My new art process

Transitioning to 90:10 (Traditional to Digital)

Since January 2024, I’ve been playing with traditional media like colored pencils, pastels, markers, ink pens, etc. during my daily sketchbook time. I’ve always enjoyed working with pen & ink, watercolor, and gouache. During the COVID chaos in 2020, I bought an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, got the Procreate app, and started taking numerous classes on Procreate, determined to learn how to work digitally.

From the beginning, I enjoyed digital brushes that mimic organic lines and textures created by pencils, charcoal, pastels, and gouache. Many people commented how they thought I did my art traditionally even though I did it digitally, and I felt thrilled about that. While I still worked with traditional media to make art for prints for my art shop, I used digital media to illustrate picture books since it’s much easier to make adjustments without redrawing the entire thing.

When I participated in the art challenges for a month last October, I used colored pencils, limiting myself to three colors to draw each prompt. I fell in love with the delicate textures and colors created by blending colored pencils. Many of my favorite Japanese picture book illustrators work with colored pencils, so it's no wonder I enjoy them.

My friend told me last December, “I LOVE your sketchbook work, especially for the beautiful colors and textures. Why don’t you illustrate children’s books traditionally? “ That was a little nudge I needed to have. Since January this year, I've started working with gouache and colored pencils with minor digital tweaking for my children’s book illustrations.

1. Sketch

I was assigned to draw some animals or people for at least 10 min a day for the mentorship program I was enrolled in. (The Illustration Department) Since I had an established daily sketchbook habit, I thought the assignment would be easy. Boy, I was wrong! When I draw just for fun, I never run out of things to draw. However, since it was an assignment, I felt pressured to perform well for my mentor. My lines became stiff and I didn’t know what to draw. After struggling for a few days, I realized I was not doing this to impress my mentor but to learn and improve my skills. To improve, I needed to show him all my sketches including not-so-good ones. When I allowed myself to draw something a little wonky, the weight lifted off my shoulder (more like my hand), and I could draw and have fun as usual.

I drew the elephant in the blue circle out of my imagination. For the rest, I drew with the reference photos. Both my mentor and I liked the wonky elephant out of my imagination. We started brainstorming about his character and came up with the idea that he is an insomniac.

2. Character Design

I did more sketches of this insomniac elephant. I usually take my time for the character design stage to get to know the characters better. However, since I was so eager to move on to the next stage, I didn’t spend a lot of time on the character design for this illustration. I decided the elephant is obsessed with the moon so that he refuses to go to bed and thus becomes an insomniac.

3. Composition

First, I’ve looked through different composition ideas on Pinterest. I tried a couple of different ideas but narrowed it down to these three. I decided on the circled one because the focus will be on the elephant and then the moon. I like the idea he’s looking at the moon from his bedroom even though he was supposed to be in bed. My mentor suggested putting clothing on the elephant because of the setting.

4. Sketch (with Procreate)

After I sketched with a pen in my sketchbook, I took a picture of it and uploaded it to Procreate. I adjusted the opacity to 30% of the uploaded image. I created a new layer and used the Bardot pencil to draw over my sketch. I tried to remain loose and not trace over perfectly. I like the ease of making some adjustments on Procreate. I put a sleeper on the elephant and moved him to the right. I added flying elephants that the insomniac elephant is hallucinating and toys scattered on the floor to show that it’s his bedroom. I changed the angle of the window and the tree shapes.

5. Color roughs

I wanted to use the limited color palette to set the nighttime mood. I looked at different reference photos of the moonlit bedrooms. I had four color palette options. I chose the muted, dark teal to show a touch of warmth. While teal is my go-to color, I've never painted a picture just in teal. I was excited about this new palette.

6. Tracing (With a lightbox)

If you don’t own a lightbox, I highly recommend getting one. It’s a game changer compared to using carbon paper or shading the back of your paper for a makeshift version. It's not very expensive and quite useful for tracing. Mine has been a bit finicky lately, so it takes a bit to turn on. It’s probably time for a new one.

For tracing, I used a light cobalt blue Luminance colored pencil with gentle pressure. This step didn't take me too long. Again, I wasn't aiming for perfection here. I tried to remain loose and enjoy the process even though it seemed monotonous. It's quite therapeutic.

This is the finished sketch.

I showed this finished sketch to my mentor and he really liked it. Here was his feedback: Make the head a bit bigger and the body slightly shorter to make the character look younger; show less of the curtain on the left; vary the placement of the toys on the floor to a different plain; adjust the angle of the window ever so slightly; and make the trees shorter. These were all minor changes but I think it really improved the illustration. What a wonderful thing it is to have a mentor who’s both knowledgeable and encouraging!
I made the adjustments in Procreate then redid the tracing. It was totally worth it.

7. Coloring

First, I mixed colors to match the color palette I created. I LOVE mixing colors! I find it both exciting and therapeutic. I learned from the local watercolor class that adding brown or cobalt blue to colors is a great way to darken them. For this piece, I used Caran D’Ache gouache and Holbein gouache. Instead of using expensive paper like Arches, I painted on a page from a Strathmore cold press watercolor paper pad. I think I will start using the Arches watercolor paper for the future projects. For the sky, I decided to start with a yellow underpainting so that the yellow could peek through the night sky. Then I started painting with the lightest teal and worked my way to the darkest. I used size 10 Loew-Corwell 7020 Ultra Round brush for the entire piece. I bought this brush used from my watercolor teacher, and I love it! It holds the paint very well and has a great point for detailed work. Having a good quality brush for painting is important to me. It allows me to paint smoothly and reduces the need to reload the brush frequently, helping the colors to stay consistent. It also makes the process more enjoyable.

8. Texture

For the texture, I used Luminance colored pencils. I applied very little pressure and used a circular motion on the area I wanted to shade or highlight. This is one of my favorite parts of my process. To me, using colored pencils add beautiful depth and texture to an illustration. I used steady pressure in the area where I wanted to define the lines.

9. Fine tuning

I scanned my finished painting using an Epson Perfection V600 scanner, then uploaded it to Procreate. I made a few slight color adjustments but not much. I was happy with the colors I mixed, which came out pretty close to my original palette. I did decide to change the elephant’s ear shape because it looked a bit like a cocker spaniel’s. I also blended the harsh line of the floor’s shadows and colored the stars white. After that, I exported the file to Photoshop and used Levels to make a slight adjustment. I was very happy with the final illustration! It felt like I was able to bring my vision to life.

Since then, I’ve tweaked a few very minor details based on feedback from my mentor and a portfolio review. The first image on this post is the edited version. Can you spot what I changed?

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And that’s my new art process! Thank you for taking the time to read! I hope you enjoyed it. 🙂 If you’d like to receive more updates like this, just click the subscribe button below.

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A couple of exciting updates!

• I was selected as a finalist for the 2025 PBParty contest!🤩 Out of 1000+ entries, only 55 finalists were chosen. I was blown away!

• I won the Portfolio Showcase at the SCBWI Southern Breeze conference at the end of March!

• I finished a rough dummy for my third picture book. This one’s going to be a fun one!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on my art process in the comment. And I’d love to learn about your creative process too!

Happy Easter to those who celebrate!

💗
Yumiko