The spiral is the dominant design in this sketch, and important for the content, but it was sublimated into more everyday elements in the final painting. The flying pig was thankfully lost in the storm. The ‘creative window’ between sleep and consciousness is noted, but it is interesting to me that I connect it to existential stress and death experiences.

The notes below show a concern with developing ‘flow’ in the composition; “limbs, blankets, trees, perspective” should all move to the rhythm of the creative force. A small note to the side mentions El Greco’s Disrobing of Christ, and has a giant ‘comma’ form next to a smaller one. I see his composition in those terms; the eye is drawn from the lower left, up across the picture by the arm of a man (right), around behind Christ’s head via the many faces, to the armored man (left), along Christ’s arm to his heart, and up to his face. A smaller, similar ‘comma’ form is encapsulated in the figure in yellow, lower right. This same double comma device did end up in Sleep of Trees, though it is well buried in the composition.