so someone asked me about my drawing process.

because i am a consummate procrastinator, i will tell you now! i’ve always wanted to do a whole step-by-step post with process shots and whatnot, but i think text will do for now.

1. concept/subject. sometimes i just feel like drawing and sometimes i have something i want to draw. it might not necessarily be a tangible subject; it might be an idea, or a particular angle i want to try. the two are different in that during the former, i still have to come up with a subject, and in the latter, i have to think about how i want to represent it. but either way, if i’ve got a subject and i want to draw, i move onto…

2. composition. i have only just begun to realize the importance of good composition. i figure out how big my canvas is (lately i’ve been doing spreads in moleskines, giving me a workable area of about 10” x 8.25”, but i’ve drawn stuff as large as 24” x 48”) and i figure out what kind of movement i want. generally it’s diagonal (see: wayward daughter, sappho), because that’s dynamic. if not, i might choose a focus spot slightly off center.

3. roughs! this is the fun part. if i’m doing a piece intended to stay pencil, i’ll keep my lines pretty faint and just make sure the composition looks right and things are proportionate. then i move right onto the final. if i’m doing a piece that will eventually be inked, i go wild. i sketch out faces and general shapes with a mechanical pencil or a soft graphite (around 4b). i figure out what’s going to go where. i might not have the whole piece planned out, but i know the gist of what i’m going to do.

4. final drawing/inking. a labor of love. this is the details, the shaping, the fleshing, all that good stuff. i might do an entire final sketch in pencil, or do roughs in pencil and then draw straight over it in ink. if i’m adding new concepts (like objects in the foreground or a background) i’ll switch between ink and pencil depending on how confident i feel. oh and then. i let the ink dry oh my goodness do i let the ink dry, and then i go over the piece with a gum eraser.

5. coloring/processing. this is where roads diverge. when i paint, i don’t get too involved with linework, and might have an ink sketch or a pencil sketch to go off of. i paint by instinct, going from midtones to brighter and darker colors (if it’s watercolor, i try to preserve the paper white when possible). essentially i add and subtract elements as i feel is necessary— it’s a pretty intuitive process. for a good example of my painting, check out my stardust diptych.

if it’s a digital piece, that’s definitely different. i use gimp ‘cause i’m a cheapskate. i tend to pick a color scheme and dot a palette around the piece to see how the colors will progress, then go right into painting it. i like to keep my colors on just a few layers so they blend naturally, and when i paint i start with a midtone and go darker, using a weaker opacity if i need brightness.

SO. that’s how i roll. i hope that helps, oh anonymous person who asked! but really, i don’t think there’s a proper process for going about making art. i’m very intuitive about drawing and painting— i do what feels right. if there’s a spot that needs something, i put something in there. if i’ve got a spot that’s too busy, i change the texture or the tone so that it calms down. art has no rules!

:D well, that was fun to write. any questions or comments? other artists, how do you go about making your stuff?