One of the hardest-working people I’ve ever known is my eldest son. (Sorry, Rion—you’ve got to take a back seat on this one.)

Ironworker Red Seal. Welder Red Seal. Thirty years old. Never complains—about anything. Not the cold. Not the heat. It’s never too early, never too late. He just gets up, gets to work, and does the job at hand.

Right now, he’s working on the new event centre here in Calgary. He’s part of the crew “putting the icing on the cake”—erecting the roof. But here’s the thing: before he can put that roof on, there’s a mountain of work that has to happen first.

How long did it take before anyone could even think about putting a lid on that building? Years. Years of approvals, funding decisions, land negotiations (and let’s not even go there), planning, and coordination.

Before the first beam goes up, you’ve got designers, architects, engineers, project managers, procurement teams, heavy equipment operators, concrete crews, rebar workers—you name it. All of it has to come together before my son can step in and do his craft.

And yes—ironworking is an art.

People sometimes ask me what I do before I paint. The truth? Long before the brush hits the canvas, there’s a ton of work behind the scenes.

Here’s something I know for sure:

Design will trump painting ability every time.

It doesn’t matter how skilled you are with a brush—if the design is strong, the painting will sell. If the design is weak, it won’t. Period.

Think about music. In my opinion, two of the roughest singers out there are Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. (Yeah, I said it.)

Willie’s timing can wander, his guitar can be a little loose. Dylan? Half the time, you can barely understand the words. And yet, both have written some of the most legendary songs in history.

Why? Because the composition is brilliant.

Other artists cover their songs and turn them into masterpieces. That’s the power of strong design. Painting is no different.

If you’re not willing to put the effort into planning—into building a solid blueprint—then the final piece won’t stand on its own. I’d say 90% of paintings fail in the first five minutes… because the groundwork wasn’t there.

Work out the details. Build your blueprint. Then whatever you do on top of that will have a foundation to succeed.

And about intuition—people love to talk about it. But here’s the truth:

Intuition is born from experience, and experience is born from failure.

So get your brush on the canvas. Fail. Learn. Repeat.

Over time, you’ll start planning better. You’ll see where you’re going before you begin. And once you’ve got that blueprint, the process becomes a whole lot smoother. Creativity loves structure—but only when it’s applied at the right time.

Start with the left brain: plan it out.

Then bring in the right brain: create freely. Finish again with the left: refine and resolve.

Try to do it all at once, and you’ll end up stuck. Bottom line:

Spend more time planning, and less time painting—if you want success.

Keep those brushes swinging.

Your friend in art,

Doug.

Bob Dylan said that Jimi Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower" was the definitive version. He himself could not see a better version.

Elvis Presley sang just about every song Willie Nelson ever wrote. He said Mr. Nelson is the perfect songwriter.