When you see a scene that excites you enough to want to either paint it or paint part of it, hopefully, you don’t walk away with it left only in your memory. It helps if you can take a snapshot of it or sketch it or both.

• The camera is an invaluable tool for an artist, however, it records too much and can be very confusing when considering hues and the effect they have on each other.
• A quick, simple sketch can often relay more of what you have in mind as an artist for that perfect painting or drawing. Sometimes I look over photos that I have taken and ask myself why? everything is there except that certain something that I had in mind for a picture.  Don’t get me wrong, it is there. I just can’t find it for everything else in the photograph that surrounds it.

However, I have never asked myself why I stopped at something inspirational and made a sketch–sometimes a complete value drawing. To me it is more important than a camera. I start with what captured my attention and work my way outward. I keep it simple, not wasting time on what doesn’t help that pivotal idea. Much of what I record by camera never makes it into a painting or drawing.

No matter whether I use a camera or sketch as a source for my work, I will always work out the simplest details and do a more detailed value sketch for the completed work. I think it must be therapeutic. It soothes me.