Preliminary Sketches

The Preliminary Sketches are a projected series of artworks by John Jude Palencar, billed as preliminary studies for future paintings. They are generally viewed as containing hints relevant to The Secret, as the first in the series (The Owl and the Horse) was released soon after the sixth message from the Gift Giver (posted December 15, 2025), which stated:

I wonder, if an artist wanted to help a community how would he do it? He might have tried words. But words can be confused. Maybe he could try to do it with art? Something he knows. Something he has experience with.
How could he best help?
If he were to release art related to a solved city, he wouldn't just be posting a drawing; he would be giving you a Rosetta Stone. He'd be showing you the answers to a test you've already finished so you can identify his technique. Then he could post drawings for the unsolved cities, and you would know what to look for and how best to use them.
Would he post new drawings related to the cities? Would they be old studies from the '80s? Who knows? Maybe he would make a series of these, one to help with each of the cities.

As the message had opened with discussing Palencar and his statement (at the Cleveland Meetup) that "Byron would have been proud of the community the Secret has formed,” the artist in question has been widely assumed to be Palencar.