SKETCHING FOR CONCEPT

I use sketching as a communication tool to get my ideas across quite a bit. Techniques and image processes like these explained below are great for generating many ideas quickly or to lay out a proposal for use as a foundation to build a more final "concept" image from. Follow along to learn many of my common workflows and thought processes I use when going about my work...

1. Pencil Sketch:

For this image I had a pretty clear idea in my mind of what I hoped to illustrate so I quickly laid down pencil line work to block-in the main forms of my composition. Take a look at how I go about doing that in this video:

2. Pen Sketch:

After getting some loose line work down I move forward inking with a brush pen to indicate my masses with gestural, economic, brush-pen strokes. Follow along here to see my inking process:

Now that I am done laying in the brush pen work I have a good block-out of my image and the fuzzy idea in my head is beginning to take shape. Here is the sketch at this point:

3. Photoshop Paint Over

The next thing I like to do with a lot of my sketches is photograph or scan and move into Adobe Photoshop where I can make adjustments and add polish. This animated gif shows the layers/process put in digitally:

Lastly, I explain my quick paint over process done in Photoshop adding in another level of detail to my image. After this stage I feel like its safe to call my sketch complete and begin to either plan my final or move on and start another version or idea.

Final sketch:

© Darren Bacon, 2017