My Design Process.
Every artist has their personal process.
A routine that they follow religiously while creating their artwork. It is like the Holy Grail that they have developed through countless years of struggle and trial and error. Finally achieving a design process that they find to be the most efficient route to finish their art projects. I, too have a personal design process that I have developed through my experiences and I also took some tips from my peers to fine-tune my process. I hope that you can learn from my experiences and take something out of my design process.
1. I start with inspiration – This is the most important step. No artist can start a project without getting some sort of inspiration to pursue a project. Thus, I start with taking photos by myself, pull from stock, look at Pinterest and reference books in my collection (Jacqueline Groag, In Patterns Marimekko, Color + Patterns, A book that takes its time, The Secret Lives of Color, 1000 fonts, The Designers Dictionary of Color, and several children’s books.
2. Sketching – After I have found inspiration, I then start sketching. This is what I usually do by hand with a pencil and my favorite notebook. This process can also be called doodling as I try to get a feel for the abstract ideas I have in my mind. Once I have it sketched out, it helps to visual the final form of my artwork.
3. Scanning – After my ideas are sketched out I scan them by using my Canon lide-400 scanner or by using the Camscanner app on my smartphone. This gets the sketch into my device and I can have it saved in a digital form.
4. Using digital tools – I prefer to use Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator over procreate. I like their tools and the programs better. Photoshop and Illustrator are universally loved tools for their seamless features. I will usually start in Photoshop and draw using a brush, over my sketches. This is the time when I clean them up and I will also change them depending on what I am creating. I usually sketch the subject matter several times until I have what I am looking for. Photoshop is the perfect tool for this trial and error approach. Keep in mind that it has several editing features which can enhance the look and feel of your final piece.
5. Refining – Now it is time to refine and add color to my artwork. Again this usually happens in Photoshop but sometimes I will work directly in Illustrator. It really depends on what my end product is. Many times I will create a piece of art to go with my patterns and the art piece is usually in Photoshop and then I do the icons and motifs plus the color in Illustrator. So, it is up to the artist to use the approach that best suits their needs.
6. Sharing with the rest of the world – Once the end product is finished and I am done with all the edits, it is time for me to finalize my artwork and share it with others! I take some time and admire my piece to get a sense of fulfillment at this stage. It also helps me to get inspiration to pursue my next art project.
Every piece of art I create starts with an interesting piece of inspiration. You can check out my portfolio to see more of my work. I create from the heart and from the soul. To keep up with the latest pieces of art FOLLOW ME on INSTAGRAM.