I’m a big believer in a regular drawing practice for inspiring and developing creative ideas. My sketchbooks are invaluable to me. They are my ‘prized possessions’ because they are my catalogue of ideas and inspiration. A lot of work in my sketchbooks is simply about the habit of drawing and mark making. It’s about recording vague ideas or practicing the drawing process.

Settle on a theme

When I'm designing new artworks, however, the drawing process shifts to a more deliberate one. I like to work in collections, so I will start to narrow down to a theme, to create a cohesive body of work. I see ideas for my artworks in everything, so selecting a theme helps me to focus.

I want my artmaking to reflect the joy I experience in this wonderful world. I also want to work with subject matter that speaks to me personally and is a part of my life.

1. Settle on a theme, a subject of interest.

2. Focus your sketching on that theme.

3. Draw everything about it that captures your eye and attention.

4. Start thinking about what, specifically, you want to show or say in your artworks.

When I have decided on a theme and familiarised myself with the subject matter through sketching, I find that the most helpful tool for moving forward is sketching thumbnails. Thumbnail sketches are very quick, unedited drawings. They are usually very small, only and inch or two.

Composition is so important, and I work on my composition in my thumbnail sketches. This allows me to play with balance and scale before getting caught up in planning the details of my artwork.

My favourite way to brainstorm a bunch of thumbnails is to block out 15 minutes at a local cafe with a pencil and a scrap of paper and scribble away (the scrappiness of the paper takes away all the pressure to produce something greate!)

You can also generate rough composition ideas by collaging scraps of beautiful fabric or paper. Or you can refer to snippets of photos in an old interior design magazine and draw up thumbnails for abstract designs based on small sections of these photos.

Nailing a design: Thumbnails

Jot down (with very basic sketches) lots of thumbnails to brainstorm all the potential ways you could achieve what you want to say or show.
Don’t get caught up in the details; this is more about overall composition.
Keep an open mind to all the options. One of the biggest mistakes I still make is to set my heart of a specific idea too early on in the design process.
Develop two or three of these thumbnails into somewhat larger (but still fairly simple) designs.