Morán Creative Process

The creative - drawing process behind my artwork

Although each art piece usually requires a particular technical approach, most artists -including myself- have created a kind of personal artistic ritual that precedes the creative process behind an artwork. Here I will summarize mine, using as example the work progress of the portrait “The princess ride”.

1. Choosing the reference

Undoubtedly a good reference is the most important step before any colored pencil artwork creation since it is a very slow medium. Take in mind that colored pencil also could be useful to sketch preliminary ideas, but rendering a quality draw may take several hours (days or weeks). Working from a reference is, therefore, almost mandatory if you like to retain the subject’s details, the lighting, contrast and color characteristics.

My personal preference is to work from big, high-quality photos only. That allows me to work on very tiny details. It is also is helpful to isolate some image areas -which is convenient to avoid mistakes related with our brains functionality.

2. Workspace setting

Organizing my workspace is as important as choosing my subject’s photo references. I must recognize that I need absolutely everything my mind considers necessary on top my desk before I can sit and start working. Then, I first test which brand of colored pencils and paper I think will be the best to achieve my drawing goals. It may sound obvious and trivial, but it is not. I am not a fan of mixing all the pencils I own in every piece unless it is necessary. Since each colored pencil and paper brand have their characteristics, I try to select my pencils taking in mind what I need or want in my resulting drawing. Besides my art supplies and drawing accessories, I use an iPad to visualize my reference photo and play my favorite music, and a daylight lamp to have a well illuminated area. Finally, I grab a cup of a good Ecuadorian coffee, and I am ready to start.

3. First drawing steps

Regardless the drawing theme, I start working my drawings and sketches directly on tracing paper. I usually make my first scheme by free hand, but when the subject is highly complex, I also apply other image transfer techniques. When I am finally happy with the drawing sketch, I transfer it to a professional quality paper.

When drawing portraits, I first work on the subjects’ faces. Face resemblance is the most important aspect in a realistic picture, then if a major mistake occurs in this step, I always have the chance of a new starting, without frustration or wasting time and resources. Later if I decided to include any background I work on it, but if not I continue with the rest of skin covered areas.

4. Rendering textures

I pay particular attention to all the textures that are present in my drawing’s subjects. I try to reproduce the shine, transparencies and tiny details of clothes, accessories, and metallic objects. Finally, I complete and adjust all facial elements such as hair, eyelashes, eyebrows, beard or any skin distinctive marks or scars.

5. Other compositional elements

When the portrait appearance of the subject is almost complete, I start the drawing of the other objects or elements included into the composition. It is of great importance to make an effort rendering these items, accentuating their sharpness or focus properties. I think that absolutely all components are essential to obtain an artwork giving an equilibrated sensation when finished.

6. Final touches

When I feel that my work is done, I usually put the piece aside for few days. It helps me to see any minor mistakes that I try to solve at the end. Then, I check and retouch all objects’ shine and reflections and finally erase any dirty area. To finish, I sign the artwork and protect it using an archival UV resistance fixative. My last step is to scan or take a Hi-quality photo of the artwork and include its information in my portfolio archive.