Bonsai Tree and Shapes: Concept sketches

In all of my paintings, I always work from concept sketches. These are small thumbnail sketches that contain the center of interest and ideas on how I want to create the world around it. For the bonsai tree painting, here are some of the better sketches:

As you can see, the sketches are extremely crude, small and kind of messy. However, the purpose of the sketch is to decide the layout. There is no reason to put the detail in there. That will happen when the actual painting starts.

Once I was done with the sketches, I decided which one would be the most interesting. In this case, the bottom image was my favorite. Every time I went to do a new concept sketch, I kept referring back to that one. Therefore, that is the one that will be painted.

In addition to doing the concept sketches for the painting, these sketches are also a great way to practice my compositional skills and my drawing skills. They are quick, throw-away drawings that are used to fuel the creativity path.

Next on the list, selecting a canvas.