Slave to the photograph

It's a bird!  It's a plane!  It's Superman!
No, just the start of another abstract painting.  After no new work in the studio for a week I am finally back at my easel.  But a lot of "work" is done before the paint comes out, even with what seems to be an intuitve abstract like the one on the left.  I have been culling old photos, tossing lots and cutting up others that I reassemble and manipulate with Irfanview (an easier type of Phototshop, and free!).  In this kind of work my computer is my sketch book and I create lots of possibilities before I am even close to something worth painting.  Then of course when the paint comes out the photo sketches are manipulated even more or abandoned altogether.  Don't be a slave to the photograph!  Otherwise you may just as well print that and say you're done.  Can't remember where I first heard the slave phrase, but it is a good one.  Never be a slave to your computer either.  That's me talking to myself.