Illustration Techniques to Unlock your Creativity

Illustration Techniques to Unlock your Creativity

I started this journey about five years ago — finding snippets of time in between other work and raising children. My final project, this sketchbook, slowly came together over the past ten months.

Ten months, one very full sketchbook, and a whole lot of ink, wax, and happy accidents! This video is a look back at my creative journey through forty double pages — from cats, owls, and Russian dolls to doors, portals, winged creatures, and a parade of funny hats and wigs.

Each spread became its own little universe and a playground for experimenting with new materials and ideas. If I could change one thing, it would be to use a sketchbook with heavier paper (and maybe a thinner one, had I known it would take ten months to finish, lol!). Still, every imperfection became part of the fun and the learning.

This has been such a rewarding project — a slow, playful journey that unfolded in the quiet spaces between everything else, and I’m already looking forward to whatever comes next. Thank you @adolfoserra !

Waxes, Ink, Coloured pencils, Water colour & Collage

I draw inspiration from children’s drawings and the natural world — their simplicity, honesty, and playful shapes spark endless ideas. Throughout this project, I followed the exercise of creating a new universe on each double page of my sketchbook, exploring a fresh theme every time and applying the techniques learned during the course (as seen below). Some pages grew directly from these prompts, while others became part of my broader creative practice — planning characters, pots, and vases for my ceramic work or lino prints.

This sketchbook became a bridge between my drawings and my ceramic work. Even though I often worked on course exercises in between other projects, the process truly unlocked my creativity. Having a “book of universes” to return to has been incredibly helpful — it’s a constant source of ideas and inspiration. When I need a detail like a pair of wings or a character, I can simply flip through its pages and find something to spark a new piece