When I’m painting details that require me to be nose-to-canvas (so to speak) I prefer to use a small board or piece of canvas for my palette. This was what I held in my hand while painting architectural details in my cover painting for Empire of Grass by Tad Williams.

The palette was lying on a shelf in my studio when out of the corner of my eye I saw this image hidden in the random blobs of paint. I switched to using another palette and later went back to this one to “liberate” the scene I saw in my head.