Jump Off Point

May 3, 2025


In the world of painting, the sketch—the drawing, the rough idea, the plan—is often mistaken for a blueprint. But if you ask any artist who’s ever been captivated by the momentum of the brush, they’ll tell you: the sketch is not the destination. It's only the jump off point.

That first idea? That scribbled thumbnail or charcoal outline? It’s just a suggestion. A whisper. A door creaked slightly open. It exists to start the painting—not to confine it. To treat it as the final word is to rob the painting of its most powerful qualities: spontaneity, vitality, unpredictability.

Painting, when done honestly, is an act of discovery. Color collides with emotion. Texture argues with composition. Accidents—those glorious, irreplaceable accidents—show up uninvited and often steal the show. But none of that can happen if the artist is clinging tightly to a predefined outcome. When you paint toward an end that’s already fixed in your mind, you leave no room for the painting to become more than what you imagined. And that’s the tragedy. Because painting—true painting—must be more than what you imagined.

There is a kind of bravery in letting go of control. In allowing the painting to take on a life of its own. Yes, it might veer off course. It might contradict your original vision. But that’s the point. That’s where the magic lives—in the wild territory just past your intentions.

A painting that breathes, that pulses, that challenges—is born when the artist lets go. When the drawing is no longer a cage but a springboard. When the idea is a launchpad, not a leash.

So next time you begin, remember: your sketch is a jump off point. Nothing more. Let it lead you into the unknown. Let the painting talk back. Let the paint move the way it wants to. You might be surprised where you land.