I had the loveliest of outings on the weekend: a trip to GoMA (Gallery of Modern Art) in Brisbane to see the Matisse: Drawing Life exhibition. It was quite insightful wandering through the rooms of the gallery studying his sketches: the thought and inspiration that went into each piece. There are very few finished art works in this exhibition but that's what it's all about: the preliminary sketches. It is a great lesson to learn: even great artists don't just commit paint straight onto a canvas. And it is evident by the 300 odd sketches in the exhibition that Matisse sketched several preliminary drawings prior to putting anything on canvas. There is a great quote above one of the works which says:   "For this Enlévement d'Europe, which is perhaps my best canvas and in any case the one I care for most, I made more than three thousand sketches, yes, three thousand..." So what does this mean for the rest of us who enjoy creating in our chosen medium? We may n......