Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
I recently ran through my design process with my Tisch Academy tribe. During the livestream, we talked all about thumbnails. Let me break it down for you now.
Here, we created a simple design, using photo references of a couple of pelicans. The photos were okay, but I wanted to make it truly mine.
I start with some very simple little sketches, reduced down to the major shapes with only 4-5 values. I start to think about the arrangement and how I might improve upon the overall design. After giving the first sketch my best shot (within 5 minutes) I move on to the next. But there’s an important step here… I ask:
1. What’s Working?
2. What’s Not Working?
3. What if…? (insert possibility here)
As I move through these steps I refine, then refine, and then refine some more. I’m thinking continually about the big shapes, and the relationships between them.
Once I’ve done a few of these I feel ready to make a bigger drawing. It doesn't have to be much. Just enough to give me an indication of how the bigger piece could play out. But the truth is, wherever I don’t do this… I regret it!
Do you sketch thumbnails?
#artdaily #sketching #drawing #birdart #birddrawing #pelican #myart #wip #design #composition
I recently ran through my design process with my Tisch Academy tribe. During the livestream, we talked all about thumbnails. Let me break it down for you now.
Here, we created a simple design, using photo references of a couple of pelicans. The photos were okay, but I wanted to make it truly mine.
I start with some very simple little sketches, reduced down to the major shapes with only 4-5 values. I start to think about the arrangement and how I might improve upon the overall design. After giving the first sketch my best shot (within 5 minutes) I move on to the next. But there’s an important step here… I ask:
1. What’s Working?
2. What’s Not Working?
3. What if…? (insert possibility here)
As I move through these steps I refine, then refine, and then refine some more. I’m thinking continually about the big shapes, and the relationships between them.
Once I’ve done a few of these I feel ready to make a bigger drawing. It doesn't have to be much. Just enough to give me an indication of how the bigger piece could play out. But the truth is, wherever I don’t do this… I regret it!
Do you sketch thumbnails?
#artdaily #sketching #drawing #birdart #birddrawing #pelican #myart #wip #design #composition
