Illustration Process Step 1: Thumbnails

So here is a new series of posts. I'm going to show the progress of an illustration I am currently working on starting here with the thumbnails. In my thumbnails I am merely looking for interesting shape break-up. I try and think in 3 simple values. This will ensure a strong read for the final illustration. I force myself to do more than just a couple of thumbs, I want to get as many iterations as I can think of. This will give me more to choose from in the end.
I have the drawing almost completed, so I will post that next.