My Drawing Process

​The main stages to all of my finished art are:  The Sketch, The Inks, and The Colors.  Each of those stages are broken down into several steps.  I may follow these steps exactly, I may skip a step, or blend two together.  It all depends on the drawing and the look I'm going for, but this is how it usually goes:

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Stage 1 - The Sketch

• Step 1:  2-3 Rough Sketches​​

  • This step is very dynamic and allows me to let the creativity flow.  I typically start every project with 2-3 very rough sketches to give me a sense of form and composition.  I do these sketches either on paper or digitally - I don't hold myself to any one medium.  The sketches could be as simple as basic shapes, silhouettes, and stick figures, but if I already have a good sense of the drawing, I'll add in a few character details that will get refined later.

  • Much like a photographer or a movie director, I'm thinking more about the cinematography of the whole piece.  What is the character doing?  What sort of emotions do I want to convey?  How are they posed?  Where are they positioned on the page?  Do I want an up-close shot of their face, or do I want to see the full figure?  Is there an interesting "camera" angle or perspective I can use?  I'm not really using a camera, but it's basically the same thing.​

• Step 2:  The Refined Sketch

  • Now that I have an idea of what I want to draw, it's time to tighten it up.​

  • Using my digital software, I'll create a new layer on top of the rough sketch and draw it again using a digital drawing tool that looks exactly like a regular pencil.

  • It's important to note that even though I'm using a simulated pencil in my digital platform, I do that for a reason.  Pencil sketches have a unique, free-flowing energy to them that is sometimes lost in the inking stage.  So I like to keep as much of that energy within the sketch as possible.

  • In this step, I pay much more attention to the foundational details of the drawing.  I first map out any perspective lines I may need, and make sure the body proportions and anatomy are looking correct in relation to that perspective.  I pay special attention to things like facial features and costume design.  I also incorporate light and dark values to help convey a sense of roundness to the forms.  I may go so far as to add render lines, but not always.

  • Once I've gotten the sketch to a point that I'm satisfied with, it's on to the Inks.

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Stage 2 - The Inks

• Step 1:  Base Line Art

  • In the new layer, I change my digital drawing tool from a pencil to an ink pen, and start with thin contour lines throughout the forms.

• Step 2:  Line Weights,

  • Next I go over the drawing again, this time adding line weights.  This means I am adding varying degrees of thickness to the base line art to convey a sense of roundness to the forms based on light sources.  Basically, thinner lines are used in areas with the most light, and thicker lines are in areas with the most shadow.

• Step 3:  Shadows & Rendering

  • In my opinion, this is the most time and labor intensive step in the entire drawing process because here, it's all about the nitty-gritty details.​

  • ​I start with by adding in block shadows, or large areas of pure darkness.  The amount and size of the shadows depends purely on the composition and style I'm going for.

  • Next, I go back over the drawing with any render lines that I feel is necessary.  Rendering is basically creating a gradient of light to dark using techniques such as hatching, cross-hatching, and/or stippling.  Again, the amount of rendering I do depends purely on the composition and style I'm going for.

  • Once I'm satisfied, it's time to move on to the final stage in the drawing process.

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Stage 3 - The Colors

• Step 1:  Flat Colors

  • In a new layer below the ink layer(s), I add in flat, solid colors.  If I ended the drawing at this step, it would have an old-school comic book vibe where the printers only had a few color options to work with.  That is cool in it's own way, but I usually don't stop here.

• Step 2:  Sculpting the Form​

  • In much the same way as rendering, I add gradients on top of the flat colors to accentuate the light and dark areas of the form.   This is my favorite step because it breathes life into the drawing - it helps lift the characters off the page and give a real sense of 3-D"ness" to the drawing.

• Step 3:  Effects​​​

  • This is where I add special glowing effects, to certain areas of the drawing, and/or paint abstract shapes such as smoke or clouds to give the drawing an extra layer of depth.  I may also add different lighting or color filters that can give it an interesting look I might not have considered at the start of the drawing.

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That's it!  Simple, right?!  This process is exactly why the pricing of commission projects can be so tricky, and why I have my prices organized into different levels - each of those levels relates to a certain stage, or combination of stages, in the drawing. 

 

One of these days, I will actually record my drawing process in real-time, so you can see it in action.  Until then, head on over to the Single Image Pricing page to see examples of each of these stages.  I know that was a lot, so thanks for sticking around and reading this!

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