Process & Sketchbooks. the skeleton of a painting

Tidying the studio and putting away open sketchbooks. 

This is something I do regularly..

While I'm painting and when I'm trying to express a particular concept or feeling, I pull out sketchbooks and drawings where I interpreted the same or a similar idea.

Sketchbook drawings are often intuitive and energetic. I tend to do them in the heat of the moment..when I've clarity or I'm struck by a particular emotion. 

By nature, a quick line drawing is pure and fresh. Sharp and clean. 

For me, they're like diagrams. They visually explain the concept. They help create a vocabulary to describe it. 

They are the skeleton of a painting.

As soon as the painting process begins, I become engrossed in the layers of line, colour and texture. An important part of this process is letting go of those original drawings and allowing the painting to grow organically and become something else. However, I like referring back to the simple sketches, so I'm reminded of the essence of what I'm trying to achieve.