Winslow Homer, Sailboats, Gouache and pencil on paper, Questroyal Fine Art. Click to inquire

Sometimes, there is a beauty to something that appears unfinished. Artists will often sketch their preliminary ideas onto paper: unfinished figures and ideas waiting to be transferred to a completed oil on canvas, framed and ready to be showcased.

Andrew Dasburg, Untitled (Trees Along Chantet Lane), Graphite on paper, David Cook Fine Art. Click to inquire

Edgar Degas, Apr?s le Bain, Pastel Counterproof, Galerie Michael. Click to inquire

However, many are attracted to the organic gestures found in drawings and preliminary sketches: offering perspective into the artist's thought process. Often utilizing touches of different material, the incomplete seems complete enough to the viewer's eye.

Fletcher Benton, Balanced/Unbalanced F, Pencil on paper, Tasende Gallery. Click to inquire

T.C. Steele, Sketchbook Landscape, Graphite on paper, Eckert & Ross Fine Art. Click to inquire

Paper welcomes surprises, best suiting the need for an artist's burst of inspiration. Perhaps the audience can empathize and get right to doodling.

Frank Auerbach, Study of The Brazen Serpent (and Self-Portrait), 1955, Pencil on paper, Leslie Sacks Contemporary. Click to inquire