This is a good example of a tone value study. I had already done a fairly detailed sketch of the monster, but this was the step that really nailed down the shadows. I did no sketch for the background of this one - I knew what I was going to do (well, except for the horse and rider area), and a sketch would really have been a waste of work. I did do a quick thumbnail (small) sketch of the horse and rider (as soon as I figured out I wanted them...), just for shape, on another piece of paper.
