I was starting a painting once in my third year of college. It was a portrait of my cousin, Hannah, on a fairly large canvas, with just her face and head filling the frame. I was sketching in the proportions when my professor came by and said "Why are you doing that? You should just start painting and let the image emerge." Ever since then I've felt like that's a goal I should strive towards - not doing any sketching, just starting a painting and letting art happen.
Well, I've changed my mind. I was re-reading my Harley Brown book the other day and one of the first chapters is about how important it is to get the drawing right. It can really make or break a painting. We'll all run into "purists" now and again who feel like it's "cheating" or some such nonsense, but I now think it's fine to draw first. And not be afraid to wipe it off and try again until you get it right. Harley has some great tricks for measuring in his book, Eternal Truths for Every Artist, which I highly recommend. These flowers I've been doing, especially benifit from accurate drawing. I'm finding otherwise they're just big blobs...not cool.
