Here's one that got away
It's important that that you're confident that your client can visualise how the finished piece will look.
In this case I kept sending pencil scribbles, presuming they understood that the finished article would be carried out in this style of brush and ink. They didn't. Numerous sketches later we settled on a layout neither of us were crazy about and dictated more by exhaustion than preference.
Another one notched up to experience

Here's a simple still life set-up I came across years ago from a book by Arthur Stern called " How to see colour and paint it" for doing still life experiments.(dunno if you can still get the book).
It's a three sided box made of plywood or better again foam core board.
Make it whatever size you wish but preferably a size where you can easily get various coloured papers to clip onto all three sides (including white where you need it).
What you get are great cast colours. Careful observation of for instance an orange or coloured bottle will reveal subtle changes in cast colours as you move around the colour backing and the light. The anglepoise gives you a consistant light source. Just move it around to suit. Use a second one if you want.

Here's a tone palette I use for Photoshop painting
Feel free to use it.
Anyone have anything better?

The old Cattle Market in Kilkenny closed down late last year and moved to a swanky new premises on the Dublin Road
I popped up for the last few auctions and sketched a few of the farmers hanging around to see if they'de made a fortune

Heads. Everyone must have heads on their blog.

These are some doodles I did during one of those " Why don't I do some generic images, scoot them off to a photostock library and make a fortune" moments. Me and twenty million others.

an old sketch of Prague Cathedral
Done with shoe polish and a screwdriver by the look of it.

messin' about with acrylics trying to work up some studies of light and shade