Artipathy discussion

I'm really enjoying Gurney's explanation of how he develops a series of painting/illustrations. Since I often find it easier and more satisfying to work in a series this is quite helpful. I'm not developing a book or graphic story but I do want all the pieces to somehow work together. I think it would be really good now, even though I'm already into it, to develop a bunch of ideas for paintings in my current series and figure out which ones work best together by doing the small thumbnails of color, tone and composition that he speaks of. And I love how he gets you to develop the idea thoroughly before getting married to the details. Great advice for developing the concept of one or more paintings! (Some of this I've seen my teacher go through in his practice but here he is so clear somehow about the steps he takes.) It makes it even more evident that painting is not just about some quick inspiration that falls out of the sky but can actually be planned and developed before the painting is even begun! My left brain likes this a lot and my right brain is happy that my left brain can take a vacation once all the planning is done!