Minotaur

Pencil and digital

One of my favourite things about the digital art medium is the ability to quickly and easily add a variety of different textures. As well as there being plenty of resources available online, it is very easy to build up a library using your own photographs and scans from just about anything you can think of. I've photographed potato skins, stained sheets of paper and even the bottom of oven trays to name just a few. More often than not, I'll combine lots of different textures in a single illustration.

This Minotaur drawing was mainly a sketchbook piece done in pencil, but it's made a lot more lively and interesting with the addition of some subtle digital colour and textures added. I usually like to preserve most of the original paper and pencil texture as well, and these textures and the pencil line work are then complemented by digital textures and line work. I usually find there's a lot of trial and error when using digital textures, but that's the beauty of the medium. You can easily try something and then scrub it if it doesn't work. And the ability to undo what you've done means that your become more willing to experiment with your art, which ultimately gives you more potential for improvement I think.