When an artist starts to paint what is the first things he does?

Question:

When an artist starts to paint what is the first things he does?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: ideally, this is what i mean to do

have a good sketch on paper
put a base color on the canvas
make a color scheme
sketch an outline of the painting on the canvas
start to fill in large blocks of color, getting more detailed as a go

now, a lot of the time i skip one or more of those steps because i love painting and i get excited and impatient.