It's always interesting to see how a painting evolves from start to finish. You can see five stages of the painting from the previous post. In the first one you can see the distortion of the face after a quick placement of the features that were corrected as the painting progressed.
I often like to put down a background base which is complementary to what I imagine is the final overall color.
I try not to have too much of detailed plan to allow the direction of the painting to progress as a sort of dialog between me and the painting. (click on the image to see a larger version)
Step by step of Self Portrait - oil on canvas 40 x 50 cm
