[** Update: downloads are archived after two months—or more—so for patrons have plenty of time to access them. Sometimes it’s much longer! I removed these over a year after posting! I make the post public when i archive the downloads, though, so more people can see the idea and the and process. —Kir **]

Today’s preview pic is a how-I-built-this process image! What follows is all about the process as it rolls right now — in case either you find that useful or interesting or have suggestions! Feel free to skip it!

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 I’ve been using my stylus on my iPhone (as you know from previous posts) to create the coloring sheets recently. It’s so smooth. 

I import a photo of a sketch (this time I used one from September’s sketchfest, actually) into the app Pocket (Pocket Procreate), add a blank layer, and draw on it with the stylus you all sponsored. 

I am slowly yet happily learning which “brush” I want for this (mostly “inking > studio pen”), how to keep my fingers off the screen (and not accidentally change brush size or color much). I think I said that last post or so? At any rate, there are many more options I haven’t yet played with.

When I’m happy with it, I export a .PSD version to iCloud (I tried other places like Dropbox and gDrive but this either took forever and a day or just plain got ignored). Since my phone and Win10 PC aren’t talking to each nicely, it’s easiest to log into iCloud in a browser and downloading the file into Photoshop on the PC. There I use the big screen to check for problems or stray marks (that’s the what I’m doing in the preview), fixing those either on the phone or the PC (whichever seems easier). I make a final layer there of just the line art and copy it into my coloring page template.

I usually resize the art down a bit to fit, then save it in two more formats, .JPG and .PDF files, for your use. Ta dah!

As with any practice, I’m getting smoother and faster and learning something new each time. Will I be able to make bigger pieces? With my phone? Will I become skilled enough to do amazing detailed work, possibly even not from a photo of my on-paper sketch? Will I upgrade the Really Old iPad someday and have a bigger screen in my hand than the phone offers? Stay tuned, because I sure don’t know yet. 

Thanks for being on this journey of discovery, skill-building, and imagination with me!