As I mentioned in a post at the beginning of the year, I am hard at work on artwork for my next book: Coral Reefs.  This is the first post in a series describing my painting process.  The first step is always brainstorming and sketching.  I usually start small, and do multiple sketches to get down many ideas.  After I’m satisfied with a small sketch, I work it up into a drawing that is the same size as a page in the book.  Here’s an example:

This preliminary drawing is the last thing I do before I start painting and I try my best to work out as many details as possible in this drawing.  Since I work in watercolors, it’s very hard to go back and change things after I start to paint.  When the drawing is finished, I use a lightbox to transfer it to a nice piece of watercolor paper…but that’s step two, and I’ll write more about that tomorrow.