finished paintings, but they inform decisions later in subtle ways.
There’s never a wasted moment in the landscape.
Letting the Work Decide What Comes Next
No drawing or study is wasted.
Some pieces are not meant to go further. They are part of the structure that allows stronger work to exist. By starting with sketches and allowing ideas to unfold gradually, the work now feels more deliberate and more honest.
Some studies will eventually inform large-scale paintings. Others will remain exactly what they are.
Both have value.
Building Toward Larger Work
As I plan for larger paintings, this approach has taught me patience.
Proceeding carefully feels necessary when the goal is to build work that holds up over time. Sketches and studies are no longer stepping stones to rush past, but essential parts of the process itself.
This shift has led to more clarity, more output, and a deeper understanding of where the work is headed.
