Edgar Whitney on Preparation for Painting

Edgar Whitney said; "Plan like a tortoise and paint like a rabbit!" Known to be a bit rough around the edges, Ed would often say or do something shocking to make a point and insure that his students remembered it. Another of his favorites about proper preparation was; "It's like going to the bathroom without pulling your pants down first!". Yikes, like me, you probably won't forget that one either. Anyway it's true, the better you plan, the greater your chances are that your painting (or any endeavor) will be a success. Here I'm showing my painting table today at the end of a good day. My peony sketches, photos and thumbnails are taped up on a board before I start. I use this for reference as I paint. This way all the logical thinking is already done and I just let myself go into intuitive, auto pilot mode.