Many people ask me what my process is in creating an illustration so I wanted to share with you my steps in creating “The Armenian Dancer.”

These are the materials I used:

Prismacolor Brush Tip Markers: probably my favorite thing to color with.

Sanford Col-Erase Pencil in Indigo Blue

Canson Scrapbook-Toned paper

First I needed to decide on what theme I wanted to draw. I ‘ve been thinking about an Armenian Dancer series so I decided on a girl in an authentic dance costume with patterning of Armenian crochet or carpet patterns as a background. So I searched the internet for reference photos of costumes, dance positions and background patterns. These two were the ones I decided to go with. The photo is of the world famous Sayat Nova Dance Company in Boston.The costume is their original design. I used the photo on the right for the background.

(photo references from ianyanmag.com and kaliladancer.com)

Then I did some sketches in my sketchbook and liked the direction this sketch was going.

I did a few color sketches and once I decided on the palette, using my Color Erase blue pencil, I lightly laid in the figure and background in my Canson Scrapbook. I love using this paper because it is toned and gives a warm feel to the illustration. Plus, it is thick enough to withstand marker and watercolor.

Then I started filling in my pencil lines and drawing in the patterning with my amazing Prismacolor Brushtip markers. I LOVE THESE. They blend beautifully like paint.

Finally, I lined my figure with XS Faber Castell Pitt Pen and VOILA!