I always start with the eyes. Well, almost always, anyways.
When I do start with the eyes, they usually end up being big and round. After I draw them, I’ll add a nose and mouth. Then, I draw the face shape around them and add the ears, neck, shirt, and hair.
Other times, I’ll start with an emotion.
If I have and idea of what I want to portray, I’ll usually come up with a pose or expression that illustrates it.
The above drawing is one of the first times I used this technique. I wanted to portray a feeling of melancholy so I “flipped through” images in my mind of a boy walking in the rain with his head down. The final piece turned out different than I’d originally planned, but it still illustrates the idea.
Another technique that I use, usually combined with the above techniques, is shading over EVERYTHING. I refer to it as “intense shading”.
Coloring in the background helps to demonstrate skin color because then you can see the difference between the character’s skin and the wall they’re standing in front of, which also makes them more 3D.
Not everyone’s skin is as pale as the paper you are drawing on, and I think it’s important to “see color” in art.
Intense shading is also helpful in illustrating an idea. In the above drawing, I scribbled over the character’s face to demonstrates that he is hiding behind something.
Everyone’s creative process is different and unique! I hope reading about mine inspired you to create your own.
Note: Last month, I published every weekday, which was a fun experiment but I think I’m gonna slow things down this month and post twice a week. Mondays will be for posts like this one where I talk about myself, faith, our speak out about stuff. Publishing twice a week will allow for more scheduling and more time for my other hobbies.
Let’s Talk: What is your creative process like?
Leave a Reply