The Study of Printing Sketches

1. Why is texture so important to have in your sketches? 
Because when you carve out of the linoleum, you won't have the shading or value or anything. You need to have texture to show lines and to show the animal to the best of your abilities. To make it look good once you carve it out. 

2. Why is it necessary for you to have several references of each animal and each background? Explain.
So you can get a look at the animal from all sides. Also, it prevents copying the picture exactly, if you have multiple examples to pull from. It means that you can get a better view of your subject from more than one example.  

3. When you look at your sketches are you able to see which sketch is the strongest and will make the best print? How do you know this?  
I think so. It depends on which has the most texture and has the most detail, and it needs to have a good balance between detail and negative space, so you don't overwhelm the print with tons and tons of little lines.