"I am very pleased with the outcome of my preliminary pencil study for 'A Crimson Tradition. Weeks of research and work went into developing and executing the drawing. Although this research and drawing stage doesn't take as long as the actual painting process, the overall image itself and most of the artistic considerations are developed during this time. Aside from the refinement capabilities that working in oils provides (and the obvious addition of color), I will make some minor modifications to the actual painting. As this is always the case with the transition of my drawings to paintings, it is also part of the purpose in doing them.