I wandered across this post after having seen the theme presented many different times:
I tried to identify the 20% of the painting that would likely demand 80% of a viewer's attention. Then I focused a disproportionate amount of time and effort developing those areas. The remaining 80% of the painting then fell naturally together in support of the high-attention areas. This is the magic of the 80/20 rule: tackle the correct 20%, and the other 80% often falls into place.
That's the take away, but soak in his full write up if you like
My sad little contribution for the week since I got about half way through producing a track through PuppySpazz but work work is demanding my weekend -____-