Landscapes are typically worked in oil while portraits are most often worked in pastels.  Most of my work is completed in my mind before paint and canvas meet.  However, when planning a landscape painting for example, I will often revisit a site several times; exploring different angles, eliminating non-essentials, collecting little bits of debris, listening for sounds, all to aid in my selection of colour choice and texture. To me, life and art are inseparable; whether plain air or in the studio, I am alert to the image at hand; alert to the surroundings and oblivious to interruptions.  The technical planning of size, orientation, composition etc. will follow once I stand with my easel before me, paintbrush in hand and excitement flowing through my veins.  Focused, the prepped canvas greets me like a child waiting to grow; classical music in the background calms my mind and enables the images to grace the canvas.