Pirates (detail) work in progress

One of several paintings I've begun for my senior show.
I block in values first, so I can focus on the hue and intensity of the colors. I invariably find issues with the design that are more easily corrected before moving to color.
It's kind of like a math problem, you solve the basic issues before moving on to more complicated ones.

Hold on there, I don't know anything about math! Ok, I guess you could liken it to cooking Ramen noodles - you have to boil the water before the noodles will cook.