TUTORIAL // creating light & flowy sketches (Patreon)

It’s time for this month’s tutorial! It’s about sketching, and specifically about how to keep your sketches from becoming too heavy or stiff. In this video, I talk about:

• Which tools I use

• Common misconceptions that hold artists back while sketching

• Useful techniques for sketching - like using the blending stump and contour hatching

• The 4 main stages of sketching in my process, from first lines to the finishing details

• Importance of accepting roughness, mistakes and imperfections

• Suggestions for sketching exercises

I also mention a few artists whose sketches have inspired me a lot. They are:

• Eliza Ivanova: https://www.instagram.com/eleeza

• J.A.W Cooper: https://www.instagram.com/jawcooper

• Jana Schirmer: https://www.instagram.com/janaschirmer (you can see her older sketch work on her deviantart account - https://www.deviantart.com/janaschi/gallery/scraps)

• Gretlusky: https://www.instagram.com/gretlusky

• Iris Compiet: https://www.instagram.com/iriscompiet

My reference image was from AdorkaStock and can be found here: https://www.deviantart.com/adorkastock/art/Floating-Magic-Staff-Pose-Reference-for-Artists-712359715

Some other tutorials that may be helpful after watching this one:

• Constructing a pose: this one goes into more detail on which basic shapes I use to construct a character.

• Creating interesting & flowy shapes: This one talks about how I use shapes to construct my artwork but also detail and finalize it. I use many of these types of shapes in my sketching process, especially now that I “fill in” forms with the blending stump more than I used to!

Also, if you want to see more of my sketches, feel free to browse the sketchbook tour tag - there are 5 sketchbook tours that you can watch! 

As always, I hope you enjoy it! The subtitled version can be found here.