In the past, starting a project was challenging, even overwhelming at times. My goal was to draw every day in order to improve and challenge my style or increase my creativity. But I would freeze and stare at my white canvas, not knowing what to draw that day. Other days, it would be the opposite. My mind would be filled with ideas, but then, I wouldn’t know where to start.

My guess is that you may say: “been there, done that!”

Tired of dealing with this, I came up with a process and I am going to share it with you.

I created a puppet in Photoshop. See below.

Please note: every single part of the body is on its own layer, this way I can move my puppet anyway I want.Thanks to this lovely animated marionette, I am now able to create every day without a second of hesitation. I am saving time and my creative… — **Please note: every single part of the body is on its own layer, this way I can move my puppet anyway I want.**
Thanks to this lovely animated marionette, I am now able to create every day without a second of hesitation. I am saving time and my creative process has increased in quality and imagination.

My creative process

Prepping and organizing (the tedious part… but worth it!)

First, I go through a list of questions. It’s a simple list, which contains general ideas and I circle what I feel like doing that day. I use the same list every time.
What am I going to paint or draw today?
1) Man or woman?
2) Peasant, noble, or warrior?
3) With or without armor, if a warrior?
4) Holding: weapon (sword, dagger, bow), bottle, cup, food, flowers, etc.
5) Simple or fancy clothing?
6) Background scene or not?
7) If background decor, outside or inside?
8) If outside: castle, house, mountains, lakes, forest, temple, dolmens,
9) If inside, in what room?
10) Sketch only or digitally painted?
11) Any animals present: horse, dog, dragon, snake, bird, deer, rabbit, eagle, owl, goat?

Second, I draw several simple stick figures to decide which posture my character is going to end up posing. It’s important, because moving the puppet takes time and I don’t want to waste time.
When I have finally decided on the posture of my character, I get the puppet and move it following the stick figure, as shown below.

I make changes as needed. Here, above, you can see I changed the direction of the head.

On the picture above, you can see that I started to draw on a layer above the puppet and started placing the cape, the hair and the clothes and boots. i named the layer: RAW SKETCH.I create a new layer on the top of all the layers. I hold the keys C… — On the picture above, you can see that I started to draw on a layer above the puppet and started placing the cape, the hair and the clothes and boots. i named the layer: **RAW SKETCH.**
I create a new layer on the top of all the layers. I hold the keys CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+E and it makes me a flat copy of the raw sketch. I rename the layer, **FLAT IMAGE RAW SKETCH.** See picture below.

I save all my work done and name the file: Red Warrior_(Date)_Puppet to sketch.I place the file in my folder named: Female warriors. As you can guess, I have many folders. It’s important to stay organized. — I save all my work done and name the file: **Red Warrior_(Date)_Puppet** **to sketch**.
I place the file in my folder named: **Female warriors.** As you can guess, I have many folders. It’s important to stay organized.

TIME TO DO SOME ONLINE RESEARCH!!!

I go online and gather pictures for clothing, weapons... anything that may help me. These pictures are going to be my inspiration.
VERY IMPORTANT: I DO NOT COPY OTHER PEOPLE’S WORK!!!

Sometimes, I need to find pictures to help my digital paintings be accurate. For example, armors can be complicated. This is when I need accurate references.

Next, I create a palette of colors for the clothing.

Finishing and finalizing the sketch

After going through my list, I came up with a plan. I will draw a female warrior, holding a sword, wearing a cape on the top on her armor, wearing colorful and lavish clothes. She will be red-headed, and her long hair will be flying in the wind. Finally, I will create flowers in the background.

Before closing my file Red Warrior_(date)_Puppet to sketch, I copy the flat image I created earlier on the top of all my layers, and paste it into a brand new Photoshop file. I rename the layer Sketch and save my new file as: The Red Warrior. Now I can close the file Red Warrior_(date)_Puppet to sketch.

It’s important to separate file in case something happens. You can go back to the original without having to start from scratch!

I create new layers underneath the sketch and start drawing: one layer for the clothes, one for the sword, one for the armor, etc.

When this is done, I hold the key SHIFT and highlights all the layers. I click on the folder icon at the bottom and it puts all the layers in one folder. I call the folder ARCHIVE ORIGINAL SKETCH (see below). I lock it and turn it off. This is important to keep a copy of your rough sketches. This allows you to go back to them in case you wanted to start all over again, but without having to start from scratch.

I hit CTRL + J to make a copy and now rename it WARRIOR SKETCH (see above). I open the folder and merge all the layers in one. This is now my final sketch on one layer only.

This is the flatten image of all parts of the sketch put together.

NOW THE FUN START – PAINTING!!!

I create layers underneath the sketch. One layer for the armor, one for the sword, one for the hair, one for the skin, one for the cape, one for the boots, one for the pants, etc. you get the picture.
Using the magic wand, I go through each layer and paint each of them with a base color. I lock the pigments.