The light is already there

This is what I was working on when Bill showed up

I spent the whole day on the deck of Texas Treasures Fine Art gallery today, studying the trees across the street. I've always been challenged with trees, and for the last several weeks I have been looking, studying, and thinking about how trees look and observing them in different lighting, different times of day, and in different settings.
I started a drawing this morning, and Johny helped me see a few things - like space and light. Bill Zaner dropped in while I was there, and in a few minutes, transferred something to me. He helped me see contrast, and taught me about drawing the dark first..."The light is already there...that's your paper," he said. Wow. The light is already there. Paint everything else. He also talked to me about how to lay out my study, and to work on more than one study.
I had the best day. I started at 10:30 this morning, with a large bourbon and coke, and was there drawing until 3 this afternoon.  So here are my studies of the trees. Bill told me those were his trees. OK. I'm just gonna borrow them every now and then.

This is the study laid out the way Bill showed me