This is my first blog post and here I was thinking of explaining my general thought process regarding sketching and just the way I approach it. I have added some iguana sketches on top to demonstrate my visual thinking process and approach to representation. These are done solely with the purpose of a study, of course. They were drawn with a great deal of references and not a lot of care put into presentation aspect.
My process for sketching like this involves a few stages; gathering references, constructing with basic shapes, and then adding everything else on top as I see fit. I find this kind of workflow to be simple enough to not get overwhelmed with the many challenges of the digital medium. For the same reason, I choose not to use colors for the most part with my sketching, although I also won't deny the many opportunities colors and values bring to the table.
To be frank, the idea of a "finished piece" hasn't ever interested me that much. Very rarely do I do long renderings of drawings with accurate colors and values and such. I feel like sketching is a much more fundamental part of me as an artist, and a foundation to my idea generation process. It allows me to pump out pages of designs within a couple of hours of work, and manages to keep it interesting throughout. I am certainly more of a sketchbook artist.
Regarding the idea of a study, I feel like a study shouldn't just consist of drawing or painting. Sure, those aspects concern a visual artist the most, but I also see value in watching documentaries and reading a wikipedia page about these creatures I'm about to draw. Videos also provide many angles and lighting schemes that photos never would, and so I see that as a bonus as well.
When it comes to the actual drawing of the study subject in question, I always start with a few loose marks to block-in the subject and to indicate points of interest. In this case those would be the eyes, the tip of the tail, and the curve of the back. I often add contour lines on whatever the subject is, in this case just lines on the skin. These contour lines represent the basics of forms and dimensions in these drawings. I also make sure to add a couple of dark spots to indicate shadow areas.
And finally, with this particular study, I saw it fit to draw something relevant. In this case, I chose to paint the Great Jagras from Monster Hunter World. Trying to draw it before and after some studies really had a night and day difference.
