THE SKETCH!

Happy February snowstars!

I think it's safe to say that we're officially in 2022. I’m finally writing the accurate year on things and I’ve found myself planning trips - and feeling like they’ll actually happen!

Since we’re just starting the year, it’s fitting to talk about sketches. The bones - the research - the planning. Do you love it? Or do you operate by the seat of your pants - propelled by instinct and risk? With creative endeavors, I'm more of the latter so I've had to find ways to rein myself in to make artwork for other people. I'm also a recovering people pleaser and I tend to oversell because I want people to get on board, only I resent them for expecting things! (A whole other layer of human-ness!)
Sometimes the process goes swimmingly. Other times I'm fighting and kicking the whole way home, struggling to reclaim my need for exploration. All of this is muddled by the fact that there there is no 'right' way to sketch or plan - it depends on varying factors - timeline, project, art director, editor, author, budget, material, or...the dreaded committee.

Because there are many ways to skin a carrot (❤️🐱) it doesn't make sense to share the best way to do preliminary processes. I can't even show you my way because it changes all the time. What I can offer are tips and thoughts on sketches - things I've learned to simplify the process, ease client stress, and keep the life in your finished work (an ever distant goal). Get ready to nerd out with some art talk!

We all know the rule of working big to little - but the simplest trick of doing that big picture stuff - is doing it on a small scale. Are you confused yet? What I’m saying is… working on a tiny scale helps us put shapes and composition into place without the overwhelm of too much detail. It’s best to start with thumbnails. I heard Christian Robinson talk about doing this process with sticky notes and it bowled me over, how simple, how genius (which is his work in a nutshell!) He mentioned laying out book spreads on sticky notes so he could see the whole book and move spreads around if needed. For a number of books, I’ve made little dummies so I could draw the layouts but I think drawing them out separately would be beneficial.

It’s helpful to try different layouts and working small lets us to get straight to the point without adding too many details. Sometimes I use pencil but other times pen or even sharpie, to avoid overworking. If I sketch digitally, I make sure to not zoom in. We want confident big shapes - we can break down the details later. Make sure to keep the final dimension in mind (drawing a border helps). If you have a tall image but your final is horizontal, the whole thing will be off. If you want to dive further into thumbnails, Art Prof has an in-depth explanation and some live demos.

Here are some of my thumbnails which turned into full illustrations. These are usually around 2-3” in size. First, we have the thumbnails from this blog’s cover illustration. The second is an example from a picture book and the last one is from a piece I just finished for a show this month at Gallery Nucleus (more about it at the end of the post!)

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One of my latest illustrated books - the storyboard had to be done on short notice so the thumbnails were sent as the storyboard - with text placement suggested. I did do more in depth sketches for a lot of the spreads before moving to final.

This painting was the second of two tries - the first painting failed so I needed to recalibrate and simplify my shapes - thus doing another small thumbnail to lay out the direction. I then drew a larger version in sharpie and traced it onto my paper over a lightbox.

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If a full size sketch is needed after thumbnails, there are a handful of options.
Here are a couple I use:

Draw the sketch directly on the final paper, as an underdrawing to the painting. This is my favorite way to work. There's something so un-precious about it, allowing me to 'find' an image and search for the best shapes. Once it's ready, I don't have the stress of starting on clean paper. Instead, I throw paint down and work into the drawing. Most of the time, I have ten thousand searching lines but they don't bother or deter me, as they get covered up with paint. This is the best way I’ve found to keep some life in the final too!

A couple helpful tips - I draw with warm colored pencil as graphite will smear. It’s harder to erase and your paper has to be able to handle it. Use a vinyl/plastic eraser here for best results. Drawing directly works best if your final paint is thick as you’ll be painting over the lines. And finally - this technique might be frustrating if you’re not super experienced or confident with drawing - but give it a try!

Here are a couple examples - the first is from Madame Saqui (huge post if you want to really nerd out on process), colored pencil on bristol and the second is from the upcoming show at Gallery Nucleus, colored pencil on arches.

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Transfer the sketch onto your final paper using a lightbox. I do this technique less but it’s helpful if I have a ton of details and the layout is extremely tight, or if I want a thinner paint application and I don’t want to see a bunch of lines. I find that it’s helpful again, to draw to size so I don’t have to worry about scaling something up or down to the fit the final. Often too, I’ll draw the full sketch on transparent paper bc it can be easier to erase and I can layer images if need be. If you want your painting to look really spontaneous and beautiful, you can even paint on the paper straight on your lightbox with no lines! I don’t personally like this though as I feel like I can’t see what I’m painting.

If you don’t have a lightbox, a window will work, though your arm might get tired if there’s a lot of detail! Just tape up your drawings, layered to a window - has to be light outside and dark inside! Other options include doing a graphite transfer, sketching digitally and tracing from the screen (I’m guilty!) or obviously doing everything digitally, you lucky dogs! I also know of some artists who sketch digitally and then print final lines right onto their paper if they have a nice enough printer. Whatever gets the job done!

Here is the transferred linework from the blog illo! I wanted it to be watery and transparent so I couldn’t risk a ton of ‘searching’ lines.

This spread had SO much detail - no way I was going to figure that out on the final paper. Instead, I needed planned crisp lines to transfer. I drew the whole spread on tracing paper and used the lightbox to transfer the lines.

When I started working for clients, I worried that I wouldn’t delivery the right sketches. PDFs of JPGS? How many sketches? How detailed do I have to be? Every industry is going to be different, but if you aren’t sure, just ask your art director, they’ll tell you what they need. Usually in editorial, you’ll be expected to give 2-3 options. In picture books, it’s usually one draft, though you’ll have to explore options for the cover. It also depends on the job - if it’s a quick fussy job with a low fee, I don’t bend over backwards to deliver - but if the client is thoughtful with the brief and project, I’ll do extra and put together a beautiful pitch for them. I used to be SUPER detailed with my sketches but now I try to hold back so it gives me more room to explore in the final.
DELIVERY - obviously check with the client but usually for one offs, I just send low-res jpgs to their email. For bigger sketches like picture books, I combine all the pages in a PDF and send that so they can easily flip through it and add notes to send back to me.

Here’s a recent illo I did for a lovely client, Literati. They were trusting and expressed their openness to creative freedom so I took them up on it! I did the sketches and loved how fresh and free they were but when I went to final, I couldn’t get that freshness without redrawing it completely. So I did! This print (along with other illustrated goodies) will be part of their February book box. Literati is a monthly picture book box subscription where you receive five books based on that month’s theme - you then just purchase the books you want to keep! The final illustration here was done in acrylic gouache & colored pencil on Arches.

Here was the second round of sketches I gave them - complete with a color palette, which I don’t always do. They’d requested to get an idea of color so I sent this along.

Here’s the final! The theme for the month is ‘Together We Grow’. Perfect for the floral theme I had happening.

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Finally, the age old dilemma…how to keep the life of the sketch when moving to final? There's something raw and emotional about sketches that a lot of us can’t seem to impart into the final piece. I’m not sure if it’s the ‘beautiful clean paper’ that stresses us, or simply the weight of having to create something polished. This is still a struggle for me but I’ve found some ways to attempt freshness.

+ Don’t draw every detail. Leave areas for yourself to figure out later - patterns or tiny details.
+ If you're beating your head against the wall trying to get ONE area right - take a break, or try drawing it on scrap paper - get away from all those previous attempts.
+ Working FAST is a great way to loosen up and keep it fresh.
+ Use bigger brushes and tools so you can't get too finicky.

I wanted to keep the life in the final for this post’s illustration so I simplified color and worked fast! You can watch the whole process, from sketch transfer to signature on my Patreon!

Do you have a preferred way to sketch? Do you always do the same process or do you find that you change depending on the project? I’d love to hear it - maybe there’s a life changing method I haven’t even tried!

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ALSO! As promised, a little bit about the upcoming exhibition at Gallery Nucleus this month. I’m joining a host of incredible artists for Flora & Fauna V, which opens Feb 12. The theme of the show was mushroom and fungi and since I’m not really one to draw plants, I decided to combine my love of 20th century theater posters to create mushroom themed performances - all to take place at the dazzling and completely fabricated Blue Clover Theatre. Oh how I wish these were actual shows I could attend…sigh

The work will be available through the gallery, and I’ll have prints later this Spring, so keep your eyes peeled. To learn more about the show - visit Gallery Nucleus!

ALRIGHT! I hope you have the zaniest or most relaxing Feb ever depending on what you’re after.
Can you believe next month this blog/bulletin series will be TWO?! I’m shocked I’ve done a post every month for 24 months. That seems like something special to me! Maybe a little gift is in order…😉

OK thanks as always for being here, my sketchy friends.
Enjoy the little things. Pet a dog, go for a walk, eat an extra brownie or five. Whatever you gotta do.
I’m right there with ya.

xo,
Becca