my way of working

I thought I would show you a little of how I work, and the processes that are involved....
Each painting is different and it is not always possible to do all these things, but ideally this is how I approach an idea, and then hopefully, a painting...
I see something that inspires me! Here, I saw this small Tortoiseshell on some Cow Parsley , which I love anyway, but it went up a gear when I spotted the dark thunderous summer sky approaching behind. I did a quick pencil/charcoal sketch, and then jotted down some notes, and finally did a colour sketch, trying out shades etc.. Finally I worked on the finished painting..
The point of all this is like a warm up, but it helps me to consolidate ideas/ composition etc before I start on the real thing...
​i have photographed these from my sketch book, so hence a bit blurry! Then the final piece underneath..