Part 4—Five Thumbnail Sketches, One Final Choice

Every finished painting begins with choices. Before I ever start painting, I explore several different layouts to see which one has the strongest composition. These are the five thumbnail sketches I created while deciding how Barnyard Adventures should be designed. Each one explores a different viewpoint and arrangement of the barn, animals and scenery. The final three sketches explored a view from outside the barn. The biggest design questions became: How large should the buildings be? How much room should the animals have? How much scenery should surround them? Sketch #5 was the winner! It gave me the balance I was looking for: a barn large enough to include interior details while still leaving plenty of room for animals in the foreground and scenery stretching into the distance. Next time I'll show how this winning thumbnail begins to develop into a more detailed sketch.