So a friend and I are working on developing a SUPER SECRET but SUPER EXCITING project. Not to spoil anything, but it involves drawing. ;P It also involves drawing on a schedule, so this last week I’ve been experimenting with my sketch-to-illustration timeline and seeing how comfortable things feel at different paces. The result is that I get to draw mermaids. So you know. ;P That’s cool. I’m looking forward to painting this salty lady today and tomorrow.

Here’s a bit of a behind-the-scenes on my process!

Step One: The idea! Usually drawn on something silly (like lined yellow paper) or in this case, a far-too-small notebook right by the spine.

Step Two: The “make it into actual art” step, aka, designing the layout. I don’t worry too much about details here; this is just figuring out shapes and overall design.

Step Three: “Details, details, details.” 90% of the time I do this part of the drawing in Photoshop, just by drawing over a quick phone pic of the layout sketch. Photoshop makes it wayyy easier to scale, flip, mess with, and generally muck around without losing anything you’ve already worked on. I don’t worry about making it look very polished, though, because this step is just one more in a line, and won’t actually be seen at all in the final product.

Step Four: INKING! This is my favorite step. I print out the Photoshop illo and trace it onto watercolor paper using my lightbox. I use a fountain pen with rapidograph waterproof ink. Cause I’m fancy.

And that’s where it currently stands! Next up will be watercolors and a little gouache. 🙂

You heard right! I have an etsy now! It’s recently opened and I’m still fussing with a few things here and there, but the shop is open for business, and I’d love it if you took a peak!

What I’m selling (right now anyway) are these super adorable Misandry Cards (all in good fun, guys, I promise ;P)

My shop name is the same as my tumblr and instagram account: seeclairedraw

You can check it out HERE!