My workflow from a compositional concept to a finished artwork is not yet complete, but I have been practicing initial steps, including drawing thumbnails, for a while now.

Thumbnails are about compositional intelligence, not about anatomy, rendering or refinement. This is the first step in creating a successful painting.

Five goals for the practice of thumbnails

The first goal is to train the eye to see structure, not objects such as trees, boats, faces, details, or buildings. Rather, it is about seeing value masses, directional flows, shape relations and visual hierarchies. It is also to ask and respond to questions such as:

• Where is the dominant value?
• Where does the eye enter?
• Where does it rest?
• Where does it exit?
• Is the composition stable or tense?

The second goal is to build compositional speed. Practice composing 5-10 thumbnails in an hour, allowing for variations, without getting attached to any one solution. Compare the solutions side by side by testing them against the question from style.

The third goal is to develop confidence in choosing representation, horizontal or vertical, large or small sky, or off-center focal points, high contrast or low contrast, calm or dramatic rhythm.

The fourth goal is to train to compose for value and simplicity, focusing on light, mid, and dark tones while avoiding fragmentation.

The fifth goal is to develop natural tendencies in composition, including diagonals, strong horizontals, central tension, large negative spaces, and a compressed value range.

Where should the focus be?

The thumbnails should vary the selection between dominant and supporting shapes, adding tonal hierarchy and layering (foreground, midground, and background) to highlight a single emotional intention per design. This allows the choice among calm, lonely, heroic, vast, intimate, and oppressive early in the painting process.

What media is the most appropriate for thumbnails?

I tried both painting and drawing thumbnails and found that using watercolor at this stage is an overkill and a distraction for my goals.

Here are a few samples from both sets investigating the composition for a painting of the Cathedral of Saint Peter’s in Rome, as seen from the opposite side of the Bridge leading to the Castle of the Archangel.

I spend 5 to 10 minutes on each, but on the painted thumbnails, I got distracted by the choice of Hues, a concern that should not be there at this stage in the workflow.

The drawn thumbnails allowed for clearer choices with less effort.