This week I was scrolling through the camera roll on my phone and laughing because half of my photos are photos of sketches to bring into Adobe Illustrator. Two weeks ago I wrote about how important is for me to do thumbnails before projects. Well this aspect of sketching is important to my creative process as well. Whenever I am doing a design in Illustrator I always sketch out ideas and illustrations first. I think I, as well as many others, think more creatively with pencils and paper than on the computer. Plus, I think it helps to have a page full of ideas that you can come back to and look at during the process of a project to bring you back in case you loose your way. If I like something, I’ll trace it in pen so that it reads better once brought into the computer.

It’s so easy to just photograph an illustration with your phone! Then, I either message or email to myself and in seconds it’s to my computer. I’ll either image trace it or trace it with the pen tool (depending on the aesthetic I want). I’ve been really into rigid/messy edges lately, but I also bring in photos to trace to get a more precise look too. Using sketches has made my process more efficient and brings my drawing style into my designs. This adds a more personal effect to computer designs! Also, it’s fun to see things that you drew in you sketch-book come to life on the computer by possibly adding color, or making it any size that you want. It’s a nice way to clean up illustrations as well, or make easy changes to mistakes.