Behind the Art: My Digital Sketching & Process
I believe showing up every day is more important than making it perfect. This is a look at my daily practice, from loose gesture drawings to early character concepts, all done in Procreate.
A page from my digital sketchbook. These are quick character sketches, focusing on expression and pose, like the smiling woman and the graceful figure in a saree.
More daily sketches from the month of May. I use these sessions to explore different faces, expressions, and moods, keeping the lines loose and energetic.
A couple of character concepts from a daily sketching session. One is a traditional woman carrying pots, the other a more stylized, fantasy-inspired character.
Fun, slice-of-life digital sketches. These quick drawings help me practice capturing everyday moments and expressions, like sipping coconut water or enjoying a meal.
A collection of female portrait sketches. In this session, I was playing with different angles, accessories like headphones and helmets, and a variety of expressions.
The cover page for my 'May Daily Sketches' collection. This piece captures a mood, showing a character on her bike, dreaming of a roadside tea stall.
A page of figure drawing exercises. I use these to study anatomy, form, and weight, breaking down the body into simple shapes to understand its structure.
Quick gesture drawings of figures in sarees. The goal here isn't detail, but to capture the movement, flow, and rhythm of the poses in just a few lines.
Dynamic pose studies. These sketches are all about action and energy, like this archer character. I use gesture lines to build a sense of movement before adding form.
The cover for my 'April Daily Sketches'. This is a more rendered figure study, focusing on how light and shadow create form, done in my typical blue sketch style.
About Behind the Art: Sketches & Process
You won't find perfectly polished, airbrushed pieces here. These are my daily warm-ups, the rough lines and anatomy studies I do before starting on a client project. If you're looking for an artist who understands form and flow rather than just making something look shiny, this is where it starts.
Every piece I draw is about capturing a moment or an idea, not just filling space. My process usually starts here, in the messy, early stages.
Why I Sketch Daily
Gesture drawing is how I keep my lines energetic. When I'm working on a character design, I need to know how the body moves, how the weight shifts, and how the fabric flows. You'll see a lot of figure drawing in my gallery because it's the foundation of everything I do. Whether I'm sketching a character in a saree or a dynamic pose for a comic-inspired piece, the goal is to get the structure right before I even think about color.
The Procreate Workflow
I rely on my iPad and Procreate for everything. It lets me work fast and iterate without the mess of traditional supplies. When you see these sketches, you're seeing my thought process in real-time. I break complex subjects down into simple shapes, then refine them until they feel right. It's not about making a gallery-ready piece in five minutes; it's about building muscle memory and testing out weird ideas that might become a full-blown commission later.
If you want to see how an idea transforms from a rough concept into a final illustration, this is where it happens. I don't hide the sketches because they are the honest truth of the work. Ashtey!
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