Do you sketch? Do you sallow yourself to sketch loosely, even sloppily?
Or do you self-edit while you draw? Everyone is different, of course, but
for me, I like bold, long and smooth lines. I draw over the same images,multiple times, looking for the right combination of lines that will suddenly
bring a character to life. Sometimes I find that the right lines are buried amidst a crisscrossing tangle of sketch marks – when that happens, I quickly erase everything but the lines I like (before I forget which ones they are!)
and try to arrive at a character that way.

Sketching, or doing “roughs” is a time when it’s okay to put your criticalmind in a drawer someplace and shut it. Let your imagination go, without judging it. There is no such thing as a “wrong” sketch line. Every sketch line is exploring something, some avenue toward a realized drawing. So refine your stuff, but start out by sketching, and let me know how you do!

Happy Sketching!

Chris