Let There Be Light

When it came to prepping final art, I thought I had it all figured out. I had a three step method. (See this old blog post where I lay it all out.) 1-Transfer approved sketches to good paper. 2-Ink the transfered sketches. 3-Finish out in Watercolor. This deal worked out good enough. No need to improve. So I thought.

Recently, I needed to make a single piece of art in layers and to do this I needed to see through several sheets of paper to get everything to line up. So, I bought a light box. It worked out swell. Then, as I went to get cracking on final art for the book I'm doing now, I had a light-box revelation. I could totally bypass that whole "transfer" nonsense (part 1) and use the light box to trace over approved sketches and ink at the same time. Hallelujah, boy, cause that transfer stuff was mind-numbing.

Thereby skipping step 1 altogether.

What I'm talking bout:

Take, for instance, this approved sketch.



I print out a laser print of said sketch, get a piece of sturdy hot pressed watercolor paper, and click on the light box.



Tape the laser print securely to the back of the watercolor paper (in at least two places, so there's no shifting between sheets).



Begin inking on top of the good stock. With the light shining through underneath, you got a good lead to follow.



Finish up and carefully pull the tape off with the laser print underneath. Right on.



Why wasn't I doing this all along?