Ink Sketches

The following in sketches are from observation. The overall effects are very simplistic, and could appear rather one-dimensional solely due to the choice of monotones and repetitive line strokes, although it does provide a sense of style on its own. They also appear to have elements of Dave McKean's style in them.

Ink Sketches: Observational

Using the same materials, I started to create observational ink drawings of people around me. I tried to portray them in a simplistic form, and exaggerate their features to give them a somewhat cartoon-like appearance, keeping in mind that they were meant to look like illustrations for a book.

More of my ink drawings can be found in my sketchbook.   

Ink Sketches: Copies

Above is a sketch referenced from a scene in The Hunchback of Notredame, which I found in the book of works from Disney artists.

Looking for a subject matter to draw, I started by doing multiple ink sketches using ink. It helps me to produce a series of drawings in a short amount of time in order to record my progress as I go along. 

I started drawing from a second resource picture reference first, like an illustration in a book (a Disney book filled with concept art and screenshots of some of the films proved to be really helpful), or professional photographs of landscapes in a photography guide which I simply re-enacted with ink.

This sketch was referenced from a photograph by Lee Frost. Working from a photograph is particularly useful, in a sense that a subject's form can be determined by looking at real-life events. This further strengthens the need to obtain primary photographs of my own.

I have come to realize that using black ink works effectively for the foreground, as it is more bold and eye-catching, in a sense that what a viewer tend to see in a landscape; foregrounds tend to be much darker in hue, and slowly retracts as the picture moves further away into the background.

In this case, I used a sepia-toned ink for the shading and for the outline of the building in the background. Noticing this enables me to create depth within the sketch.

More of my ink drawings can be found in my sketchbook.

Pencil Sketches

So far, I have developed original creature-like characters of my own. But what I found most difficult to achieve is drawing people. 


I started off by drawing quick observational drawings of myself, using only pencils. 
I then developed the concept further by analyzing people around me (in classes, outdoors, at home or on my way to and from college in the bus etc.) and drew rough pencil sketches of them. My sketches bear a different range of viewpoints: whether the subject is seen from the front, the side or even the back.


I try not to concentrate too much on detail, just the the important shapes and lines that make up the frame of a person.


Drawing people from observation gives me a thorough insight to the form of their features; the size of the limbs, the basic forms of the objects surrounding them, and the creases of the clothes where they take their form around the body in a series of positions.


More of my pencil sketches can be found in my sketchbook.

Felt-tip Sketches: Original Characters

I have related some aspects of quirkiness from the artist's drawings I've seen and came up with characters from my own imagination. The following are mystical creatures, quickly drawn with a sepia felt-tip pen, and focusing mainly on the lines and dynamism of the cross-hatching to create depth. 

 I tried to add some aspects of humour into this. The characteristics of these creatures bare a few similarities with the shape of mushrooms. 

The same inspiration I extracted from plants were used on the following two sketches, with hints of scarecrow features in them. The effect can almost be quite humourous...

...Or maybe frightening.

Artist research: Beatrix Potter

The following is a brief analysis I wrote about the works of Beatrix Potter. I referred to her website link, focusing mainly on her artwork for research, which can be found here http://www.peterrabbit.com/potters-world-potters-art.asp. (Her website is linked at the bottom of this blog)

Beatrix Potter is one of the most well-known illustrators among children’s books for many years.

Her works are mainly of simplified cartoon-like versions of animals (in which case her characters tend to have human features such as wearing clothes or using man-made objects and utensils). Her style has a tendency to capture the image obtained from a child’s mind, very simplistic and playful which brings us to this example:

I noted the use of colours in her work; they seem to share quite similar use of material with my main chosen artist Tony DiTerlizzi, which is a fine line image with a watercolour wash over it to add character. Although unlike DiTerlizzi, Potter’s technique tend to be a lot more simple, and her choice of colours are more vibrant to give a sense of child-like quality.

Screenshots of Resources

Here is the screenshot of Tony DiTerlizzi's front page blog:

It includes step-by-step records of making an illustration including his influences, reference pictures and choice of materials (which are mostly inks and watercolours).

There are also close-ups of his rough sketches that I find useful. In this image, DiTerlizzi shows the rough pencil sketch before any additional touches like inking or colour.

For his mermaid drawings, DiTerlizzi uses reference pictures of models to help with proportions and the reflective light on the subject underwater.

He posted comparisons between his pencil sketch and his inked works...

...and even finished and polished works which help me understand the processes of illustrating.

DiTerlizzi highlights the importance of using references to make the characters look convincing: