Making Drawings using a Lightbox

A nine-year old describes a way to use a lightbox and a series of stages to create figurative illustrations.

“When I make a drawing I don’t draw from photographs or from life, I draw from inside my head. So when I draw people, I think beforehand what I want the person to be doing, what I want them to be wearing, and what kind of personality they might have. I like adding details which helps describe them, but first I start drawing a rough sketch which helps me think about the position of the arms, legs, head etc.

My rough sketches are made with pencil and I like to use circles and lines to help me see the position of the body. I can be quite sketchy, and if things go wrong I just rub out and try again, but I do try to get the propotions right at this stage. I think I work from instinct to do this.

Then when I am happy with my rough sketch I use my lightbox. The lightbox helps me to see through my rough drawing, and I draw another more detailed draiwng over the top on a new sheet of paper. You can see my detailed drawings match the proportions of my rough drawings, but this time I can concentrate on detail.

You can buy lightboxes online for between £20 and £60. If you haven’t got one you can use sheets of paper at a window.

I like to use a Pental pen to make my detailed drawing, and then I use Pro Markers to add colour. Pro Markers are great because you can blend them. Sometimes I make my detailed drawings in pencil and then use pencil crayon to add colour.

In this video you can see how I work.”

See also:

Enjoy this post by Quentin Blake about how he uses a lightbox, and enjoy the video below about how Quentin creates his illustrations.