My Design Process

The design process is unique, differing by the individual. Here is an idea of what my design process can look like.

Walking through the process from the beginning, if I’m working from a reference picture, I spend some time looking through images of my grandma’s flower arrangements. I look for an arrangement and an angle that might make a nice 2-dimensional design.

Once I’ve chosen an arrangement to recreate, I move into sketch mode. Sometimes I experiment with a pencil sketch, and sometimes I go straight to digital sketching. With the picture pulled up on a separate screen, I roughly sketch some of the placement—where I plan to place the highest points, the bowl or vase, the subject flowers, and the leaves.

When I’m satisfied that I have the general ratios and placement right, I begin to shape the outlines and rough shapes of the leaves and flowers.

From there, I add more and more details until I am satisfied with the results. Then I ink in the lines I like and erase the sketch.

At this point, I have completed the line drawing. Sometimes I add color, words, or a Chinese character, but at this point, the process is pretty much complete.