A magnificant wave
An initial rough idea drawn out quickly indicating colour and composition (brighter in the original sketches). It might be reworked quite a lot before it is either discarded or developed into a finished original print.
There are many stages a print can progress through in it's early development. Preceeding this (above) are any number of preliminary rough sketches, some of them small thumbnails. The purpose of these earlier sketches is mainly conerned with the composition. 'Composition' is one of those words many people don't really understand. I always explain it as: 'the design' of the picture.
Once the idea is at the stage above however, it becomes about refinement and deciding what colour will be where. This in turn dictates the number of plates or blocks that will be needed. There might be several of these sketches completed trying out different variations, or refinements. These refinements could explore slightly different shapes, proportions or colours. For example, another sketch might look at how the print would be if the main wave was a little smaller, with more background visible.
When the art has been refined to a point where there is confidence it will make a successful original print, the next stage involves cutting a block of lino to size and transferring the drawing to the surface of the lino ready for cutting.