Traditionally, Dogon wood sculptures were made from green wood, which is wood that has been recently cut and has not aged. There were many steps to preparing the wood. What was one of the steps to prepare the wood?

sawing it from the tree needs to be done before you use it.

Also sanding

well seeing i am an artist and i actually did a self portrait; i will describe how i painted it.   i used acrylic on a stretch canvas about 4 feet wide by 6 feet tall. i painted myself smiling in a soft pink long dress, white tile floor sitting on a white couch with a table behind and a vase of gorgeous flowers.   i also had a round white hat with a soft pink ribbon through it laying on the floor and on the table behind me was a lit candle. i kept it simple but soft and romantic.

artists followed a set of rules to achieve ideal proportion.