Starting with a Plan

I've been playing with my little series of black and white vessel paintings.  I don't usually start with such a concrete theme and am still figuring out if I like doing that or not.  It did give me a starting point as I roughly sketched out all sorts of vessel shapes in black and white.

 I allowed myself the freedom to let go of that initial shape if I wanted to.  After some playful early painting, I found myself stuck.  It was really hard not to start painting around that initial shape and hang onto it. It felt limiting.  

About 5 of the 10 pieces are starting to near completion.  Here's one I was happy with that did work very closely with the vessel shape.

"Handmade", 11x11", acrylic on paper

And my favorite painting so far completely let go of it.  I can only see hints of the bowl shape when I turn this upside down.

"Solo Expedition," 11x11", acrylic on paper

So the jury is still out if I prefer a starting point or would rather jump in with abstract marks.