You can find out more here.

Thanks to shiroc for posting this in the forums

But, never fear, I have 5 simple tips to help ease the transition:

1. Relax & Warm Up

As I always tell anyone who asks about how to sketch well, relaxing is probably one of the most important things to remember when sketching. Not only is relaxation important, but warming up, as you would on paper, is important as well. Certainly you won’t hurt yourself by sketching without warming up, but you’ll be better off for it. Sketching on a digital tablet will feel different depending on which tip you use in a stylus. Warming up with help you get adjusted to the transition and help you find your “footing”

2. Pick a program

Corel Painter is my favorite sketching program, but Autodesk Sketchbook pro is definitely a close second.

Why do I like painter? It works for me. Just as you have your favorite tool when sketching on paper, pick a program and try to stick with it. Sticking with the same program will get you quickly familiarized with the ins and outs of the tools you’re about to use in a shorter period of time instead of spreading yourself thin by focusing on mastering several sketch programs. I like the brush creator in Painter the best, which leads me to the next tip…

3. Use Custom Brushes

Standard brushes usually aren’t that great, at least in my experience. They’re like vanilla ice cream – they might work for most people but there’s nothing remarkable about them. The brush creator in some programs can be a little intimidating at first. Embrace your new found power and try coming up with some brushes you like and work for you. It’s part of getting your own style, and will go a long way in helping you be more efficient when sketching digitally.

4. When in doubt, rough it out

If you’re struggling to get that idea out digitally and frankly you’re having a ham fisted day, it doesn’t hurt to take some time to return to the familiar and rough out your design intent on paper. Don’t waste time trying to make it right the first time either. Build layers, scratch and scribble if you can and build a rough framework for the sketch.

5. Work smarter and harder

Practice makes perfect, but also practicing how to work smarter makes perfect. Stop and think for a sec – I’m sketching digitally, what advantages does this medium present over sketching with pen and paper? It’s simple really. For one, it’s easy to make quick, non destructive design iterations using layers in a sketching package. It’s also easy to quickly integrate the use of CAD as a tool or guide for proportion. Using reference without printing is also another advantage. The point is, find what digital tricks work for you, and start to work them into your sketch process. In the long run, you’ll find that those tools you put in your toolbox as you practice will go a long way.

If you have any other suggestions, leave a comment below or share them in the forums! Happy sketching.

1. Find your Inspiration:

Don’t just copy someone, but rather seek out sketches or illustrations that give you that feeling or drive to draw even more. Find subjects that you like and practice them in your sketchbook. By doing this, you’ll find yourself beginning to mimick (not copy) the feeling of the sketch or illustration. It’s a natural process that happens over time when you have the right inspiration. For me it was feng zhu (artbyfeng.com) – I loved his sketch style at the time, and I admit, I tried copying a few things, but that wasn’t beneficial to me. It really clicked when I analyzed what made his sketch good, and then adapted that to my own natural tendencies. Simkom.com is another great online resource that’s updated frequently with juicy juicy sketches from many designers. Mainly car stuff, but adapting things you like is the key.

2. Pick a Tool:

Pick a tool and stick with it. I think when starting out, you’ll hear alot of people say use a felt pen or a pen in general. It’s good advice, but above and beyond the confidence you’ll gain from using a pen, when you can master a tool, your flow will be significantly greater. What I mean is, the awkwardness of using a tool to express an idea or concept can be a hinderance, and when the awkwardness is gone, your style will flow so much easier, as will your ideas.

3. Let Your Personality Flow on to the Paper

I’m a cheery, jovial guy, and I think alot of that translates into the paper. I tell people to relax when sketching. It’s good advice for technique in general, but good advice as well when trying to develop a style. Style is really about personal expression – letting it all out. If you’re shy, or afraid, your style won’t ever come out on paper. Be confident with each stroke and learn to express yourself. It’s OKAY to make a few mistakes here or there. My best sketching happens when I’m not caring so much about the accuracy or precision of each stroke, but rather the espression or the “big picture” of what I am trying to accomplish. Which leads me to my next point.

4. Break The Rules

When you master a set of rules, don’t be slave to them. Learn to break free. Now, I don’t mean abandon principles of perspective, lineweight, proper ellipse construction or basic primitive proportions. What I mean is learn to bend the rules a bit. Drawing with your shoulder and drawing through are two great rules that we’re taught early on, that can be broken. Coloring between the lines and not past is another example of a rule that can be bent to express your style and experiment in new means of expression.

5. Get Some Signature Moves

This is that little dot you put at the end of a line, or a non-descript squiggle at the end of a marker stroke. It’s the gaussian blur in photoshop that you use on a particular part of a rendering. Discover your signature moves when experimenting while “breaking the rules” as I mentioned, consistently implement them, and you’ll have a style developing from it.

If you find yourself sketching and your lines are simple frantic expressions of raw energy, changes are you’re tense. Sketching, like any other exercise or pursuit in precision requires you to be relaxed. Believe me, I’ve had my fair share of rush job sketch-fests, only to be sorely disappointed in myself at the outcome.

Despite deadlines, time limits, work conditions, or other stress factors, it’s important to remain calm. That’s why I love sketchbooks so much – they allow you to sketch in private (for the most part) without someone telling you what to sketch or how to sketch it. It helps you hone your skill without being too constrained.

With that said, always remember to relax. It can be challenging, but take a few deep breaths, pause mid process and start over if you have to. It will make a big difference.

Like any other language, for a statement in visual communication to have effect on the viewer, you need impact. I don’t care if you hate sketching as a whole and claim that it’s beneath your calling as a designer, marketing person, engineer, or otherwise, big visuals can have BIG impact in selling your cause. Take this principle and run with it. Not only does it apply to sketching, but it applies to really any presentation method. Go big or go home. It’s that simple.

With regards to the sketch, try practicing sketching in a larger space. Get some larger paper, fill it with sketches that are larger in size and scale than you are used to. Chances are it will be difficult, but remember, you are helping train your muscles.

I was recently reminded by John of an occasion in a transportation design class where I did the biggest sketch (in size) for the scheduled presentation. It wasn’t the best sketch in the room, but it definitely had impact and was memorable. The key here is to have the right impact as well, but regardless of that, go big or go home.

I know I’ve said it before several times, but how many of you out there keep a sketchbook and actually sketch in it? hmmm? That’s what I thought. Chances are you were gun ho at one point and have lost passion by now.

I took the advice from a professor of mine a LONG time ago, and to this day, still keep a sketchbook. I take it most places and practice. You may think doing assignments in school, or  for work is practice enough, but it’s not. You’re really just doing the bare minimum and not extending yourself, which leads to my next bit of advice . . .

Being too comfortable with your skill-set will lead to a sense complacency and a non-chalant attitude toward your work. Just like any language, sketching and visual communication require constant practice, usage, and honing of your skill-set. For example, a knife that goes unsharpened for an extended period of time will eventually become dull and highly ineffective at its core function.

And so it is with you whether you are in the field of visual arts, design, marketing, or even engineering – it’s about communication. Don’t get comfortable, hone those skills, and keep visiting the site for tips and exercises

That’s my 2¢. By no means is this meant to be a complete or all encompassing list of things to watch out for, but rather a few things that should help you along your way to being more effective at visual communication.

I’ve had a few people ask about the construction of shadows. I’ll talk about two types here and I’ll be up front here – I won’t cover every situation or even more complex scenarios, but the principles here will help you construct fairly accurate and believable shadows when sketching.

Shadow?

Shadows occur when an object obstructs the path of light. The shape of the shadow is determined by the shape of an object and is a direct result of light passing the edge of the object casting the shadow. Typically, there are two types of shadow that I sketch – Sunlight, and Drop Shadows. Drop shadows are shadows cast directly below on a plane by the object  as seen below

Since drop shadows are simple enough, I’ll cover another kind here – the Artificial Light Shadow.

Before we continue, if you’re into the more technical of explanations, you can check out this website.

Natural Light Shadow

Technically speaking, there is no difference between an artificial light source and a sunlight source. The sun is so far away that the rays emanating from that light source though, converging at the source, appear parallel on earth. Check out the photo below. Fortunately, I had a sunny day in San Francisco and a chance to take some good photos.

See more after the break…

Since the difference is negligible, we will assume the light rays in our sketches to be parallel as well. Check out the video below the post to see how it’s constructed.

Basically, lines are projected from each corner of the top surface as well as the corresponding corners of the bottom face of the cube. The intersection points are connected and voila! We have a shadow! Simple enough right?

Artificial Light Shadow

Artificial light shadows are basically the same as a natural light shadow, however, our light source is alot closer to us – millions of miles closer to us. Check out the example shown in this photo -

With an artificial light source, lines are projected from the center of the point light source (in this case, a lightbulb) as well as the base of that light source as it intersects the plane on which the object rests.

Since the lines projected aren’t parallel as with the sunlight example, the shadow that is projected will appear to get wider, the further away from the object you go. In the above example, the shadow spreads out wider to the right of the picture.

Check out the video below as well as the sketches to see how to construct simple shadows on paper.

Well, hope this covers some simple shadow tips. Try applying this to some more complex shapes and experiment. As always, experiment and have fun, and if you have any questions, contact us in the forums or post your work for critique.

Let’s start with a simple black and white scale. We’ll move on to color later on. . .  (spectral purists need not read on) hehe. My Disclaimer – I am no expert on color theory, but I have tried out alot of markers and have learned a few tips in my tinkering.

Basic Grayscale:

This scale runs from a deep black 100% to a 10% gray to the right. Chances are your monitor may either pick up all the subtleties of the scale or not. Either way, think of this is as a scale of grays or values in 10% increments. Now, you really don’t need to go buy a set of 12 grays. Here’s why – When using markers, if you let them dry a little after applying them, then reapply some more marker, you can get a darker value with the same marker. Works on most papers but especially marker paper.

Really, all you need for a decent range of values is three markers, with each marker 20% away from each other. What I mean is for example, 10%, 30%, and 50% grays or 30% 50% and 70% gray markers. Why?

Well, take a look at this sketch or any decent sketch as a matter of fact. Now, squint your eyes and take a look at it. You should be able to see an area of highlight where the light is the most intense (in this case, the top of the box), a mid-tone (the left side of the cube) and a shadow tone (the dark right side of the cube).

The shadow could be considered an even deeper value, but in this case, I have used a 70% grey marker.

Ahhhhh that’s more like it. Pick 3 values from the grays – warm or cool depending on your preference (personally I prefer cool grays for most product sketches and warm grays for some special applications) Nice and simple right? Just follow the 20% apart scheme and you should be fine with picking the grays. The scale below represents a 70% gray, 50% gray, and a 30% gray value scale with each 20% away from the next in value.

Colored Markers:

With colors, you’ll need to stay within the same hue before messing with value. By hue, I mean REDS, ORANGES, or BLUES for example. You could also think of it as color temperature. (again, this may not be 100% correct, but it’s how I think it works)

Again, try to pick three markers that are each 20% apart in value and represent a highlight value, midtone value, and a shadow value.

So if you’re picking red markers for example, you may want to stay close to something as shown below.

Shadow, Midtone, and Highlight values. I have a deep red, a midtone red, and a lighter pink for the highlight color.3

Depending on the brand of marker you choose, these values may differ. I highly recommend testing the colors with markers in an art store for example before committing to buying them online. That way, you can find colors that are similar enough in hue and different enough in value that all work together.

Confused? Just remember, if you’re not sure what to do:

1. Squint your eyes
2. Check the values
3. Make sure that the markers are within the same range in hue (For colors)
4. Test test test before you buy them.

So, if you’re on a budget and not planning to amass a collection of 200+ markers like I have, stick to three for each color range and experiment. Find what works for you and use these tips to help simplify your choice in markers.

I’ve also posted this under essentials so if you need to check back later for updates, you can there. I’ll update this and talk more about brands at some point.

If you have any other tips or tricks on how you pick your markers, let us know by commenting below.

Here is an overlay showing the visual journey I want the viewer to have according to what I have predetermined as “important.” Generally you want to use the rule of 3. This means you determine and create three areas on your layout of interest or importance. For this page I want the viewer to see the rendered sketch first, so I have given it size, contrast, and even some light color. The second read perhaps goes to an explanatory sketch showing how it is used. Finally perhaps smallest in size/importance are some initial exploration sketches.

When you layout sketches be sure to think of designing the layout as well. Send your viewer on a visual journey and push their eyes around the page to help them see your ideas!

So we have been noticing a lot of work popping up on the forum for the competition! One of the things we also noticed was that some of the “head sketches” showing off the product need a little love. I know first hand that people can be very intimidating to sketch! So here is a quick “how to getchyo head right” that I put together to give some guidance on sketching out a quick head for a product sketch. As the final sketches for the competition should be “presentation sketches,” you might think about having a human head somewhere on the page to show how the product lives.

Step 1: Sketch (lightly and gesturally) a nice plump circle using your shoulder and arm. Sketch a line right through the middle of it. This line will indicate the eyes/brow line.

Step 2: Lets establish some more guides…Divide the circle again from the halfway line to the bottom with a horizontal line…and then again once more. Once this is done you can give yourself a guide line at the bottom of the circle as well. We have just established the nose, the lips and the chin.

Step 3: Indicate the eyes at the halfway mark. Stylistically, I tend to just indicate a brow at this line, but really its the eyes.

Step 4: Go down to the next line and work in the nose. 

Step 5: Next go down to the next guide and hit up some lips. You don’t need to fool around and make this too detailed. Remember that in the end this sketch will just help to show off our product.

Step 6: Get the chin and jaw line going from the bottom of your circle.

Step 7: Here we need to fix the head. No human has a perfectly circular head, we have to shape it a bit by coming in with a darker line and punching out the form.

Step 8: Next you need an ear. Usually you are safe putting the ear near the center of the circle with the top of the ear nearly at the center or eye line. Just make sure it goes somewhere between eyes and nose.

Step 9: To add a little more detail I will put in some hair.

Step 10: You can now overlay or sketch your product right on top! BTW…this same technique (with a little practice) can be used for straight on views or perspective as well!

Hope you learned something and good luck with the headphone competition!

Okay, here’s another sketch tutorial for you. We’ve received a couple requests for more marker demos with traditional media, so I broke it down for you in a few steps.

People always ask what’s the key to laying down some good marker or pencil – I think the answer is really simple. Relax, and have fun and PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!! Never underestimate the value of always sketching. It’s like practicing a foreign language by speaking it often. Okay, enough of my rant about practice.

I tried to pick something fairly simple to work on. I know, it’s just a suitcase, but I chose this to show how a simple object can seem more exciting with some good perspective, some good linework, and some good marker application.

First off, I started out with a rough underlay of my suitcase, setting up the basic design and perspective of the scene. I’ve also outlined the shadow and some details in the object that will help guide my over-sketch.

By the way, I’m using crappy tracing paper to do my underlay and a little nicer paper for my overlay. This way, I can be relaxed when sketching my undersketch and not have to worry about how expensive the paper is. Remember to relax and have fun.

Next, I took some nicer Bienfang 260 Marker paper (Any marker paper or a smoother bond paper will do.) and worked on my overlay. Be sure if you do this with pencil to use sharp ones or have a bunch of sharp ones handy. A good electric sharpener helps as well.

Okay, time to pull out the markers. I’ll talk about marker selection a little bit more in a future post, but for now, what you need is 3 markers in three distinct tones – a highlight or light marker, one for the midtone, and the other for the shadows or dark tones. In this case, I am using three prismacolor markers in the brown family. If you’re not sure if there’s the right amount of contrast between your markers, then try squinting you eyes when looking at all three applied on a piece of paper. if they are too close in tone, then shift to another marker and keep trying.

I like to outline the areas I am shading before I actually commit to completely shading the entire sketch. Remember, it’s important to have a good quality sketch before you apply marker to it. I see too many times where people are hasty to apply marker to a sketch, only to be frustrated with the final result. Sometimes the problem lies in the foundation, not the paint on the building .

Always try to identify your light source and use it as a guide when you are applying the marker. In this instance, I am assuming that my light source is at the top left of the sketch, causing my shadow to fall to the right of the sketch.

Because my light source is on the left, the darker surfaces will be to the right and the lighter surfaces to the top and left of my sketch.

If you’re not sure about how to apply marker, be sure to check out one of our earlier tutorials on marker application, perspective or any of our video sketch demos for tips on lineweight and quality.

I’ve applied my marker in one tone. I cheated – I applied my midtone first. Typically however, you will want to apply your lightest tone first. Why you ask? If you make a mistake with the lightest tone of your marker set, you’ll be able to more easily correct any mistakes you make that much easier. Fortunately, I didn’t make tooooo many mistakes, so I am good to go.

Again, relax, have fun and be confident with your strokes. It’ll all work out in the end. Right?

My next steps include adding some highs and lows to my sketch. I added some darker tone to my right side of my luggage sketch. Remember that the right side or far side is the one that’s pointing away from the light and will be the darkest toned.

As always, be careful, yet quick when applying your marker so that the sketch feels fresh and lively and not dead and deliberated.

Applying pencil to areas of the already markered in spots can also help bring out detail and add some more interest to things you want to being out in your sketch. In this case, I’m bringing out the stitches, piping and zipper details of the luggage bag by adding contrast with the pencil.

One more thing, don’t be afraid to lightly use your pencil to help push those values in your sketch. A few hatch marks in your dark areas can help punch contrast and help things pop even more in your sketch.

Adding detail and contrast to zippers and other elements will go a long way in making that sketch pop. Contrast is king.

Be sure to add a background for even more pop. because my bag is brown, I have chosen a somewhat complementary color – blue –  to fill my simple background. Don’t go tooooooo crazy with the background either. Backgrounds should complement rather than conflict with the object in the foreground.

Aaaaaaand we’re done. I didn’t mention too much about the shadow, but I figured you could figure out what I did.

If you have any questions, hit us up at info [at] idsketching.com or become a member of the forums to share your work with the growing community there!

So . . . you’re a poor college student, starving artist, or another casualty of the raging recession. Markers aren’t getting any cheaper, the refill inks can be terribly expensive – so what do you do?

The solution is rubbing alcohol

Yes, simple rubbing alcohol can add some life to those old markers. Just try these simple steps to revive that old marker. . .

NOTE: I HAVE NOT TESTED THIS ON AD (CHARTPAK) MARKERS AS THEY ARE SOLVENT BASED

Get some rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl alcohol). It’s super cheap and you can get it here if you are in internet shopper.

Most design markers come with a chisel tip on one end. It’s the blunt chunkier flatter side of the marker. Simply remove the tip using a wad of tissue paper or sketch paper to keep the ink off your hands.

Next, while holding the marker upright, add a few drops of the isopropyl alcohol to the ink chamber of the marker. Note: this will dilute or lighten the tone of the marker

After you’ve added a few drops, replace the nib of the marker and wait a few minutes to allow the tip of the marker to absorb the alcohol. Presto! your old marker has some more juice.

So get some old markers that are starting to dry up and give it a shot. Your pocketbook will thank you in the end.

If you like this tip, please share it with others. It definitely saved me a few dollars in college!

UPDATE: From commenter Michael -

“Bestine-(Rubber cement thinner) works better than Alcohol. I’m still using old Design2 Markers that are 10 years or older using bestine.”

So give it a shot!