The next stage I go through when doing an oil painting is to make a very rough charcoal sketch of what I plan to paint. Depending on my mood I complete this stage in one of three mediums: charcoal, pencil or in oil paint. I find that for myself each of these mediums work particularly well. But each artist should experiment to find which works best for them.
This stage of the painting is necessary to work out perspective and where the objects will be placed. There isn't really an emphasis on details just layout at this stage.
