I think creating something beautiful is a process, a process which often includes creating many things that were not beautiful. I'm not crazy about the painting analogy, as a bartender with a background in fine arts, I worked with oils primarily. I might go through many sketches of a single concept before I took it to the canvas, and once there might "finish" a piece several times before I was satisfied. I might erase or gesso over a portion or the entirety of it several times, I might start on a new canvas, and YES I have added more canvas to a work in progress. This was just my approach, I would not call it better or worse than any other, and I would certainly not say that I was a "failure". To that, I am sorry that I made bold, declarative statements about the validity of this ratio technique. Its not for me, but I can see it being a tool for creative inspiration and a catalyst for experimentation for someone else. There is validity in any technique. Personally, I have tried a few of these ratio guidelines several times with results anywhere from serviceable to undrinkable, (Jamie's ratios, using Cachaca and Sambuca comes to mind...) BA: was recently introduced to your blog. Many hours have been lost since... Keep it up!