LEARN 1 DESIGN TIP A DAY!

18 Indispensable ‘SKETCHING LINES TECHNIQUE’ To Draw Anything! - classic 1640
18 Indispensable Sketching Line Techniques To Draw Anything! The 18 "Designer's Sketching Lines" Toolkit: Introduction

Okay, so you want to draw anything?

Well, I've got some great news for you!
With these 18 indispensable sketching line techniques, you'll be able to do just that.
It's super important to understand these basics because, remember, a complex drawing is just an ...

7 TIPS to (Stop Procrastinating) Start your Designer Dream
The Dream Killer: Procrastination

Procrastination is the silent assassin of dreams.
Many individuals desire instant results but shy away from exploring the path to achieve them.

This raises a crucial question: Do they truly want it?

Tip 1: Don't Let Your Dreams Paralyze You

Dreams are powerful, but they can be deceptive.
They create an illusory world of success ...

6 TIPS to Overcome Your Fear Of Criticism (as a Young Designer)

Overcoming the Fear of Criticism as a Young Designer

During my first year of design school,
I had a classmate who did not dare to draw in public or even show her work to anyone. She felt FEAR...

If you too, tend to hide your sketches, while you are eager to progress,
the lack of feedback might strongly handicap your ...

RAVING FANS APPLE PRODUCTS

Hi Sketcher!

If you have decided to become a Designer, you might want to create a better world. 🙂
Today we discover the art of creating products that captivate hearts and minds.
In 'How Designers Create Products People Love!' article,
we explore how designers think differently, balancing innovation with relevance.

Learn to craft both useful and emotionally resonant products
by ...

Draw random forms with base cylinder

Hi, Product Design Sketcher!
Ready to develop your sketching skills and imagination?

Today,
I share with you a super easy sketching technique to draw your own products even if you are a beginner!
For that, this technique will use the Cylinder as a reference.
We will modify it and create variations to create mainly organic forms and designs.

How to Draw ...
How to draw anything you want the 4-step guide to learn how to learn
4 Steps to Master Drawing Skills: A Beginner’s Guide to Learn How to Learn

That's great!
You decided to start learning how to draw.
But you wonder how to draw anything you ever wanted?

Naturally,
you copy designers or artists you like,
but it is not easy to make good drawings as a beginner.

An unfair amount of your ...

How to draw section spheres ellipsoids
How to Draw Sections (on Spheres + Ellipsoids)

When we love drawing, I believe we have the DNA of a geek.
We got to learn plenty of sketching techniques, tips and tricks to be able to draw from our imagination.
Today, I have prepared a very specific tutorial on How to draw sections on Spheres and Ellipsoids.

With this, you ...

9 tips to draw every day

I receive messages from new readers
about "How they regretted stopping drawing".

Are you in that case too?

We all have busy lives and it can be tough to find time or motivation to draw regularly.
That's why I wanted to share some tips on how you can build a durable drawing habit without forcing yourself.

By making drawing a ...

6 tips to draw better sketches for beginner designers

One of the first things I learned at my design school, as a beginner designer,
is that presentation matters in Industrial Design.
Yes, you have to convey your ideas by showing visually how a product works, how is it made, and how to use it...
but also, your sketches need to promote your ideas.
Today I show you 6 easy tips and ...

How to draw Cast shadow from projector light source

We saw previously at the How to Draw Cast Shadow using PARALLEL source light (such as the sun).
Today let's see more about DIVERGING source light (such as 1 or multiple projectors).

The “Diverging source light” would fit better for objects you could hold in your hand for example.

How to draw Cast shadows with Diverging source light easily! 1. Draw ...
How to draw bold lines
How to draw with Bold Lines! How to Draw with Bold Lines! 1. Beginner Sketching Mistake

Most beginners start drawing with a bold "monoline".
They use only
1 pen pressure, and ...

how to draw a sphere with fast sketching
How to Draw a Sphere (Product Designer Technique)

How to draw a sphere like a designer, in 1-minute video only!

I show you how you can sketch a sphere in just 3 seconds.
Why?
Because learning how to draw fast allows you as a Designer to drop your ideas instantaneously,
so you can share your ideas and get feedback from ...

Shoe Designer Marina Aperribay

You want to become a Shoe Designer,
but it sounds too ambitious and you may have doubts like:

  • Am I legit to become a Shoe Designer?
  • I think I'm no special. I can't even draw...
  • Am I wrong pursuing a dream?

Today, we knock out these doubts away with Marina Aperribay.
She is a 26 years old Shoe designer. (And ...

Morpholio Trace - Draw sneakers

The Art of Sketching Sneakers: Unlock Your Design Creativity

In the beginning,
it took me very long to figure out how to draw sneakers.
I was trying to guess a miracle method through infinite trial and error.

I remember how I could copy existing shoes,
but I came to create my own from imagination, I was lost.

Unlock your sneaker sketching ...
is it difficult to learn how to draw

Do you want to learn how to draw?
It becomes overwhelming pretty fast, right?

We have no idea how to start!

Today,
I share with you 4 tips that helped me when I was a beginner student at my Design school.

4 Tips to learn how to draw for "scared beginners"

Something happened this morning that inspired me for today's Motivation ...

Practicing drawing bad can be beneficial
Practicing drawing badly can be beneficial! But how? 3 Reasons Why Starting with Bad Drawings is Great Any beginner can draw.

As a beginner,
you compare your "bad sketches" to the great designers you admire.

  • Some days, their work boosts your motivation!
  • But some other days, you try, fail, and feel at the bottom of Everest mountain...
  • It's hard ...
How to draw without copying

Do you feel fed up with copying others?
Do you wonder how to start drawing the right way?

How to Draw without Copying?

Adrian wants to draw character designs.

He sent me a message telling me how his drawing could be pretty cool when he traced drawings,
but when it came to creating from scratch, nothing came out.

But without reference,
he ...

How to draw with confidence
  • Are you afraid of drawing?
  • Do your sketches look amateur for months or even years? :
  • Do you feel your sketches look flat, boring, and have no personality? : /

You might need to level up your quality of lines.
Surprisingly, what I teach my students of Sketch Like The Pros,
is ultimately not looking for the ...

draw basic forms tutorial
4 Basic Forms to Learn How to Draw Timeline
  • 00:11 How to draw basic forms in 3D is easy!
  • 00:28 Sketching Workshop format for beginners
  • 01:01 The 3 basic shapes of Squid Game (Square, Triangle, and Circle)
  • 01:15 How to draw the four 3D forms (Cube, Pyramid, Cylinder, and Sphere)
  • 02:05 Draw from 2d shapes into 3D volumes
  • 02:31 ...
Medical product design
Simplify your Drawing Process (in 4 steps) 9.24min

Hey Design Sketchers!
Today we draw a defibrillator, as part of being able to draw anything.
So we're going to see the four steps that I use.

Simplify your drawing process in Product Design Sketching

So welcome to the DesignSketchbook.com
After starting warm up with drawing some circles.

Let's go ahead!

I start with ...

designer drawing mistake

Most beginners fail due to a misconception about drawing.
We tend to admire artists drawing portraits with such talent that we copy their techniques for Product design. However, it will, unfortunately, make you fail.

Reasons Beginners fail at Drawing Product Designs
  • 00:00 Start
  • 00:06 Let's draw a defibrillator
  • 00:27 Study Medical care design
  • 01:17 MISTAKE 1 | START WITH ...
The fast and dirty way to draw sneakers - Quick sketches

Are you a perfectionist?
Did you know that personality traits slow down your progress?
Today I show you my secret sketching technique so you draw with your feelings and draw more ideas fast!

Start practicing this technique daily, and you will improve faster!

How to Draw Sneakers "Fast & Dirty"! (7min14)
Draw Sony Projector Design with ballpoint pen

Today we practice real products from SONY (or any favorite brand of yours like Bose, or Parrots)!
I want you to put your newly acquired knowledge about cylinders with fun!

How to draw a SONY Projector with Cylinder

Sometimes it is not easy to sit and draw - avoiding distraction.
Just now, I saw my dog Katy is itchy. She just ...

How to draw new forms fast and easy - draw earphone sony
Improvisational Design Sketching Draw SONY Earphones with organic forms 11.59 minutes

Do you end drawing always the same thing?
You can't figure out how to draw new forms?

The good news is that anyone can learn to become creative.
I believe you might also face these creative blocks as a designer enthusiast:

Drawing with Contour lines Tips and Tricks

When I started as a beginner Product designer,
I always wondered how professional sketchers draw so fast and so well!
One of their main secrets is drawing these imaginary lines called: Contour lines.

How to draw Contour lines easy 10.02minutes

Before starting, remember to claim your FREE copy of the Designer Starter Kit here

How to draw Contour Lines | Tips & ...
FOOD DESIGN | How to Draw Japanese Skewers in 5 steps

Did you know Designers could make Food designs?
| remember food design was one of our school projects in my 1st year of Product design school.
It was so much fun!

FOOD DESIGN: How to Draw Japanese Skewers in 5 steps! 13.10minutes

BONUS: You can download the printable tutorial file at the end of the article.

How to Draw Japanese Skewers ...
How do artists deal with stress?

Being an artist or a designer can be stressful and that affects our creativity.
I show you how you can deal with it to become a "Good Stress".

How do artists deal with stress? How To Be More Creative When Stressed Out
  • Not confident? Yes! You are on the right path!
  • "Good" and "Bad stress" are both your friends
  • All ...
how to draw daily

Emmanuel struggles to find time to draw.
Sometimes, he stops for days or weeks, and it feels like a hurdle to go back to drawing.
Let's see how we can help him hack his mind to draw daily!

Message from Emmanuel

Emmanuel asked me: "How to commit to drawing every day?"

When we learn something new, we put a cap written "STUDENT" ...

5 Reasons to drop Academic for Design School.

Drop academic school and go to a design school instead.
It sounds crazy, right?
But if you're looking for a career change, why not try it?
You'll learn new skills, meet people who share your interests, and get paid to do what you love.

​​​​​​​You don't have to feel like a black sheep?
It's maybe the time to refocus on your ...

how to draw mechs

Learning how to draw mecs is fascinating for many designers.
I am a fan of Transformers, Gundam, Star Wars... but drawing the mechs was crazy hard!
Till I figure out it would be essential to start drawing the skeleton first.

How to draw mechs
software for designers

Adobe is a most well know company for creative software for designers.
However, it's expensive. Today I wanna share with you an alternative and an extra software I discovered for fun!

In the previous article, we saw 4 apps for iPad for artists and designers.
Today, I share with you 3 software for Mac:

4 ipad apps for designers

I'm hunting for new apps for artists and designers to spice up my learning journey.
It's a great feeling when you upgrade your skills using an iPad!

4 iPad Apps for Artists and Designers

I searched for new sketching apps for my iPad, Macbook, and also Oculus Quest2.
Let me share with you my recommendations for the day!

It's not a complete ...

design student tips

Hey Sketchers!

Today, we're diving into "10 Tips to Keep Up as an Industrial Design Student" – because let's face it, we all want to rock our design journey, right?

Remember that we're all "creative dreamers" here⁠⁠.
But as future industrial designers, our awesome job is to create a better world for people⁠⁠.
It's not always easy, and you'll ...

how to draw straight lines
HOW TO DRAW STRAIGHT LINES FREEHAND

Hi Sketchers!

Are your sketching lines feels clumsy?
Let's start to enhance your drawing skills rapidly by focusing on your line quality.
After this video, you will be able to draw straight lines freehand!

4 Simple Exercises to Master Freehand Straight Lines

Today, we improve your sketching skills with these
four easy-to-practice techniques for drawing straight ...

how to start drawing


Ready to take your first step toward becoming an artist or a designer?
These 7 essential tips on how to draw can instantly get you on the right track!
Let's start drawing now!

This morning, Kavita (Seattle, Washington) sent me a message.
She loves sketching and dreams of her own footwear business!

Her husband bought a little sketchbook and a pencil for ...

progress fast in design school

How fast do your skills in Design progress?

  • As you know, there is no "magic miracle" that will make you become a great designer in a day.
  • However, there are solutions to reach your goal and rise your level much faster."
  • Let me share with you 12 Tips to speed up your progress that I discovered when I was ...
travel sketchbook in Vietnam

If you too dream of sketching when you travel, follow me during that amazing journey in Vietnam
where I create a travel sketchbook meeting local artists.

Vietnam Discovery VTV4

I was on national TV!
I was invited to a national TV SHOW called:
VIETNAM DISCOVERY where I made a Travel Sketchbook!

Travel sketchbook in Vietnam - Binh Duong Province   ...
engineer or designer career

Louis wrote me an email.
He's a young student in Mechanical engineering. (And dream of a Product design career.)

He feels pretty bored at school and doesn't do well in class.
He's so disinterested that passing his 3rd-year might be tough...

"I feel I don't belong here". He said. Choose your pill to define your career. Mechanical Engineering vs Product Design ...
build your confidence

Do you feel shy, and hesitant to draw to show your idea?
You may wonder how to build your confidence?

I am pretty excited to share with you something only a few know about...
It matters more than anything (even more than your sketching skills) to succeed:
Build your Self-Confidence.

Let's cover this today in the 8 Tips to Become a Confident designer!

...
Learn Basic perspective to draw from imagination

What you draw does not look alike your ideas?
I've prepared a simple tutorial for all beginners who have difficulties drawing from imagination.

I show you that "Guessing" is not the proper way to draw.
Drawing the right way is about the method I show you step-by-step.

If you want to know how to use your imagination to draw, you need to ...

Michael DiTullo interview Drawing the future

Wonder how is it to be a successful product designer?
This morning, let's Draw the Future with Michael DiTullo! We share an exclusive designer interview!

"There is someone behind every object you see around you!" 🙂
  • Today I have a special designer guest that matters to me: Michael Di Tullo himself
    The first time I heard about Michael was when ...
Dwayne Vance - Toy Designer interview

I had the great honor to chat with Dwayne Vance for this exclusive Designer interview!
Together we discover How to become a toy designer from his amazing creative journey.

He shares with us the winning mindset to build up to succeed at becoming a toy designer.

How to Become a Toy Designer | Dwayne Vance’s Journey What is a Toy ...
how to start a drawing routine for beginner

Are you a beginner sketcher?
You need to build a "success mindset". All start with building a drawing routine. I show you how to stick to it.

How to Start a Drawing Routine and Stick To It How to Start a Drawing Routine and Stick To It

First of all,

You don't need years
to learn how to sketch.

But ...

Is it competitive to become a Designer?

Do you think of a career as a Product designer? But you wonder about the competition?
I share with you the Competitive Edge to Becoming a Designer.

Is it competitive to become a Designer? Is it competitive to become a Designer?
  1. Legit question.
  2. Aren't you afraid of the Bullshit job?
  3. How high is the competition to become a Designer?
  4. ...
take risk to success

Most beginners struggle with sketching and ignore Iterative drawing.
This is why some evolve faster and you wonder why.
You absolutely need to learn drawing with the right designer mindset from start.

How to Learn Faster with iterative drawing
  • How long to get a good flow of sketching?
  • Master rule: Iterate
  • Get out of your comfort zone
  • Stay humble
  • Take ...
how to draw an apple plug with the lego block technique

No more doubt about how to start your sketches.
Today, I decompose my sketching tutorials into bite-size steps.
You learn the "Lego Block Technique"

It is essential to learn how to draw with simple techniques
to progress fast and draw with efficiency.

This is how your mind gains clarity, and you increase your skills like crazy!

Unlock Your Creative Potential with ...
Discover if You Have What It Takes To Be A Successful Designer

More important than drawing, you need to build your character to succeed as a Product designer. Discover if you have what it takes!

Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Successful Designer
  1. Create your happiness
  2. Always look at the positive side
  3. Courage is your key
  4. Pursuit of happiness
  5. Start fighting now

No matter how good you ...

so you want to be a designer

"You can't have a career in Art. It's a hobby."
This belief needs to be strongly demystified. I show you how it is possible to make it a beautiful career.

So, you want to become a Designer? | It's possible.
  1. Art is not a career... Really?
  2. "Work" meant "Torture" in French.
  3. The world needs you as a designer.
  4. We ...
draw daily with fun

Are you thinking about Sketching Daily (or at least more often)?
Let's see the 8 benefits to draw anytime without pressure and happiness.

At the end of this article,
you may feel inspired to start drawing daily by tomorrow or even today! : )

8 Reasons why it is fun to draw daily!
  1. Take it easy.
  2. Green sketching.
  3. Never get ...
how to sketch reflection easy

Have you ever wondered how to draw a realistic glass reflection?
Check out this step-by-step guide to learn the beginner technique in no time!

I show you an easy and fast sketching technique for product designers.

Draw Glass Reflection with These Easy Steps

I like to go to shopping malls to find plenty of design ideas for free!

Today I ...

how to draw a sphere with easy shadow

Industrial design beginners can learn to draw spheres with cast shadows quickly and easily!
With my simple and straightforward drawing tutorial, achieve your goals in no time—let’s get started now!

How to Draw a Sphere | Easy Shadow Technique
  1. Draw a circle
  2. Draw the cast shadow with an ellipse
  3. Draw hatching for the shadow
  4. Draw 3d volumes with 2 ...
How to draw a female character

Give your art projects a boost of creativity by blending historical designs with modern visions.
Follow this sketching video to draw a girl from an Asian tribe and see the results!

How to Create Girl Tribal Character Design Sketches
  1. Find a cozy cafe
  2. Look for inspiration in historical fashion
  3. Find a comfortable seat
  4. Learn from the past to create ...
How to improve your sketching skills

Are you struggling to fit artistic practice into a busy life?
Discover 2 simple but effective TIPS to improve your drawing skills
and incorporate them into "in-between moments" of your day.

How to Improve Your Drawing Skills When You're Busy
How to draw with line weight

Expand your sketching ability by understanding how to use lines expressively!
Learn this artful skill of line-weight that designers apply in all their drawings with my easy-to-follow guide.
Unlock your creativity now!

How to draw with line-weight

how to draw like a concept artist

Unleash your creative abilities as an industrial designer with this concept artist tutorial!
Boost drawing skills and discover new ways of designing with tips to push limits and increase memory bank.

How to draw like a Concept artist | BIKE TECH
  1. Warm-up your hand
  2. Test your color pencil
  3. Warm up with the basics
  4. Draw product grooves
  5. Use reference ...
draw a skull easy

I've just arrived at the new Taco restaurant: "TACO DEL SOL"
They have such a great skull logo! I couldn't resist drawing it!

I always keep my ballpoint pen in my pocket ready to draw anytime.
While waiting for my taco to arrive, I want to show you how to draw this 2D illustration into 3 dimensions drawing.

It's a simple ...

how to draw standing posture

Stop struggling with aches and pains when drawing outside!
Learn professional techniques on how to maintain proper standing posture for hours of comfortable outdoor artwork.

How to Draw with Proper Standing Posture

You love going out drawing urban sketching, statues in a museum, people in the street, do product observation in shops...
But you struggle to draw on the go?

...
how to find the best ballpoint pen for drawing

Need help finding the perfect ballpoint pen for drawing?
Check out our expert tips! I show you how to pick a pen that suits your unique needs.

5 Expert Tips on How to Find the Perfect Ballpoint Pen for Drawing

  1. Draw something real
  2. A good pen doesn't blob
  3. Look for a wide sensitivity of the pen pressure
  4. Get a ...
how to draw ellipses freehand

Not sure how to draw ellipses freehand?
Follow this easy video tutorial and learn the steps for drawing perfect ellipses fast and great!

How to Draw Ellipses Freehand

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once,
but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
- Bruce Lee

how to draw cylindrical forms

Discover how to bring your products to life with the help of simple cylindrical formulas.
Follow these 4 sketching tips and start drawing cylinders today!

How to Draw Easy Cylindrical Formulas for Products
  • TIP 1 Draw with a Papermate Flair M
  • TIP 2 The minor axis is your symmetry axis!
  • TIP 3 The 3 steps to drawing "cylindrical forms" ...
how to draw backpack thumbnails

Make the most of your drawing time by using the thumbnail sketching technique
and get ready to masterfully draw a range of backpack designs!

How To Masterfully Draw Backpacks with Thumbnails in 5 Steps
  • TIP 1 Start by drawing basic forms
  • TIP 2 Ask for feedback early
  • TIP 3 Brainstorm ideas
  • TIP 4 Use underlay to save time!
  • ...
8 student tips to succeed design school

Admitted into art & design school? Congratulations!
Here are some tips and tricks on how to make the most out of each and every class throughout your studies.

8 student attitudes to succeed in your art & design school How to Make the Most Out Of Your Art & Design School Studies The 8 Student attitudes of Achievers (vs Complainers). ...
the 5 designer mind shifts to succeed

The 5 designer mind shifts to succeed in your design school!
  • Mind shift 1: Allow you to screw-up
  • Mindshift 2: Ask for help
  • Mind shift 3: Compare your performance within the timelines (instead of comparing with others).
  • Mind shift 4: Look for progress, not perfection.
  • Mind Shift 5: Examine your belief.
The 5 designer mind shifts to succeed How to succeed in your ...
how-to-become-an-industrial-designer-choutac-chung-cover

It's Chou-Tac,
I'm very happy to have this conversation with you about Industrial Design.

I received a series of 7 questions from Jimmy Huynh who has also a YouTube channel about Industrial Design.
And he also shared these questions with other YouTube channel designers.

How to become an Industrial Designer?
  1. Industrial Design is a fairly uncommon field. How did you ...
How to beat the blank page

Product designers can't wait for ideas to fall from the sky.
Let me share with you a trick to conquer creative blocks and generate hundreds of creative ideas!

How to beat the blank page
  • How to beat the Blank page syndrome?
  • Copy to learn Product Design Sketching
  • A trick to kickstart your drawing
  • Mix your inspirations

It's raining.
I stay ...

how to become extra ordinary

Want to live a life of purpose? Discover 6 easy steps to give your daily life an exciting twist!
Change your mindset about errors and begin building the strength for new achievements right now!

How to become Extra-Ordinary! Start Living an Extra-Ordinary Life with These 7 Steps
draw people with loose lines

Love carrying your iPad Pro around for drawing?
Utilize it to the fullest by creating realistic sketches of people in cafes and other places. Here's how I draw many of them with loose lines!

Hello sketcher!

I show you the time-lapse of today's sketching session at a cafe called Phuc Long in Ho Chi Minh City.

I took a cup ...

overcoming procrastination and start to draw

Learn the secrets of overcoming procrastination so that you can finally unlock your potential for creativity and achieve your dreams. Read on for more!

How to stop procrastination and start to draw now How to Start Drawing now | Overcoming Procrastination
  • The reptilian brain
  • Fear is an illusion
  • Ready to live with regrets?
  • "Just Do It!"
  • The mind hack ...
Drawing bags

Unlock your creativity with this Creative Doodle Technique.
Learn how to draw a bag in just 4 steps with this helpful tutorial for the Concept app on iPad Pro!

The Creative Doodle Technique: How to Draw a Bag in 4 Easy Steps RECOMMENDED SKETCHING TUTORIALS:

How to start drawing anything better in 4 steps | the Random Product technique: https://www.thedesignsketchbook.com/tip-138-how-to-start-drawing-anything-better-in-4-steps-with-the-random-product-technique/

...
From bored to creative drawings

Fighting isolation blues?
Use this downtime to concentrate and channel your energy into creative drawing sessions.
Check out our guide on how to do it right!

From passive boredom to creative drawings

When I ask my friends how things going with
the confinement due to Covid-19, they told me:

"Home is boring. I'm doing nothing! Help!"

And Yes, I agree ...

Go museum to draw with ipad

Elevate your sketching skills with an iPad pencil in art galleries!
Get ready to bring your sketches from paper to reality in museums!

Hello Design Sketchers!

I was in quarantine for 14 days in a military camp in Vietnam.

My 76 years old dad is living in Ho Chi Minh. And I couldn't be with him.
Lucky I have the ...

24 tips to boost your id sketches

Ready to bring your industrial design sketches to life?
Follow these 24 sketching tips and learn how to start drawing from a reference picture. Check this out!

24 Drawing Tips to raise your Product Design skills How to Boost Your Industrial Design Sketches Instantly

Today, I share with you
how to start drawing from a reference picture
and create your ...

how to be in the top 10% students

Want to stand out from the crowd in an art & design school?
I help you become part of the top 10% of students in no time. Read it now to find out how!

How to be in the top 10% of students (School of Art and Design)
how to stop procrastination homework

Struggling to get your schoolwork done?
This easy trick breaks through procrastinating homework and gives you the power of momentum to actually finish your projects before the deadline.

Procrastinating feels so good (short-term)!
  • The power of momentum
  • 5 min Mind-trick to kickstart your design project
  • You get hooked! (Binge-Drawing)

Today,

I wanna give you a simple trick ...

how to draw dynamic sneaker design tutorial video choutac chung

Get creative with sneaker designs!
This video teaches you how to take static sketches and turn them into dynamic masterpieces using ballpoint pen techniques. Check it out now!

Learn How to Create Stunning Sneaker Designs with These Tips
  • From Static to dynamic Sneaker Sketch Design
  • Draw Sneakers in 2 phases
  • Know the basics of sneaker drawing
  • Don't look for ...
back up macbook design time capsule apple

Whatever the design project you’re working on,
one of the most important aspects to consider is data safety.
It is essential to back up your workstation.

Backing up your work gives you certain assurance
in case some unexpected issue like a faulty driver occurs and can save you a lot of trouble.

Today I experienced this very issue with ...

Make your own luck to take control of your success

It's time to stop waiting for fortune favors, take control of your success!
Discover how by focusing on following things you love and giving it all with strong energy, chance will find its way into your story.

You can make your own luck!
How to apply to your dream design job

Unsure how to make your dream design job application stand out?
I show you exactly what it takes to be successful in the design industry. Find out today!

3 TIPS to stand out for your design job application.

  • Beat stress with excitement!
  • Apply only for your top 1 or 3 companies you love.
  • No job opening. So what?
  • ...
the art of spiderman in the spiderverse book

Unlock the secrets of successful artists with our top picks for art and design books - each one beginning with "THE ART OF..." Get an exclusive sneak peek here!

Chou-Tac at Merlion, Singapore

Last weekend I went on a very short trip to Singapore with my dad.

I went to my favorite bookstore: KINOKUNIYA at Orchard road.

As usual,
I ...

how to draw charger USB

Ready to learn how to draw a USB charger on your iPad? Follow this tutorial and use Morpholio Trace App to draw a perfect product to learn proportion, round edges, and round corners.

How to Draw a USB Charger on iPad (Morpholio ...
digital detox how to disconnect social media

Are you looking for ways to increase your efficiency as a designer?
Try these easy tips to help you disconnect, stay focused, and avoid procrastination.

5 TIPS to Disconnect... Stop Procrastination as a Designer
  • Beware of Social Distraction.
  • TIP 1 Don't find the time. Create it.
  • TIP 2 Stop your phone notifications.
  • TIP 3 Preselect the information you consume.
  • ...
draw electric shaver - pilot twin marker

Learn how to draw organic forms with this helpful sketching tutorial.
Take on the challenge and learn the basics of product design sketching, using Philips electric shaver as your canvas!

How to Draw an Electric Shaver Philips! (Pilot Twin Marker) in 17minutes!

Hello guys!

I am working on the release date of my course: Sketch Like The Pros. I will ...

How to Progress Faster by Copying others with Doodles

Don't make the mistake of trying to reinvent the wheel learning how to draw product design:

  • Learn how to copy with the Copy-Doodle Technique!
  • Progress faster and soon create original products of your own.
How to copy to progress faster in 7.35min! How to Progress Faster with the "Copy-Doodle Technique"!

One of the "Superpowers" of a ...

DRAW ON COFFEE CUPS!
Draw on coffee cups - Urban Sketching in Vietnam

This morning,

I went to the World Coffee Museum at Buon Ma Thuot, the capital of Da Lak (Vietnam).

It has a small-town feel and I liked it so much!

The architectural design of the museum is sensual with its curvy shape. Isn't it?

You can see in the picture below ...

draw y-axis

Do you struggle with product design sketching?
Draw the Y-Axis into your design process – it's an easy way to take your sketches from flat to dynamic!

Why you should draw with the Y-axis

Transcription below

Hey guys,
Welcome to thedesignsketchbook.com.

How to sketch better and faster at sketching Product Design
(Drawing with Concept App) DRAWING THE JOBY TRIPOD on ...
Concept app sketching tips for designers

Get ready for better sketches with iPad Pro and Concepts app!
This beginner video gives you the sketching Tips and techniques to create beautiful designs from scratch.
Let's get started!

Concepts App Sketching Tips on iPAD

Download Concepts app here for iPad Pro or Windows Microsoft.
The basic version is free, and is already very complete!
You can purchase a membership or ...

how i graduated design school drawing at night

Spend a peaceful night sketching session and unleash new ideas!
Learn all the tips and tricks for successful midnight sketches for your industrial design projects!

Last night,
I was sketching a few concept art at midnight, looking for creative ideas.

I am new to the app CONCEPTS APP.
When you are used to your own sketching apps,
it can be a bit ...

productober

Artists and Designers, get motivated this October with Productober!

  • #Productober is a 31-day drawing challenge, inspired by the successful Inktober yearly event.
  • Amateurs and pros can participate by coming up with creative interpretations of each day’s topic.
  • Get inspired today!
How to Charge Your Sketching Motivation with Productober

Productober was inspired by Inktober yearly event.

...
Turn Luck Into a Skill: Get Great Design Opportunities Now
Ready to take control of your design destiny and attract design opportunities? Turning Luck Into a Skill: Get Great Design Opportunities Now In my first year of design school,  Great students were going to the best design companies for ...
Hang out with better student designer than you!
You are a beginner student designer? However, you feel lonely and you can't progress? That's normal. Most beginners feel shy when they start. If you are in this case, Do you hide your design drawings and creation? So no one can see your things? Hiding is the best way to protect ourselves from critics. As you can't possibly fail if nobody sees it. Right? ...
Noisli app focus and boost productivity
Listening to NOISLI while working

When you are a design student or a freelance,
you need self-discipline to get things done.

No one is going to discipline you on your time management
to deliver quality work on the dead line.

So many distractions interrupt your work

You have no one to make sure you'll respect the deadline.
You finish your task last ...

music ambiance for concentration when drawing and sketching working

Hi Sketchers!

I wanna share with you a simple TIP,
yet essential for your drawing routine as a designer.

Do you listen to music when you draw?
If yes, what's your favorite selection to find concentration and gain in productivity?
Tell us in the comments!

5 Tips to Draw Longer with Focus Listening to "Relaxing Sound"

While music can be distracting, I realize ...

7 Clichés about Designers

Hello !!
If you are a designer or a student designer.

What does your friend, and family think about your activity?
What are the questions people ask about your job?

You realize the same questions come up.
There
are plenty of clichés about you as a designer.

I dig today for you the 7 clichés I hear the most from (non-designer) people I ...

Is it hard to create for a designer?
Yesterday 12.00pm, I went at the French restaurant L'Usine. It was my second meeting with my "Tinder date" Ngoc. *Pronounced "Gnop" in Vietnamese with a bit inflated cheeks like a pouting baby. I was very excited to meet her again because we are very different​, but have essential things in common. I felt I could learn a lot from her.

I ...
6 reasons why sketching beats 3D software at creativity
Hello ! Today let's BOOST your motivation to create and enjoy the 6 benefits of learning sketching on paper! Why? Because there is no better sensation than to create with the traditional way! We saw in the previous TIP 243 that too many design students hide their sketching weakness by relying on 3D software. However, don't get me wrong. I am not saying ...
Do not rely on software. Sketch!
Too many students "hide" their poor sketching skills behind learning 3d software. They want to impress with a portfolio full of quality pictures. Some will suceed. But too often the porfolio ends poor in ideas... Today, let me show you why as an aspiring Product designer, you should NOT rely 100% on computer if you want to succeed in the long ...
"How many hours to practice sketching per week to become a Designer?"
"How many hours to practice sketching per week to become a Designer?" Our logic brain crave to ask that question. And that is normal. However, to succeed in sketching and become a Designer. You shouldn't think by hours... Why? Because that doesn't put you in the right mindset for fast progress. To practice sketching, you have to follow your heart first. And ...
How to attract success for your designer career
I love receiving your messages. You share with me your happy and tough moments too. Your stories on your design journey are truly inspiring. Thank you! Some says: "I am exciting to join a design school next September!", "I have just been hired by a design company!" ... While others say:  "I am an engineer, I always dream of becoming ...
Are you ready for the "90 DESIGN TIP-A-DAY Challenge"?

Hello!

How are you today?

Become the best sketcher you can be with the "90 DESIGN TIP-A-DAY Challenge"! Take advantage of this exclusive drawing challenge, full of motivation and inspiration to help kickstart your creative journey.

I feel pumped by this new project I prepare for you at the Design Sketchbook blog!
It is called the "90 DESIGN TIP-A-DAY Challenge!"

To learn how to sketch, 
the ...

Sketcha drawing app for designers

My student from my course Sketch Like The Pros, Oliver Esther recommended a new sketching software called:  SKETCHA. (available in Apple Store.) And I decided to give it a try by drawing a NIKE shoe!

Today I show you how I sketched a sneaker on iPAD with Sketcha!

UPDATE: I added below some Artificial Intelligence render to my Nike ...
Are you making these excuses to procrastinate at drawing? (Part 2)
Hello ! How are you doing today? Today is the 2nd part of: "Are you making these excuses to procrastinate at drawing?" (You can find the PART 1 here.) As an inspiring designer, you dream is to create a better life for people. You want to draw your own ideas and show them to the world ! You want to make awesome products! ...
Are you making these excuses to procrastinate? (Part 1)
Hello ! It's Chou-Tac, It's 5pm. I am writing to you from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. I landed in the country 7 days ago. We have just found a cosy place to stay ! We started to moved in already. Many things are still missing. But I feel excited! It is a new fresh start for the Design ...
How to draw hatching and rise your speed of sketching - thumbnail product designer the design sketchbook
  Today we learn how to draw hatching.   In product design sketching there is something essential
you need to have: It is your Speed of sketching.    That's why I'm going to help you with today by teaching you how to draw Hatching.   I draw Hatching in all my sketches:  

 

  Faster you draw, more ideas you can drop ...
How to draw Harley Queen
If you follow me for a while, you know how I invite you to explore diverse sketching style to build up your own as a Designer. If like me you like the Marvel and DC, you might like today video 🙂 ...
12 Tips to succeed in your design presentation | For introvert
I used to be crazy afraid to talk in public. While it is so essential for a designer to communicate verbally to defend and promote our own projects. I remember at my design school. When I had to talk in front of my classmates, it was so intimidating. I knew it was a training to get prepared for the real world ...
36 Sketching tips for shoe design

To make sure you receive news on the launch of the Sneaker Sketching course, make sure to Register to the blog! 🙂

It took me 10 hours and 30 minutes of sketching to complete the 7-meter canvas in 4 days. It's an amazing experience I recommend you to do once in a while to sit, focus, and enjoy drawing ...
How to make big progress with Sketching Challenge ?

Hello ! It's Chou-Tac,

It's 11am here in France. And before going to gym, I wanted to announce that this week: I am starting a 7 meters of "Sneaker Sketching Challenge" !  Yes ! it is about 4 times my height ! Ohoh !! (I am 1,80m) A while ago I even did a 18 meters roll of Concept Art Sketching Challenge in ...
Sneaker drawn by Amor Jiménez // Loveworks_design
Hello Design Sketchers! Last year I met Amor Jiménez in Madrid. 🙂 I met him in real while eating croquetas in his home country! We were sketching on the coffee shop table with Antonio and Pedro Luis. We all have in common the passion for design and Sneaker sketching too. I even made a Live sneaker sketching demo to explain the ...
How long should I sketch per week ? Question from Tim B.
Hello ! It's Chou-Tac, I received an email from Tim B. asking me how long should he sketch per week ? (Tim is one of my VIP student of Sketch Like The Pros.) As you may also wonder the same question, I wanted to share with you my 5 recommendations to become more productive. TIM B.: How long should I ...
10 Easy Drawing Ideas and Tips to Start your Sketchbook!

Ready to be an artist?
Learn these 10 easy drawing ideas and tips for starting your sketchbook.
You will make sketching easier and more enjoyable daily. Hop onboard and start drawing now!

10 Easy Drawing Ideas and Tips to Start your Sketchbook!

If you wonder "How to start a sketchbook",
my friend Daniel shares his Top 10 drawing recommendations.

Sketching on ...
How to draw a cube with 1-point perspective
How to draw a cube (1-point perspective)

In design sketching, all start by drawing cubes.
In helps you to better visualize objects in 3D from imagination.
Today I show you step-by-step how to draw a cube (1-point perspective) easily.

Learn 1-point perspective easy

Pretty often perspective can become overwhelming for beginners.
There are so many lines going here and there that you ...

samsung product design SADI
Hello, it's Chou-Tac, Today we travel to South Korea! Let's meet up with JONGHO LEE! I am glad he accepted today's interview as he has a precious point of view about Why you should become a Product Designer now. : )  He has the willingness to share with us his experience as the Director of programs and professor ...
Drawing with ARTBOOKS CHALLENGE #1 / Inkwork by Darren Quach
As a Product Designer, I find plenty of inspiration in Sci-fi movies such as Star wars and Concept art sketches. * You can discover Edward Eyth interview who created plenty of sketches and innovation for Back To the Future II, Disney, MARVEL... that inspire nowadays creation such as the kitchen robot ! Recently I asked you on Instagram stories if you ...
How to draw New products in 3 steps with this simple creative technique

Today we are going to cover a sketching technique to draw more creative sketches in a few minutes only! I love using it when I have no idea what to draw. : P If you face the blank page or feel afraid of sketching, I invite you to try this technique that will give you instant products! I show ...
How to start drawing in perspective with this New drawing tool: The MICRODOT®
I am publishing something new for you guys. It's to introduce you to a Kickstarter Campaign for beginner designers! It is a New drawing tool that help you draw basic volumes using ISOMETRIC perspective: The MICRODOT®. 🙂  If you love it and wanna receive your own MICRODOT® (international delivery) for £3 (about $4 USD) you can join and support the Kickstarter ...
How a Designer become more creative looking for "Problems" !

Hello !

It’s Chou-Tac,

Today I got a Designer creative routine for you to implement daily.

So you'll generate thousands of new ideas ! 

I am writing to you from the 24-hours Automatic laundrymat. My clothes are turning in the machine like inside an infinite rollercoaster. It's pretty hypnotic.

When I see the colourful clothes rolling, it reminds me when ...

How bad do you want to be a Product designer ?
15th July 2018: France won the World Cup !!! Last night I discovered 2 players from the French team come from my hometown, Troyes ! I feel so happy that YES people from my small town can rise to become Champion of the Football World cup ! It always reminds me how much Success can come from anywhere, and from ...
Do Not start learning with a Graphic tablet (but with a ball point pen)
How are you today ? . . Summer holiday period is starting ! : ) I hope you are crazy boosted for enjoying this free time for what you love: Sketching ! And get a great practice before going back to your Design school in September. . If you have any question during your journey about design, feel free to ask ...
the incredibles character design research from Pixar
Vivek Rai was sending me by email a pretty cool picture from a school task he had about creating characters. He asked me some tips about: How to generate ideas to create Character design? The whole idea is to make interesting features pop out. How? We need a story. A good story gives his characters specific role and personality for ...
How to Be More Creative Daily? (W/ Renata Lahalle)

Ola from Madrid, in Spain!
Sometimes, we lack inspiration.
We wonder what to draw and we face the blank page. 
Junior artists to seniors artists, we all search for creative ideas.
How to be more creative daily is our topic of the day with my friend Renata Lahalle.

How to be Creative Daily (Chou-Tac x Renata) How to be Creative Daily (Chou-Tac x Renata) ...
2 reasons why a mom encourages her son to become a designer

Today I would like to share with you an inspiring discussion I had. While many parents push their kids to become a Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer… I met a mom who support her son’s interest for drawing to become a Designer.

But before sharing with you the 2 main reasons she do so, let’s see why many parents may not support ...
Fast and "Ugly Drawing" - The Art of Creating Anywhere!

Drawing quickly is an important skill for a creative thinker!
Learn sketching tips and techniques from designers to help you draw quickly and creatively anywhere you go!

Hello from Japan!

I am in Tokyo, it is one of my favorite cities in the world!
My friends and I are at a shopping mall where together we'll do an exercise of "Observation ...

21 Drawing Tips on How to Make a Designer Sketchbook

Do you dream of starting your own Designer sketchbook?
Here are 21 useful tips to help you make your designs stand out above the rest!

During one of my recent trips to Spain,
I met Antonio who is one of the students of my online course Sketch Like The Pros.

Antonio did show me one-to-one his sketchbook, and he generously accepted ...

Create A Winning Portfolio For Art Center College Of Design

Take the lead with your portfolio application to Art Center College of Design.
Learn the advice and winning tips from David Salow in this interview!

Create A Winning Portfolio For Art Center College Of Design

Interview with David Salow,
Director of international recruitment at Art Center College of Design

START
(0:00) Hey guys!
How are you doing?

Today, I’m pretty ...

Live chat with Art Center College of Design Pasadena |Portfolio, school, career.
Hello! It is Chou-Tac, How are you today? If it is so-so. Then this coming Saturday I got a BIG SURPRISE for you to get back your natural pretty smile you are so beautiful with. 😀 Live Chat with Art Center College of Design I remember how plenty of questions about Design school I used to have when I was ...
How to Draw a Cube (2-Point Perspective)

A cube is a 6-sided 3D form like a dice or a Rubik's cube.
Artists and industrial designers learn how to draw in perspective drawing a series of cubes from any angles.

It helps to build their 3 dimension visualization skill.
So they can learn how to draw any products with good proportions.

Perspective can scare many beginners.
However, if we ...

custom made furniture guillaume bouvet

Today we meet Guillaume Bouvet in Lyon, France.
He shares with us how a Custom-Made Furniture Designer works with wood.
He will give us an essential lesson for any industrial designer.

If you love working with wood and designing furniture, you might want to see that. 🙂

I remember, when I was a student in my design school,
most students only rely ...
How to draw cylinders in any angles with the "Packaging box" technique
Hello ! Today I would like to share with you a simple technique to help you better visualise in 3D. We'll go through the basics of perspective to draw ellipses in 3D, then cylinders. We'll go straight to the point, so I recommend you to get started by downloading the Designer Starter Kit first.  Have fun ! Cheers, Chou-Tac ...
How to draw Sneakers in 3D |live demo
In a visit to Madrid, My parents and I had the chance to meet up with the students of my course Sketch Like The Pros: Pedro, Antonio, and Amor. The whole night, we talk about design, sketching... Then, Antonio asked me if I could show him how to sketch a sneaker in 3D. We recorded the live tutorial in the ...
How to Start Design Sketching? (The BIG MISTAKE to avoid)
How to Start Design Sketching? | Q. from Omar

Hi sketching lovers!
Do you start design sketching?

Today I want to answer a question that I got from Omar on Instagram,
who wants to know how to get started in design sketching.
This is a very common question that I get a lot, and I'm happy to share some tips ...

Perspective becomes easy (Drawing 3d planes)
Gain speed in drawing by starting your sketch with a 3D plane

Before starting, if you are making your first steps in perspective,
I invite you to download the Designer Starter Kit made for beginners.

Then, practice these two easy tutorials on Perspective below:

...
9 tips to draw a power bank using a cylinder base

Hello Sketcher!

Today I am in London visiting my friends and student: Vietdong,
He is one of my new beginner student of Sketch Like The Pros.

We are going to do a quick demo giving you
9 sketching tips for beginners, drawing a Power bank. 🙂

Transcript

Okay. So I'm with VietDong in London, we are going to try, so ...

How to Go from Flat Sketches to 3D Volumes

I received a message from Christopher.
He's a woodworker and is fed up making drawings as "if somebody sits on them".
I made a beginner video about:
How to Go from Flat Sketches to 3D Volumes!

How to Go from Flat Sketches to 3D Volumes Take a pen, some paper, and take some notes! ✏️
Next week, I will prepare some product design ...
How to Draw an Infinity of Products (with ellipses and cylinders)

How to Draw an Infinity of Products (with ellipses and cylinders)

Transcript below

Hey guys

Welcome to the "Sketching Mini-Tutos"!

Sketching from Chouchou from me, Chou-Tac.

So how to draw an infinity of products using ellipses and cylinders.

Alright,

we are going to draw some quick doodles right here

to see what we can draw.

So here are the ...

How about Vlogging for the Design Sketchbook ? :)
Hello !! It's Chouchou, 🙂 I hope you had a great week-end plenty of fun ! 2018 is coming already, I started to plan the next year projects for The Design Sketchbook ! I am happy to say I am preparing more videos, more tutorials, designer interviews from around the world ! (Such as with Dwayne Vance, former designer for Hot Wheels ...
The big mistake we all do during a design job interview.
Hello guys, As a designer we learn how to promote our projects. We put a lot of effort in our portfolio, but sometime we face difficulties to promote ourself for a job or internship interview. Too many junior fail at doing that following mistake during an interview, which is fortunately easy to solve. To illustrate this, let me introduce my friend's morning ...
How long should I practice per day to be Good at sketching?
Hey guys, It's Chou-Tac, There is a question I receive pretty often: How long should I practice per day to be Good at sketching ? I tell my students to draw at least 15 minutes per session to get into it. Which means it is the minimum needed to absorb the lessons and have a first practice - but also ...
How to Draw in 3 dimensions with this Easy Perspective Technique!

I'm very happy to show you this easy perspective exercise that will expand your 3D vision skills! 🙂

  • Any designer or artist needs to draw well in 3D. Here is a great start to give you confidence.
  • I call this the "Move the Dot Technique"!
  • It's something I feel is super fun.
  • I love to do it as a ...
How Kasra progress fast in Design Sketching

Hello!

It’s Chou-Tac,

I remember how important it was for me to be inspired by other students to boost my motivation. Because I wanted to reach their level, I was drawing more often and keep looking at what techniques they were using.

This is why today, I would like to introduce you to Kasra Sadeghian, who has been sketching a ...

STEP 1 | CUBES IN PERSPECTIVE Drawing Challenge
STEP 1 | CUBES IN PERSPECTIVE

If you want to improve fast and make a change, get ready for the CUBE MANIA CHALLENGE!

We are gonna draw a LOT of cubes following the simple and easy techniques I’ll show you stroke by stroke.
They are so simple that anyone can understand them and put them into practice on the spot.

...
STEP 2 | DRAW CUBES LIKE TETRIS (IN PERSPECTIVE)
Draw connected 3D cubes in perspective | Part 2/3

Yesterday we saw Part 1 of the Cube Mania challenge.
We get familiar with drawing cubes in a 2-point perspective, but also how to draw them in all directions!

If you are a true beginner, remember to download the Designer Starter Kit!
to start drawing in perspective step-by-step.

How to Draw ...
How to draw cubes like professional designers
How to draw 3D cubes | Part 3 (last part)

My nose is running, so sorry if you may hear my voice a bit like a duck 🦆in the video!

Today,
It is time to progress even further on the last part of the CUBE MANIA CHALLENGE (Part 3/3). Let's train your quality of lines like the pros and build ...

How Parker Liang became one of the top design sketcher of his class (and impress his classmates!)

Hi guys,

I have just received an happy email from Parker, who is a member of my course Sketch Like The Pros. With great motivation and work, he now becomes one of the Top sketcher of his class ! YahoO !!

How did he achieved this ?

Here are some TIPS:

First,

When Parker acquire new sketching techniques, he looks ...

design software

Hello Design Sketchers!

I received an email from Pio Tran about which software to learn to become an industrial designer.
There is no unique answer to this.

However, here is my response.

First of all,
depending on which field you choose among industrial design,
you may need more 2D software type than 3D software.

Vice versa.

For example,
as ...

Anyone with GOOD LOGIC can learn how to sketch. See why.

Hello from Osaka !

I am travelling with my good friend Eliane and her big family in Japan. We are a group of 10 people travelling all over Japan ! :). Last night, we arrived at a new apartment near Namba area, we rented for few days. After unpacking my things, I sat on the sofa, Switch ON my Samsung ...
No time for drawing? How to unlock 5 months per year!

Hello! It's Chou-Tac,

How are you doing today? I know how we all have a busy life, and how many beginners have little time to pursue their passion for sketching. Have you ever said: "I have no time to draw." - "I feel guilty, I procrastinate and stagnate." "Damn... I wish I could make it !"... Let me help you ...
What matter more than sketching or creativity skills to grow like crazy.

Hello ! It's Chou-Tac,

How things going today ? At noon, I met Eugene and his wife Mandy for lunch at Ho Chi Minh City. They are such a lovely couple. Vietnam is the 3rd country I met in real life people who follow the Design Sketchbook blog. It's meaningful to me and I feel closer to my readers and ...
Don’t be precious with your sketches

Hello! It's Chou-Tac

How are you today? Last day I was at Panam, a French pub in Ho Chi Minh owned and driven by my franco-viet friends Khiem and Remy. I enjoy going there to chill and eat Kebab. They make the greatest Kebab in town with amazing Belgium fries. YUM !! When you reach inside, you can expect ...
Introvert designer? How to make people remember you at networking.

Hello! It's Chou-Tac

A lot of designers happened to be introvert (included me), and we may suffer from not being able to socialize with people as easy as we would like to.

Networking is not natural for us. Let me share with you a simple trick I practice that starts giving results for me. 🙂

Have you ever met nice ...

"Is the best Pho in France or Vietnam?" How a chat with a local inspires me as a designer.

Hello guys from Vietnam !

How are you doing today ? Here is pretty rainy (Raining season), and I just came back from lunch.

I am thinking to start sharing with you more about my daily inspiration thoughts or inspiration as a product designer.

As I believe that design sketching techniques are just one piece of the puzzle.

Creativity, an ...
At Basheer Graphics bookstore (Singapore) with John
I have just met John in Singapore. He's one of my VIP member of Sketch Like The Pros. It happenned we were both in Singapore, so we decided to meet up and say hello. 🙂 He's from China, and moved to Singapore for work. It is the first time I have the chance to meet one of my student in real ...
How a young candidate "beat" skilled designers - and get hired.
Hello ! It's Chou-Tac, In your opinion, who got more value:  Someone skilled with years of experience or a young passionate ? In my previous company, (shoes and fashion industry in Singapore) my colleague needed to hire someone to join her team. But she had to go for a business trip in China. She asked me if I could help ...
How I survived my design school and get my dream job.
I still wonder how I survived my design school. We had a ton of projects. I remember wondering if they put that pressure on us on purpose. Maybe they wanted to make us overwhelmed, to see if we could manage the intense pressure and workload? I could not finish all my projects It was impossible for me. Same for my ...
How to draw a box with a hole in perspective

Hello! It's Chou-Tac The blog started in 2014, and I am always happy to keep publishing plenty of free content, articles, and drawing tutorials on the blog giving you even more TIPS, advice, insights from designers, and interviews to help you during your design journey. I do believe designers contribute to making our world exciting. If you need any ...
How to succeed interview for your future design school or job
Hello Design lovers ! Many of you may be preparing their portfolio to enter a design school, internship or a designer job position. But there is a huge and common mistake I want you to avoid. I divided this in 2 parts: First about the oral presentation of yourself, and second for when you will show your portfolio. PART 1: About yourself ...
Are you a heavy wrist Design sketchers?
Hello Design Sketchers ! If you have a heavy wrist tendency, this article is gonna help you realise how much being gentle with you pen matter. If you have this tendency, many of your sketches may tend to look messy. You might have difficulties to finish your sketches, or giving them details and the overall may look clumsy or "childish". And sometimes, it ...
Bread drawing from Boulangerie Copain, Seoul, South Korea
Kim sketches when he used to work at "Tous les jours", a Korean-French chain of bakeries - in the R&D department.

Hello, Design Sketchers!

Too many beginners are afraid of sketching, being afraid of what other people may think.
They feel so ashamed of showing their 'ugly drawings' they don't even want to draw at all!

It's like: I feel ...

Don't draw for LIKES on Instagram
Instagram is an amazing tool to publish your work online and get feedback, but especially likes and followers. You gain exposure, you gain popularity. It's to me great, but there is another side of the coin if you let yourself get hypnotized by these "virtual numbers of glory". It may affect your long term results and confidence facing procrastination. Someone ...
Design Sketchbook Live #2 | How to draw in perspective!
Hello, Design sketchers! 😀 It's my second time I do a Sketching live tutorial for you guys on Facebook! It was a real pleasure to help you, and interact with you on Live! Below you can find the replay and practice! We'll cover in 1 hour, these 3 sketching points:  Part 1- Why most beginners lose confidence from start and what ...
How to Draw Contour Lines

Today let's see how to draw contour lines. Your first steps, the easy way!
With this simple technique, you will draw any volume super fast.
Your speed of sketching is essential for a designer to develop his ideas smoothly and communicate them fast.

How to draw contour lines

I am Chou-Tac. So welcome to the Design Sketchbook.

Before getting started, I ...

How to Fix your Curved Lines? (Check your Sketching Posture)
How to Fix your Curved Lines? (Check your Sketching Posture) Today I wanna share with you a common body posture mistake that may damage your sketching progress forever. The earlier you fix it, the better. It's a very simple thing, but worth adjusting if you are concerned.

I have received a video from Jasper who is a student of ...

How to draw a light bulb easy

The sketching exercise today is about how to draw a light bulb. We will cover the sphere and ellipses in perspective. I was giving some corrections to one of my student Zhen Bian from China from my course Sketch like the Pros - and I thought I could share it with you too! This quick tutorial shows you the ...
Don't play Pokemon Go! Hunt ideas with your pen and your Sketchbook!!
Hello guys from Korea ! I am now in Seoul, and it's super cold like being in a freezer. I went to find refuge in a caffe to warm myself and sketch. I sit, opened my sketchbook and found the unfinish fish below. I decided to complete it today, which is 7 months later! 🙂 I first sketched this above ...
3 techniques to give visual impact to your sketches | The Design Sketchbook Show! #1
Hi guys, Today I am in Seoul, Korea ! It's amazing and also super cold here. About -7 degrees outside. Ohoh ! Getting warmer back in my room, I thought it would be cool to publish the replay of our Design Sketchbook Show here in the blog ! In case you missed it, I show you below 3 techniques to give ...
How to Become a Sports Product Designer | Adidas

Today is my great pleasure to introduce you Noah Sussman, sports product designer for UVEX Sports in Germany. (Formerly at Adidas)

I met Noah when both of us used to work at Adidas Headquarters at Herzo.
I was working in the footwear department and Noah in the accessory department.

Once a year Adidas organizes a huge design project where they ...

36 questions about Design sketching | Part 2
Hello ! Today, it's time to publish the 2nd part of the questions you have sent to me these last few weeks! (We'll cover 36 questions) Because I want you to progress much faster but also happier, I have prepared an online course where you will learn how to sketch within a community of passionates! You will progress much further getting feedbacks ...
What You Need To Know About Design Sketching | Part 1
Curious about product design? Our survey answers provide the best tips and tricks so you can stay ahead of the game. Check out our new creative project to supercharge your progress! ASK ME ANYTHING! Today, I publish the answers in the blog so all of you can benefit from other people's questions. Here we go! Here is a selection ...
Marvel retail store drawing - Edward Eyth
  Discover how to become a Concept artist
like Edward Eyth who worked on projects for Disney and Marvel!    Learn his trade secrets and create incredible concepts.   I am especially amazed because he did the concept design for the movie “Back to the Future II!!   I was born in the '80s and like many of you, that movie ...
Surround yourself with passionate people to grow your sketching level.

Hello ! Hello ! It's ChouTac,

How are you ? It's Saturday, and Saturday is a Happy Day ! Why ? Because tomorrow is Sunday : D 

Today, I got a little survey for you: https://goo.gl/forms/hOhjfzpaFci86fpM2

I believe we can achieve anything being happy. However, when we are beginner at something, we tend to see more the tough side and ...

Invest in yourself first. Don't always "chase" the latest designer tools.
Hey guys, I have just received a message from Krishna who told me a senior students offer her a Graphire tablet (It's the early generation of graphic tablet from Wacom). She doesn't have yet the budget for a Cintiq but she'is interested in an Intuos 3.  Let me show you why as a junior student, you may consider getting a older tablet ...
Find a lot of design inspiration at shopping with that simple trick
Sometime we wonder how to get more inspiration daily for our project at school. We may be tempted to buy books but they are pretty expensive as a student. Your teacher tell you to go to library, exposition and/or to be observant and get inspired from your daily surrouding wherever you go - which I fully agree. Let me share ...
How to install the Ergotron arm on your desk for Wacom Cintiq 22
Today, I am super excited as one of my dream has been realized. As a user of the Wacom Cintiq 22HD, I did myself a little present: The Ergotron arm! If you are also a Wacom Cintiq user, I think you are gonna love it!  What is Ergotron about?
Inspiration: 4 Websites For Designers To Create Mood Boards

Seeking inspiration for industrial design portfolio pieces?
Look no further than this list of 4 exceptional websites for designers to create great mood boards!

As an industrial designer,
inspirational websites for designers help to form unique concepts
that we had to present effectively on our portfolio or client presentation.

1 quality picture says more than 1000 words.

When I ...

How to buy a ball point pen for drawing |pen test with Brent George
Hey guys, Which pen are you drawing with ? (Tell me in the comments !) If you are still wondering with which pen to start with, let me share with you the series of test from Brent George, one of my student at Sketch like the Pros did during the Module 1. I hope our today article will help you better test and ...
How to Draw a Cube, Sphere, and Cylinder

Today is sunny and happy like I love!
I've prepared for you a step-by-step video tutorial about:
The 3 basic forms of Design Sketching you absolutely need to know.

  • The cube
  • The sphere
  • The cylinder

Remember, every complex form, product, character or environment will start with one of these forms.
Why? Because a secret of advanced sketching is to always start with simple forms to ...

Show all what you got in your design portfolio!
It's 4:58 am and I can't sleep. I guess I am still a bit Jetlagged after my 28 hours journey door to door from France to Singapore. I was in bed with my mind fully awake thinking about writing to guys. And I remembered something when I was at school, there was an interesting debate about: Q: Should we show all ...
Interview with Vincent Védie, who never gave up to follow his dream as a designer

Hey guys,

Many of you told me it's valuable to discover more about the profession of a Product designer - knowing more about the real life out there after your design school.

Today, I am very happy to introduce you my friend, Vincent Védie. We are good friends and he has been my classmate for 4 years at CREAPOLE-ESDI in Paris.

Vincent ...

Should I start sketching on paper or Ipad Pro?
Hello from Paris Airport! It's 6.19am, and I am waiting for my flight to Singapore with a transit at Ryhad. Today I wanna share with you a question I received from Yanik, who left a message on one of my video tutorial on Youtube. Oh, I will keep you updated about the preparation of the online Product design sketching course. As ...
Start your sketch with a light pen pressure
It's late at night, it's quiet and I suddenly saw a small booklet I handmade with watercolour paper and a golden pliers I bought at Tokyu Hands shop. I grab the closest ballpoint pen I see and sketch. Sketching is like practicing sport. Start with a warm up! My first lines are a bit rigid. So I relax my wrist and ...
How to Draw Round Edges most Products have

If you pay attention around you,
most industrial products have round edges.

Look at your Macbook, phone, markers, camera, television...
all have rounded borders.

Today,
I give you an easy tutorial in a video on how to draw them in perspective,
so you can already start drawing so many products!

It's so simple!
It all starts from looking at things flat in 2D.

...
How to Divide a Box with 3-Point Perspective!
How to divide a cube in 3-point perspective

If your drawings are flat,
or you have difficulties to visualise in 3 dimensions,
you need to practice this beginner tutorial.

Learning how to draw is all about dividing cubes in perspective.
Any artist or designer need to learn it to draw with good proportions.

I have prepared for you a cool VIDEO ...

Car design Tip | Sketch with the "Happy Accident"!
Hey guys, Today I would like to share with you a Tip I learned at my Design school. When I was student in Product design, I was so fascinated by Car design that I went to ask for information to the transport design students. One of them shared with me that his teacher one day told him that: "Sometime when ...
How to draw a cube with 2-point perspective

We saw previously How to draw a Cube with a 1-point perspective and how to recognize whether you need a 1 or 2-points perspective. I hope you enjoy how easy it is to learn with this tutorial made for beginners. Today, it’s time to learn how to draw a cube with a 2-point perspective step-by-step. If you miss the ...
How to draw the Nike Air Max | The Sneaker 1 minute sketching tutorial Preview

Drawing shoes is now easier than ever!
Follow my 1-minute tutorial and learn how to draw a Nike shoe with 7 simple steps!

HOW TO DRAW NIKE SHOE EASY (Nike Air Max)

We discovered How to become a Footwear designer with Mr. Bailey from Concept Kicks,
I thought you might want to draw your first shoe design!

To get ...

Why  starting school as a  beginner may give you an unfair advantage?
First of all before starting this article: every school has their own policy and criteria for selecting their students. This article is about the school I went so my experience may not reflect the one you may apply for. I recommend any student to meet the school, actual students or alumni to get more information about their philosophy before applying. Being a ...
HOW TO BECOME A SHOE DESIGNER with Mr Bailey - ConceptKicks.com

Hello Sneaker Sketchers!

Today, we're diving into Mr. Bailey's journey
and discovering how his experience full of perseverance
and passion can guide you on 'How to Become a Shoe Designer'.

This interview holds a special place in my heart.
As a Product Design student, I was captivated by the incredible sneaker sketches Mr. Bailey shared on his blog ...

How to draw a coin | The 1minute tutorial!
HOW TO DRAW A COIN STEP-BY-STEP How to draw a coin in 6 steps: STEP #1 The first thing you need to know is: a circle is equal to an ellipse in perspective. STEP #2 An ellipse is always symmetrical. So you can make a try, think of a cup you are looking at the top of it from ...
Don't focus on the result but on your drawing journey! - Roy Pallas
I wanna share with you a motivational TIP I learned from my friend Roy Pallas, from the French blog: Blog-le-dessin.com. (blog-the-drawing) I knew his blog before I met him in person. I am happy to say that his blog is full of generosity and kindness - like how he is in real life. Let me translate his motivational TIP for you ...
Are you a black sheep?
Hey, I am not very happy of how education system is trying to create "clones" learning literature and math. How about art and creativity? Art and education are like oil and vinegar. They can't blend. Ok, whatever! But if you blend them well adding a bit of salt and pepper, you can make a tasty sauce! Right? :9 "I followed ...
How Marc became a self-taught toy sculptor and designer | COARSE
Hi guys, Today I have just met an amazing Toy artist in Bangkok! If you love art toys, you might have heard about him: he's Marc from the duet Marc & Sven from COARSE. I took the opportunity to have a chat with him and learn a bit from his creative process. In a few words, he often starts his project ...
How to succeed your drawings making ugly doodles!
Hey guys! How are you today? I just went back to my Calystehnic class. (Also called Street workout). It's now resting time, and I take a "few" minute to write to you. TIP: Sketch in the rush!! The sketch below is what I drew just before going out 3 hours ago. I was in the rush. I didn't want to ...
What matter more than years of sketching.
How long have you been sketching? To give a short answer, I have 2 big periods of drawing. The first one was when I was a kid till I grew up as a teen. I was sketching at home and school so we could share among friends. At Junior school, we was a group of asian friends who liked drawing manga. Then, ...
How to draw 3D volumes
There is common mistakes that everybody do as a beginner. The flat sketch. We draw what we see and it's obvious there is something wrong. But we can't figure out how to solve it. If you are today at this stage, no panic. It's nothing related to having talent or not. The solution is actually pretty simple. It's all about seeing things in ...
Art books are my inspiration Red bull!
I went to the famous book shop in Singapore: Kinokuniya. They have a huge Art & Design corner where you find books about Product design, architecture, fashion, packaging, tatoo, figure drawing, calligraphy... It's a paradise of learning content and inspiration. But, Did you know there is an other corner that most people ignore ? It's the Film corner, also called ...
How to draw multiple cylinders in perspective |Part B
We saw in the Part A how to solve a common mistake about drawing "dual ellipses" - showing the top surface of camera lens for example. Today, let's draw multiple cylinders on the same scene, like the Buren's column in Paris ...
How to draw multiple cylinders in perspective | Part A
Let's look at how to draw cylinders in perspective. For this Part A, we will get interested in the top surface of a tube - which is actually "a cylinder within a cylinder". You can see similar case for a camera lense for example. Below are the steps in picture ! 🙂 ...
"True inspiration comes from life. Not a pixelated version of it." - Sir John Hegarty
"Remove the headphones and unplug the computer. True inspiration comes from life. Real life. Not some pixelated version of it." - Sir John Hegarty Anything you see on Internet are flat pictures - but no experience. So you are somehow missing of the "real feel". What you see on the screen is a biased version of the reality. Looking for ...
Want to push your sketching limits? Make it personal | with Leo
Leonardo studied Industrial design, and he's today a 3D artist for video games. He enrolled my course Sketch like the Pros as a VIP student. Leonardo sent me his work about cubes - it is pretty unique. More than following the course step-by-step, he spices up his drawing session: by drawing cubes following a path. His training became an artwork!

Leo's story and ...
Grand Blanc Pacific Sketch - Ben Go
Ben has a story I feel inspiring. He's a boat designer, and presently living in an amazing boat! "Drawing has been a way to get everything I dreamed about." You will see from his beginning how he almost dropped school at the age of 16 - fortunately, one of his teachers saw his creative potential and encouraged him to study in ...
How to Draw a Cube | Fast and Easy (from Imagination)
HOW TO DRAW A CUBE (WITH THE XYZ AXIS) Transcript: Let's draw cubes with the xyz axis!

x y z axis helps you visualize in 3 dimensions.
You will draw cubes from any viewpoint and from any direction and we are going to get this x y z axis to help you to better visualize.

So, you can see also ...

At Starbucks doodle on receipts - the design sketchbook - design sketching tutorial
My girlfriend and I went to Starbuck last Tuesday. She likes to go there to work without distraction. So I was pretty much bored. I took a pen and draw on her receipt what I saw around me. Basically, the shop Nubox and Subway. What I like with doodling on receipt is that you do not choose your format. You ...
How to Draw Products Design Easy

Let's see how to draw simple forms to make them into products! I'm going to show you in this video, one of the main principle of Product Design Sketching on how to create your own products from scratch. So remember to click on the bell to subscribe to the channel. So today I'm discovering with you the software KRITA ...
Struggling at drawing details? Draw them big! | Sketch from Amy Riches (UK)| TIP 165
Hey guys, If your perspective on your sketches looks awkward, or they seem lacking in details, these today 2 sketching TIPS might help you. I've just received an inspiring sketch from one of my VIP students of [Sketch Like the Pros], Amy Riches from the UK. At first, she sketched a camera that was pretty ok - however, the perspective ...
The 9 benefits of the 1 minute Sketching Challenge
Hello! I invite you to play at the new challenge I call The 1 Minute Sketching Challenge!  It's fun to sketch. I have just tried today and I can already see how it will help me improve my skills. I warmly invite you to make a try. Post your sketches on Instagram and tag me @thedesignsketchbook #1minutesketchingchallenge!  The rule is simple. Take ...
How to draw a camera GoPro
How to draw a camera GoPro easily How to draw a camera GoPro easily

HOW TO DRAW A CAMERA | GO PRO | BALLPOINT PEN SKETCHING

Hello!

I often receive messages of aspiring designers
who do not dare to sketch and are worried about making mistakes. To help you overcome this fear, I am giving a 7-day sketching challenge to my ...
3 rules from Kimon Nicolaides to learn making 1000 mistakes
1 Learning how to sketch is about making iteration. We try, we do mistakes, we adjust... we retry... and so on. That's how we keep learning and get better at anything. If you want to learn the violin, you have to try, explore and train your ears. So you will fine-tune. Same for drawing. I was reading an article from ...
Why I might not sketch on Ipad Pro. :(
These last few days I made a lot of research about the IPad Pro - wether it is suitable for me - as a sketcher.* I am a Wacom user for years, and I was positively impressed from what I saw online about the Apple tablet. But I promise to myself to do not get too excited about the newest ...
Wanna get cool design sketches? (Don't start with details)
Should I get an Ipad Pro for drawing cool sketches? I really like the idea of "On and draw". That machine looks really cool. After so long, and deception with the previous Adonit Jot pen (Stylus for Ipad) - Apple seams creating something better than the Samsung Pro Note tablet. I was chillin' in front of my Wacom Cintiq ...
Why a good relationship designer/technician counts more than any skill?
Whenever we have a problem, we dig in the past to find a similar case to solve the case. I believe there is an even better approach: To do the same, but add in a pinch of creativity! To do that, we have to be ready "to reconsider the truth". Your interlocutor may be an expert, but do NOT take ...
Tips on How to deal with suppliers (Carpenter) in Asia?
I share with you my meeting with few Thai wood carver in Bangkok. I hope giving you some TIPS to help you working with suppliers in Asia in general. I actually had similar experience with Chinese suppliers when I used to work there for the shoe industry. In Design school, We learn to draw and create behind a desk. Let me show ...
When "Design" fusions a Cafe with a Furniture Shop - (Bangkok)
I am in a taxi from Bangkok on the way to Bang Sue, a road famous for woodcraft. I hope we are on the right way. We have just been dropped off by another taxi at the wrong place. At 1 hour far away from our destination! The taxi pretended we arrived, in fact, he was lost. We were lost ...
Your first idea is toxic! ☠️

Sometimes we feel like a genius when an idea pop in our mind.

  • However, should you trust that first idea that fast?
  • Will you regret afterwards?

Let me share with you how I discovered the first idea is so often Toxic.

Teachers: "Do not stop at your first idea."

As a young student,
it was tough ...

"Anybody can sketch": Quick test in 5min!

Tap into your creative side and learn how to sketch in just five minutes.
My easy to follow 4 steps tutorial sketching on a Starbucks napkin!

This afternoon,
I stop for a while at a cafe Paul to sketch.

I am preparing the next week's course of [Sketch like the Pros].
And I wanna show you that: Anybody can Sketch!

How I plan to share with you even more!
Hi guys, To keep in touch more often with you, I am experimenting blogging with my phone! I am writing with my Xiaomi (Redmi) phone and the screen is pretty small. I feel like writing an email to you while I actually write an article for the blog. And I like it like that. Why? Because the mindset is different ...
From Sketching 3 Simple Forms to Product Design!

How do you Draw product design from scratch?
Learn step-by-step how to draw simple forms and turn them into professional products with this video tutorial for beginner designers.
There are 3 easy designs to draw and practice now!

Hey guys, I'm Chou-Tac.

Product design is all about taking simple forms and adding detail to them.

Today, we cover easy forms ...

Lucas Hippolyte Sketch Like The Pros Design Course Fast Progress

Hello Sketchers!

I am preparing the reopening of
the Registration of Sketch Like The Pros Design course.

To help you build your motivation and self-confidence,
I want to show you that:

Anyone who starts as a true-beginner can succeed.
No matter your age and initial skill.

Lucas is a great example as a 15 year old student only.

Lucas Hippolyte (15yo) - 3 ...
How to Boost your Creativity + Productivity | 13 DESIGNER TIPS
How to boost your creativity + productivity
as an Industrial designer | 13 TIPS

A designer is "like a cow". 
He needs to produce new ideas at demand.

  • Some days you feel inspired. Awesome!
  • But some other days, your brain feels flat like a deflated balloon. 
    Totally not awesome if your dead line is coming fast like a bullet train!
  • ...
Majored in Civil engineering but in love with Design | Interview with Huang Li-Chung, 47yo
Today we meet Huang Li-Chung who has an atypical background. He took a common path (Civil engineering) but then decided to follow his passion for design. He definitely gave a new orientation to his life. I though it would be great to learn from him – so let’s discover some more from Huang Li-Chung through this interview . Can ...
New sketching pens ! Love the Signo Uni-Ball colours from Mitsubishi.
Tonight I was chilling in the shopping mall NEX at Serangoon, and “randomly” went to the pen shop! In this article below, you will see few quick sketches I made with the Signo Uni-Ball gel pen showing you some Tips about circles on cubes. If you want to glearn more from a video tutorial, you can have a look ...
How to draw faster with your Wacom Cintiq 13HD (with a simple IKEA accessory)
Last week I bought some felt pad to stick under a table so it wouldn’t scratch the floor. I realized then that the heavy table actually slide easily on the ground. So we wouldn’t even need any wheel. Later on, I started to sketch on my Cintiq 13 HD and kept frustrated with the adherence of the tablet to the ...
Are you too old to start sketching

Learning to draw isn't an innate skill.

Many people mistakenly believe that drawing ability is something you're born with.
This misconception can create mental barriers to learning. (Trying to doodle a simple flower seems impossible for many.)

This article draws inspiration from Marc, a student in my "Sketch like the Pros" course.
Despite enrolling in the VIP feedback option, ...

Lucas Hippolyte Youngest student of Sketch Like The Pros Design course

Last November, the course Sketch like the Pros was launched.
I was glad to see how it gathers an infinite number of unique profiles who have all in common the passion for Design sketching.

Today I want to share with you the story of the youngest student of the course.
He's still a teen and already shows a high interest ...

3 Design Tips to get inspired from an abstract painter
It’s surprising how much you can learn from people you’ve just met. Last week-end I went to  visit the city of Lyon in France. I went there using carpooling (Blablacar.com). To me, it’s a great way to meet new people and have fascinating discussion with them. When I booked the car, I saw an available one which the driver was ...
How to Draw New Ideas (with the Random Product Technique)

Do you have trouble coming up with new ideas for your product designs?
This beginner's guide discusses how to use the Random Product Technique to draw unlimited random ideas!

Bonus: Light & Shadow tutorial with Photoshop at the end of the video.

How to Draw New Ideas with the Random Product Technique

Feeling uninspired when drawing? Don't worry! ...

Why does a designer need to sketch? | With Nick Huber – Mesh01

Why sketching is so important for a designer ? Nick gives us also precious advices about how a student or junior designer can rise his chance through his abilty to sketch to be spotted and get hired by the brands. We have today the privilege to receive Nick Huber, who is the Director of Design and Community at Mesh01.com. ...
How I started design sketching and kept motivated ?
Most beginners abandon their dreams because of lack of confidence. They love sketching but give up too early. They practice a lot and even put a lot of effort as we say "Practice is the key". But they never progress so they conclude they don't have any talent, and talent is innate. Actually the cause is elsewhere: They had nobody ...
Sharpen your Sense of Proportion

Let’s continue with the video tutorials exported from the exercises you can find in the book: the Designer Starter Kit. Feel free to download it and find the right elements for a good start in Design sketching. This week we already saw in the video:
  1. How to draw straight lines
  2. How to draw perfect squares
  3. How to draw ...
How to Draw Perfect Square (+ Common Mistakes)

Today we continue our beginner journey with the 2nd video of the series of 6
illustrating the Designer Starter Kit book
(If you do not have it yet, you can receive it for free here.

The Designer Starter Kit

VIDEO 2/6
How to draw a perfect square.

If you have done well in the previous tutorial about How ...

How to draw straight lines (+ Common mistakes)
Today is the 1st video of a series of 6 videos illustrating the exercises from the Designer Starter Kit. If you haven’t done it yet, you can download the book. You will find there the essentials information needed such as how to hold you pen, the body posture, the ghost drawing... Oh, the book is free. : ) VIDEO 1/6 ...
Wonder what to draw? Look in your house!
What to draw? Draw your house! We often wonder what to draw.

Today, I share with you a simple solution to get started – and create that “spark of inspiration” to know what to draw. So you will fill that blank page with plenty of your drawings!

Why you Should Learn Drawing by Making Mistakes

Yesterday, one of my students of my course Sketch Like The Pros asked me:
"I am making mistakes. Is it my fault?"

I answered telling him a story about "The cycling boy"

Do you mind if I share it with you as well? : )

| Do you remember the first day you tried to ride a bike?

Me, I ...

How to keep motivated (having poor results) and avoid procrastination ? | TIP 147
This article has been inspired from questions asked by the members of my blog who answered my previous survey: Ask me anything. Thank you Prakash from India, Rerolde from Brazil, He from USA, Anze from Slovenia, Mfonkpang from Nigeria, Skirsk from USA for your questions about “How to keep motivated to draw ?” The questions was: Can you help me ...
How to draw an hostel with good proportion
I was browsing my picture library, looking for a subject to draw for you guys. I ended with that hostel front I took in picture in Taipei few years ago. I stayed there a couple of night. All the mattress was covered with leopard and zebra print… Pretty wild right ? 🙂 In this video you will see how I ...
Nicolas Gomes Sketching
Nicolas is a French student in Industrial Design who has recently achieved with success an Internship at Salomon. Nicolas’s experience has a lot of positive insight so I thought you may be curious to know more about him as much as I am! 🙂 Tell us about you. My name is Nicolas Gomes, I am 22, and I come from ...
What is the best Ballpoint pen for drawing?
Arpithooda asked me on Instagram: What is your favorite black ballpoint pen? I thought you guys may ask yourself the same question about it. So let me share with you our discussion. Besides that, I would be curious to know which one is yours? Tell us in the comments. 🙂 My answer to Arpithooda: Hard to say, sometimes ballpoint pen ...
Love sketching with the Papermate FLAIR M (Medium)
Hey, today I was chillin’ in town. My Black Papermate FLAIR M died yesterday, so I came to the pen shop to get a new one. It’s always a great feel to draw with a brand new pen when the ink is flowing so well.
  • It’s fluid
  • Smooth
  • And I can play easily with the line weight.
I ...
11 TIPS to get inspired and draw from imagination
Zhe Mei, Devansh S, Mya, Rodrigo O, Tilo, Forrester, John P, Tomes, Rafael asked me in the recent survey about: How do you get inspired and draw things from imagination ? May I share with you a quote I really like from Leigh Michaels. "Waiting for inspiration is like standing at the airport for a train." In other words, inspiration ...
How to Start Your Jewellery Design Career with Diaset
How to join the Jewellery design world? | with Diaset, a Diamond setter for Cartier, Chanel ...
How to choose:  Markers or Wacom tablet?
Daniel has just started Design sketching. Yesterday, he let me a public comment asking me a question that you may wonder as well: Q: I bought a Wacom tablet. Should I still practice with pen and marker by hand ? Hello Daniel, About the markers, if your school aims to teach you how to use them, you should make a ...
How to make your sketches of products more real industrial design - sketching tutorial
How to make your sketches more real

When you start learning how to draw as a beginner, you study and practice basic rules of perspective, line of geometry, and simple shapes such as square, circles… and so on.

We are going to see something that will change your daily habit when you draw. At the end of the video, you ...

How to draw a Super-Hero (Photoshop)
Hey today is a sketch of a Super-hero made with Photoshop. Actually I did that video just for myself and for fun. But I though I could add some Tips to share with you through this sketch. 1- The vertical axis here is here a symmetry axis of reference of the body. I want my character to be standing, seen ...
How to Draw a Bottle Easily (Product Design)
How to draw bottles easily

Today I show you a simple and powerful sketching technique
from product designers on How to draw transparent bottles easily.

It’s a powerful technique to learn because you can use the same method to draw any product that is also the “Revolution”.
(In other words, anything that the profile turns 360 degrees around a vertical axis ...

The Random Product design sketching technique The Design Sketchbook video sketching tutorial

If you often wonder what to draw,
today, let’s look at a 4 steps tutorial that will help you draw anything in 3D!

It’s perfect training for those who face the Malediction of the Blank page, where you may face these challenges:

  • No inspiration, no ideas
  • Even if you have ideas, you can’t visualize them on paper.
  • So you feel ...
Get a high distinction for choosing a great topic
Wether you study Industrial design for 3, 4 or 5 years, you might end given a project to carry, defend and promote yourself for several months. The main obstacle you shall meet is the choice of your topic. Make sure it has a great potential, and that you love it ! I remember for my last year of Design school ...
Sketch smarter with a marker Pantone Tria
Today I show you a smart way to draw with the broad nib of the Pantone marker. After a quick review of the 3 nibs, I show you how that nib can actually replace the Ultra-thin and brush nib. You will learn how to sketch faster, let your creativity flow and get more expressive lines. Pretty cool right ? 🙂 ...
Drawing "UGLY DOODLES" (Best Creative Technique?)

Some of you told me about facing these 3 challenges when you start sketching:

  1. "My sketches don’t looks good"
  2. "It’s not easy to draw from imagination"
  3. "I lose my confidence and give up fast"

If you are a beginner in Product Design Sketching, this challenging situation is actually pretty common.
You feel that your sketches look bad, and ...

7 Easy Steps to Draw Dynamic Sketches
Today I would like to share with you the method that is the most precious to me. Some people may say I should keep it SECRET– and keep it as my own style. But to me, this might change and greatly improve the way you sketch, as how it did for me when I was a student. 7 steps to ...
How to find your drawing style?
Be inspired by artists and designers you admire.

I was inspired by:

  • My classmate who got higher skills with whom we shared the same table in sketching class to discuss techniques and design points.
  • Comic, Manga, Concept art, animation artist...
  • Painters, sculptors…
  • The fashion school I used to join in Los Angeles during summer – we learned about the ...
How to Engage your Audience with Dynamic Sketches

David Zakarias-Weich asked me on the Design Sketchbook’s Facebook page about how I presented my sketches.
I share how important it is to engage your audience with Dynamic sketches.
It could be for an oral presentation, or for your portfolio, your drawings need to communicate your ideas, but also an emotion.

Q/ Why are trainers always drawn to that ...

How to start digital sketching ? (Material and software)
When I was a student (2003-2009), my classmates and I didn’t have any Digital tablet at school to practice on. The first tablet I put my hands on was a humble Graphire* from Wacom I bought from the IT store.  I was so happy to make my first steps on digital that I doubled my walking speed to go back ...
How I bring my IMac 21" and Wacom Cintiq 22" by plane!
I've just flown back to my hometown in France traveling with my iMac and Wacom digital tablet. I will set up a new office space to have more time to create new tutorials and great content for designers. Keep posted! How to carry iMac on a plane Today I share with you How to carry iMac on a plane. You ...
5 reasons why sharing your skills will help you improve

Whether at school or in the industry, it’s an asset for a designer “to be unique”.
To be unique, some people think they rather keep there knowledge secrets to better shine. There is nothing wrong about it though. But I believe that sharing knowledge will get you shine much more in a long term. If one day your classmate needs ...
Why you shouldn't draw the shield first? (Captain America)
These days I have fun playing with the App Marvel, Contest of Champions on Ipad. Be aware, it’s pretty addictive. Looking for inspiration, I did a sketch of one of the Champion: Captain America.
MARVEL – Contest of Champions For the TIP today, I would like to highlight a typical beginner mistake. Starting a sketch with the easiest or biggest ...
How to spot the horizon and converging lines of a building?
From the previous article, you learn about the 5 steps to starting drawing a scene in perspective. Let’s spend a bit more time in the Step of Observation. Today, I give you an observation exercise for designers - to do as often as you want. You can practice it anywhere, anytime. Below an example of a common 2-point perspective scene: ...
5 steps to start drawing a scene in perspective
Today I would like to share with you a story about Saad, a designer who has decided to get out of his comfort zone. For that, I will tell you a fundamental technique that Product designers use to sketch from imagination. Saad is an architect who has a keen interest in Product design. Working daily with his routine, he could ...
Why being Perfectionist will make you Fail?
Hey Design Sketcher! Today I would like to share with you an article about Perfectionism, written by Elizabeth Grace Saunders (writer of The 3 secrets to effective time investment). How many students or professional Designers have Perfectionism tendencies? And don’t realize how bad it affects their learning journey? Being so, we build our own barrier from learning fast, effectively ...
9 Must-see website for industrial designers
Nowadays, the world move fast, maybe too fast sometime. To keep updated a designer has to allocate some time at forecasting innovation and trends. I share with you some websites that I enjoy reading when I was student and still today. I share with you different type of content where some are more about
  • Technology forecasting
  • Material innovation
  • Design competition
  • Creative entrepreneurs…
...
Coroflot Online Portfolio for Industrial designers

Q: How to make an online portfolio?

Before starting,
I published an article for artists and designers
if you want to make your portfolio a Marketing Weapon.

Nowadays,
it’s super easy to publish a portfolio online.

There are several platforms that allow designers
from different fields to put online their work and resume as well.

It’s like a fusion of ...

Innovate your design research using your 5 senses
When we look for inspiration, we do our research from visual documents such as books, magazines, photography… How about sound, taste, smell… Should we also explore our other senses ? Definitely, yes. Nowadays an industrial designer doesn't look only at function and performance - but also emotion. Any rational decision we make is driven by emotion. We’ll address to people’s ...
Get Design inspired like a Chef !
Question from Ragavendran Architecture student from India. Q: Where, When, How do you get inspired for any designs? Sometime we wish we could simply switch on a button to make inspiration appear like a bright light from a light bulb. Don’t panic, lacking of inspiration is a good thing, and is daily part of the designer journey. It’s actually a ...
5 phases to present your project to your design company
Question from Nur Aktas Industrial design student, Turkey As a designer, how do you present your product to the company? As a designer when you present a project to your company (or a client), we don’t straight away present a final project. We set up few meetings in advance to build the project TOGETHER. Why ? ...
How to Draw a Shoe (Side View in 3 Tips)

Shoe drawing is difficult at the start for anyone.
To make it easy, we start by learning how to draw a shoe from the side view.

If you are wondering how to draw shoes,
you might face at least one of these issues:

Palette. A Sketchbook for shoe designer |TIP118
I am following a cool page about Footwear design on Instagram: @PaletteStudioCo Credit featured image on the home page from Rob Maston or @raw_mass @PaletteStudioCo on Instagram It showcased amazing works of pro, beginner or passionate of footwear design – drawing with the Sketchbook Palette. What is there so special in ?
Introduction-Design-Sketching-Class-Martijn1.jpg
Martijn Van de Wiel is an Industrial Design teacher at the Eindhoven University of Technology – I was pleased to be invited as a guest to converse with him and his sketching class. We did a Skype call in Singapore – Netherlands and had a great time sharing some points about Product Design and Photoshop. This course is ...
What Art material to Buy as a Student Designer

When we first join a design school, we receive an art material list.

After a visiting any art shop, you realize how the material is costly and that our budget may be quite limited as a student designer. We can't possibly buy everything from the list.

But we are so excited to start school in great conditions that we tend ...

Sketch more being more creative in the subway |TIP115
Time is precious and no one can stretch it. How about converting your transportation time to a productive session ? I remember after class, I was drawing in the subway going home. And my classmate asked me: - Hey you never stop drawing ? - Humm yeah I do… ?! That question surprised me because it occurred natural ...
How to draw a sphere - Product design

HOW TO DRAW A SPHERE NOTE: We saw previously how to draw a circle in perspective. (Which is represented by an ellipse drawing.) Sphere drawing Today's tutorial, we see how to draw a sphere in a simple way using the XYZ axis. Before starting, make sure you have been through the lesson about the ghost drawing and circles. You ...
7 reasons why designers use Photoshop
Thank you Chetan Yadav for sending me your question. I remember I actually asked my self the same question when I was student. Q: Do I need to be proficient in Photoshop to work in the industry ? In the Product or Transport design industry, it usually doesn’t matter which software you use as long as you can deliver your ...
Q/A How to become a footwear designer? | TIP111
Nymul has just sent me a question. I share here with you hoping to help more people. Send me your question in the comments or email at choutac@thedesignsketchbook.com. I will be glad to answer you and share the answer to all of you. Question from Nymul “Hi Chou-Tac, I am studying footwear engineering. I also want to be ...
How to keep Mr Procrastination away
To constantly improve at Design Sketching, we know that Practice is the key. But M. Procrastination like to call us one time in a while. It may be a sign that we need a break. It’s ok. No harm. Just don’t rest with him too long.* We all know how we feel comfortable watching movies on TV on the sofa ...
Cast Shadow | Parallel source of light from the Sun

To make your sketch pop out from the background, it's essential to add a Cast shadow.
The “cast shadow” projects the shadow of an object on a surface (basically the ground surface).

I basically use 2 methods at drawing the cast shadow:

10 steps to Be irresistible at your Design interview
Anything can happen! The interview itself could be short, or could stretch on for upwards of three hours. It could involve an office and call for professional formal attire, or it could take place casually on a café terrace. You could be invited to take a plane to another country for a day for just a 30 minute interview (I ...
[the Designer Starter Kit] Design Sketching Book in Spanish!
A good number of you guys come from countries speaking Spanish, such as Colombia, brazil, Spain…  and some asked me if I would consider a translation of [the Designer Starter Kit]. So I decided to translate the Design sketching book in Spanish! Resúmen
  • Guía1 Prepárate con 5 consejos
  • Guía2 Dominando el bolígrafo
  • Guía3 Tener un sentido de la ...
Boost your ideas (drawing Sony earphone with the Doodle-Storm technique!)
We all know about Brainstorming. I was thinking about using this creative drawing session with the “Doodle-Storm” technique. Try, and send me yours by email at choutac@thedesignsketchbook.com! It’s a real pleasure to get absorbed by the “Doodle-Storm” session – Drawing some free form of an Earphone. I didn’t give myself a time limit (I had the whole night in front ...
How to draw arrows in perspective | Part2
Today, a tutorial on How to draw arrows using 1 and 2-point perspective. With practice, you will be able to take some shortcuts and draw arrows without tracing the whole set of: Horizon line, vanishing points and converging lines. Take this video as a basic exercise that will train you to draw in 3D space. Let me know your comments, ...
How to draw with Converging lines?

When you are a beginner and start sketching an object, you feel lost with Perspective.
There is a high chance your converging lines get clumsy.

To plan them well, you have to take care of multiple parameters at the same time:

  • Horizon line
  • Vanishing points
  • Converging lines.
  • And of course, the design of your product!

Don't worry, when you learn it step-by-step, all ...

How to draw arrows in perspective |Part 1
In product Design we like to use arrows to express a movement, a path, an acceleration. It’s not only made to designate certain elements of a product. Today, I will show you how to decompose an arrow in simple shapes, and making sure to draw it with a good proportion and symmetry. The trick is super simple. But you need ...
Sketch faster and better with he Contour lines |TIP 103
In design sketching, it’s essential to know how to represent ideas fast, especially during the preliminary phase of research of a project. We are not yet looking for “sexy drawings”. We want to allocate more time at thinking, and multiply the number of sketches. Less time we spend for one sketch, more sketches we’ll be able to produce. So instead ...
How to hold your pen when you draw
We was drawing at Garden by the Bay, in Singapore. I took a picture of my friend drawing. It was the first I saw someone holding the pen that way (picture below). So I tried. My movement became clearly limited. Maybe I was just not used to it ?! I ask her to hold the pen how I usually recommend ...
Learn better by better enjoying the present
A TIP I recommend especially for beginners who have difficulties to start - who try to draw, but can’t find any satisfaction at the moment. Instead of focusing on getting "ambitious" result, and get frustrated, I recommend to focus on getting pleasure at drawing. That’s how you will gain motivation and progress making your first baby steps. You may fall ...
Choutac x Adrien Wira Concept art of a spaceship
My friend Adrien Wira and I tried something new, a Collaboration. It’s something I never though about till Adrien suggested the idea. We know each other for a while. We was classmate at Creapole-ESDI, in Paris studying Product design. Adrien is a talented Footwear designer at Adidas, in Germany. We used to work in the same building of Adidas Performance ...
How to activate Photoshop brush pressure: Opacity and Size variation
Today a Video tutorial of Photoshop interface and brush (Opacity and Size pen pressure). After this tutorial you will know how to make your first sketch on Photoshop with your graphic tablet. 00:10 Create a new document 01:10 Interface presentation: Tool bar, tool preset, Canvas, Windows 01:30 Toolbar 01:50 Tool preset 02:09 Window for designers: Painting configuration 03:02 Navigator: zoom ...
6 Tips to level up your drawing quality of lines!

Maxpower20 asked me if I would have any advice on
"How to improve my drawing quality of lines?"

I think it could be helpful to share my answer with all of you.

Nike Sneaker sketch

I did this NIKE sneaker sketch in Photoshop with the Wacom Cintiq 22HD.
What makes a drawing interesting is not only the design but ...

Warm up drawing with a loose hand
When you start a drawing session, you may wonder why your first sketches are clumsy. Your hand muscles are not yet that agile. It’s good to start with a bit of warm up. For that, draw anything with a loose hand. Warm Up drawing with a loose hand - Wacom Cintiq 22HD with Sketchbook Pro 00:01 Start drawing with simple ...
How to draw c-curves in 5 steps

Hi Sketchers!

Today, we're diving into the world of C-curves - a fundamental technique that will revolutionize your drawing skills. Get a pen and let's create smooth, flowing curves that bring your designs to life!

Let's get started with this simple yet powerful technique that I use in 99% of my sketches!

How to Draw C-Curves in 5 Steps ...
Symmetrical sketch drawing the middle line

For a "symmetrical sketch": The middle line is essential to any designer.

Mother nature made most of the things on earth and outer space symmetrical.
Humans naturally create objects mostly symmetrical as well.

You may want to draw a spaceship, a razor, a lamp, a car, a fashion model…anything symmetrical, use the Middle line. It’s mostly applicable for the front ...

18 meters of sketches in 7 Days >> Roll of Paper Challenge
7-days Roll of paper challenge I started without knowing the lenght of the roll. But I needed to set up a time limit to the challenge. I took 7 days, fair enough. The challenge is not about making each sketch a piece of art, but a design journey to study and explore “new sketching territories”. What really matter here are: ...
How to draw in volume, 2 essential principles for beginners

Hi guys, today I recorded the first video of sketching tutorial !

To be honest that was not easy for me, as I am not used to speak alone in front of a camera. I plan to do more videos, so more I do more I should improve my video skills. Anyway, here we go !

How to draw ...
Roll of paper challenge - Day 2 - How to regain motivation at drawing ?
Second day of the Roll of paper challenge. My mood is not there. I sit and carry on drawing on the roll of paper. About 1.50meter later, I am not much happy with the results. I feel inefficient. I realised that I am not focused, and my imagination is dry. I don’t want to give up, so I take ...
Roll of paper challenge: 7 days to fill the roll of sketches | Concept art
To improve we need to regularly get out of our comfort zone. It’s something that we don’t do naturally. Relax, in sketching we can only improve. Even a little, it’s still a step forward. So keep in my mind your goal, and keep going. A friend of mine, passionate of concept art recommended me to look at John park’s techniques, ...
The Wacom tablet I get cheaper than a Cintiq
For a student, buying the Wacom Cintiq is most of the time a dream. It was so expensive. Let me tell you more about the alternative Wacom product I used to have. However, note that it seems to be tricky to find a retailer if you don’t live in Japan. The Wacom tablet I get cheaper than a Cintiq Below, ...
16 TIPS - How to Draw a Shoe | ADIDAS Sneaker Design

We draw together an Adidas sneaker design taking inspiration
from my working experience when I used to work there as a footwear designer.

I have prepared 16 TIPS on How to draw a sneaker for you.

16 Design tips How to draw an Adidas shoe with a marker

Following the TIP 57  How to make your sketch stand out ...

Sketching Pen Collection

If you're a product designer,
you know how important sketching is for your creative process without rubber.

Sketching helps you:

  • visualize your ideas,
  • communicate them to others,
  • and refine them before moving on to prototyping.

In other words, the choice of your pen is about choosing your best partner.

Sketching is not just about the tools, it's ...

How to improve your Concept Art (by studying mechanical pieces)
How to improve my concept art?

My goal is to produce concept art engines that are more believable and realistic.
To achieve this, I decided to learn more about the different parts of machines and how they work together.

This way, I can use them as inspiration and reference for my own concept art designs.

Drawing the mechanical pieces ...
Get inspired from human or animals to draw concept art
A great trick to make concept art engine more fascinating, is to give them a “soul”. How ? By giving them hands, eyes, head, skeleton, anything related to human or animals, your engine won’t be just a robot anymore. You give “him” the ability to think, and being able of self decision of movement. Yesterday I did some mini ...
Use a pop of colour to direct your audience eyes
Concept art, product design, car design, fashion design… all use this trick. It's essential when you present your initial sketches to your colleagues, friends or eventually clients to promote your best ideas (Such preliminary research are seldom presented to the clients – except if a top selection is made.) To direct people’s eyes on certain elements of the board you ...
What is a "Happy accident"?
When I sit on my desk and I start sketching, my fingers are quite stiff. The first sketches are often clumsy and it can be frustrating. However, after a bit of warm up, the lines get better, I feel more confident and I start focusing better. First sketches of the night: I started my sketches with some kind of stiff ...
Sketch with reference pictures is not cheating (concept art)
To get results faster, use reference pictures as much as you want. Sometime, your pride may stop you, somehow telling you that you are “cheating”. It’s a mistake. Tell yourself that you sketch in order to produce image and ideas. Sketching is not about memory performance (at the end, nobody care much :/). The most important is about how you ...
Male or female design ?
A fun exercice in Product Design is to draw a men and women version of a design. It’s a good way to be introduced into how to create a design language. You can look at your phone, your computer, your fridge, a bottle of water… and so on, and try to give them a gender. Some may be androgynous. Feel ...
How to draw a sneaker
I made this video during the shoe design workshop I gave to my friends. You will see step by step how I draw a sneaker. You will also get an introduction to the basic vocabulary of shoe design. A- Start by drawing a last. When I first started to draw sneakers, I didn’t have any method. I tried to draw ...
Shoe design workshop - Perseverance pays off
I have friends who are big shoe lovers. They asked me to teach them how to draw shoes for lady and men. So we met at Starbuck for our own Design Sketching Workshop!  That was really fun, and super motivating ! Plus, we received some happy compliments from other clients. I am glad to teach my friends some Design sketching ...
How I draw better Product design - sketching dancers on Youtube
I like to do some “sketch hacking”. I take a technique somewhere to import and improve my Product Design sketching skills. It might be how designers create there own style anyway. But for me, I intend to provoke it, and make it continuously evolving. That’s something I hope you will enjoy doing as well. Quick sketching is fascinating for the ...
Draw with these 3 sketching line | Straight line, C- and S-Curve
A complex object is the result of many simple things assembled together. With a minimum of gesture, you will be able to draw an infinity of things. I was preparing the sketching video tutorial content at Starbucks. But then, why not sharing with you a bit of it. To explain better my method, I actually decompose my own work in ...
Ask yourself: “What if” to explore new ideas |TIP78
There is a good trick to find new ideas that artist and designers use in concept art, sci-fi movies, but also in product design. Ask yourself: ”What if”… It’s about making unexpected association where we can challenge the impossible and one self's imagination.
Paint with a Gel pen and water
I accidentally spoiled one of my sketch with water. But it was actually a happy discovery ! Let’s make it our TIP of the Day ! I was drinking a  bottle of water I just took out from the fridge. Because of the water condensation, some drop of water dropped on some of my sketches. One sip of water and ...
Feed your memory of forms
I have spent 2 days at Johor Bahru in Malaysia. One of the main street was under renovation using huge machines that I have never seen before. I came closer and I met Amp, the “pilot” of this engine. He kindly allowed me to take some pictures. So I took a lot of them ! Amp was super nice, showing ...
Watercolour Brush and Sketchbook
A few weeks ago, I discovered the Urban sketchers work. I decided to do my own sketch walk at Malacca for 2 days! That’s how I came back home with more than 20 pages of sketches.  I am a total beginner in watercolor. A few months ago, I talked to a popular group of artists, “the Rainbow Pig” in ...
14 Design job interview Hacks to succeed with confidence
Take the term hacking as a positive idea. You want to promote yourself, not “selling yourself”. Once again, be yourself. I will share with you some tips on how to be confident and how to better promote yourself at the interview day. I actually learned most of them when I studied business and marketing (before I joined a design school).
...
9 Tips to Achieve Your Design Dream Interview
In the previous article, I talked about turning your portfolio into your best marketing weapon. I also brought up the idea that a portfolio is made firstly to be your business partner, and only secondly to be aesthetically pleasing. Though your portfolio also shows off your personality, its main objective is to get an interview and get you hired. Most ...
In the subway, don't look at your phone. Sketch! (Urban Sketching)
People who are used to take the subway may spend 20, 30, 40 minutes inside per day. How many of us spend most of our time looking at the screen of the phone checking Facebook or playing Candy Crush. Today tip is about taking benefit of this time at having fun by practicing. The subway gathers at each station, with ...
Keep in mind to draw an eye as a sphere
Tonight, I was back at Tokyu Hands to buy the PILOT Parallel. And I end bringing back home 2 extra pens for Chinese calligraphy. (Impulsive buying) The nibs are actually small brushes. These days I challenge my pen pressure with different “tools”. It's quite interesting as I improve my pen pressure sensitivity.
Draw anything in volume, even if you see ...
To draw a bottle, start with the symmetry axis
Let’s draw a modern teapot that actually looks like a bottle. From the side view, the body is symmetrical. The difficulty here is to draw the curves of the side symmetrical. To do that. I recommend starting by drawing the symmetry axis first. This exercise could be a bit clumsy at the start. If you are right-handed, the left ...
Sketching is not a hobby, it’s a passion |TIP73
Today, I felt like a kid in a toy shop at Tokyu Hands. It’s a Japanese store that sell all kind of house ware, cosmetics, traveller, decoration, and hundreds of cool “useless stuff”. They have just opened, and I discovered a huge corner for pens and notebook (30% of the whole shop was shelves filled with thousands of pens !) ...
How to Draw Concept Art Thumbnails (and Skip Details)
How to Draw Concept Art Thumbnails (and Skip Details) I love Scott Robertson artworks. Today, I took a break in my work and to relax, I sketched some Concept art thumbnails. This thumbnail technique is incredible to generate ideas fast. It is part of the creative phase of every beginning of a design project. To succeed, remember to skip the ...
What is Ghost drawing?
The Ghost drawing is a simple and powerful technique that will help you make better sketches all along your Design journey. When you are a beginner, you feel intimidated. He may even be a bit scary to draw. (Perfectionist syndrome) Your lines are hesitant, clumsy, and lack of precision. You feel fear of not making progress. The ghost drawing ...
Draw with a fountain pen
Last week-end, my girl friend organized a vintage pop-up store from her online shop Aulapinnoir.com at Arterial Cafe in Singapore. The theme was “A French Affair”. You would find some vintage calligraphy supplies from her shop among letters handwritten from 1905, Peugeot Pepper grinder and other rare findings. Her friend who is fan of calligraphy was there to enjoy ...
How to Make Your Portfolio Stand Out as a Powerful Marketing Tool

Are you looking for a design job, but you have no portfolio yet?

You learned how to draw, how to create, you even got your own style!
It's now time to make a living from your acquired skills! 

You want to impact the world with your design creation. 
You want to join your dream design companies.

All you need is someone to ...

Discovering How to Draw Product Design Through Failing Better
Last night I was bothered, because I couldn’t draw. I felt that whatever stroke I put on the canvas, It was not correct. It often happens when I try new techniques. It is a feel of frustration that used to make me give up easily. After going through quite a good number of them, I learn that failing is just ...
Photoshop > Change colour in a second! |TIP68
This tutorial contains few tips. You will see how to change the colours at the step 9 of this tutorial. Today I still carry on the popular Japanese warriors: the Samurai mask. They was made to scare their opponents in the battle field. To express that, I used organic, bony and scary shapes to reinterpret the ancestral demons. 1- Get ...
How to paint with Photoshop in 3 steps |Pen Opacity Pressure
CHOUTAC CHUNG - Samurai Robot Last night, I was trying some brushes in Photoshop. I would like to show you how to paint with Photoshop in 3 steps using the Pen Opacity Pressure I tried a brush that reminds me of the quality line of one of my favorite pen, the Uni-Ball EYE, from Mitsubishi. The flow of ink ...
urban sketching watercolour

It was about 4 a.m.,
I couldn’t sleep and I bumped into Chanqueen watercolour arts on Instagram. 
I enjoyed looking at her sketches that brought some colourful lights into my head.

Her artworks show different scenes of Hong Kong.
I really like the way she mixes colours and subtly leaves blank areas.


Chanqueen

I am getting some interest in ...

urban sketching singapore
I would like to share with you about THE URBAN SKETCHERS. I heard about them for the first time during my last trip in Penang in Malaysia. Below an example of my urban sketch during my trip in Asia. I was sketching a temple alone at the terrace of a Art cafe of Penang. CHOU-TAC CHUNG - Yap Kongsi Temple ...
urban sketching 1 point perspective Taiwan
Today around the world sketch take place in Taipei, capital of Taiwan. An island located south of China and Japan. Walking in the streets, you could breath the mix of so many influences. What surprised me most was the atmosphere. It was quiet, peaceful yet fun and vibrant. This wall seeing Ultraman playing this Chinese instrument among the ancestors reflect ...
My Ikea workspace to draw with the Wacom Cintiq 22HD
Yeahh!! I am the happy owner of a Cintiq 22HD Touch for 10 days already. However, the Wacom Cintiq 22HD is really bulky, and I needed to upgrade my working workspace to draw or hours with a proper posture. I faced some problems that some of you may face too as a Cintiq owner. I show you how I fixed ...
How to draw pillars in perspective?
Let’s look at some inspiration pictures of Milan. I quite like the repetition of pillars along the shops. To sketch these one with accuracy, I will start by showing you a simple and very useful trick. I remember the day my teacher show me that trick I was amazed ! TIP 64 A must have geometry rule to duplicate pillars ...
Drawing buildings with 2 point perspective - at Ginza, Japan
Last month I was in Penang, Malaysia. I took my sketchbook and sketched outside what I saw. This week I decide to try reaching the next level. Instead of reproducing the reality, I want to be able to create my own environment. I start to gather some inspiration digging pictures from my different trips. Above, some pictures from Tokyo, Japan ...
Drawing a dragon face

Today we draw a dragon head with an "organic style" using the Symmetry tool.
I was randomly doodling and got slowly absorbed into it.
You will see, the drawing technique is simple and pretty addictive.

You can use Sketchbook pro, Photoshop, Procreate, any drawing app of your choice.
You just need to activate the Vertical symmetry tool.

How to draw ...
TIP 61 | Sketch With Fluid Lines

Drawing with fluid lines will give life to your sketches. Sketching with fluid lines is an expression I especially like. I like to experiment it in different field such as drawing people, products, concept art and so on. I don’t give much boundaries to myself. There is so much to explore.
Sketching while watching Music clip. Speed x15 ...
TIP 60 | Photoshop | Start sketching with a big canvas


These days I am looking at some pictures of Evangelion.
I love this mix of organic and machines.
So I started to draw a shoe inspired by them - but trying to keep it simple.

TIP 60 Photoshop > Start working with a huge canvas

In Photoshop (or any graphic software), it’s ideal to work with a canvas much ...

My first day and impressions of my Wacom Cintiq 22 HD Touch
This article is not a Wacom Cintiq 22 HD review trying to give a mark to the product. It’s just a share of my first impression and real experience with the digital tablet. You will see the plus and minus I met as a new Cintiq user who wondered for pretty long if I should buy a Wacom Cintiq. Cintiq ...
TIP 59 | Just started with a digital tablet? Don't panic
I have just acquired a new Wacom Cintiq 22 HD tablet. I though I would get used to it quickly, I was wrong. It took me few hours to get some results. I remember my first tablet. It was a Wacom Graphire 2. It has the colourful Macintosh look. It’s a classic tablet that you draw with your pen on ...
TIP 58 | Start a sketch with general shapes, then refine
Today a quick tutorial on how to make a head. TIP 58 Start a sketch with general shapes, then refine.
Start by a circle and a symmetry axis to roughly visualise the head.
Draw roughly the chin to give a general preview.
Place the different elements of the face without detailing much. Some of you told me it was difficult ...
TIP 57 | How to make your sneaker sketch stand out with a simple shadow
TIP 57 Make your object levitate adding a distant shadow on the ground A 6 minutes video to see my sneaker drawing process. I love making my objects levitating. It adds some lightness to them. Somehow you may feel that you could grab it in your hand.

Enjoy the real sound of my friends DJ from Saigon: The Cheezy ...
Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. - Steve Jobs
Following the article about the Book written by Chris Lefteri, Manufacturing techniques for Product Design, I would like to precise an essential notion that any aspiring designer needs to know.To me, a great designer loves people. This is where he takes his inspiration from.” This is how Jonathan Ive* bring for the first time colourful computers - bringing over ...
'Making it' Book: Manufacturing Techniques for Product Design

Let me share with you guys a book I bought a couple of years ago.
It’s about Manufacturing for product designers.

MAKING IT, from Chris Lefteri.

Chris Lefteri made this book to be approachable for students who want to get a solid base without going too deep. I actually read this because I felt it was fun! It ...

TIP 56 | Sketching Big - The Secret for Improved Performance
The bigger is our drawings, the bigger our mistakes appear! I know how we feel at the start. We are not used to drawing big, and we are not confident at doing it. So we get naturally scared. We feel that a small sketch got a better chance to looks good. But if you want to improve, you will need ...
How I Draw an Adidas Wedge in Under 3 Minutes


Remember to set up in HD !

An extra video of an Adidas sketch I did at Georges White Coffee at Penang Island in Malaysia.

If you have already read [the Designer Starter Kit], you may notice how often I turn the paper. It almost occurs at every single stroke. “Remember to turn your paper, don’t draw like ...
TIP 55 | Urban Sketching – Find Your Perfect Spot & Make It Count
It was 2pm. I was looking for a nice spot to sketch. So I decided to go to the Jetty for the awesome view of the sea. However I underestimated the sun of Penang. I was walking toward the famous jetty under 30°C. The sun was above my head and there was no place to hide. I continued my way ...
TIP 54 | How to Manage your Motivation and Avoid Costly Mistakes
Do you know that drawing is also about motivation management? I recommend to do not go into details too early. It is tempting but you need to resist. Work first on the main settings and make sure they are good enough to carry on. I rather do a major mistake of proportion at early stage, then redo. Than spending a ...
TIP 53 | Start Sketching Now and Keep the Memories Alive!
I was sketching some buildings of Penang, A family stopped by and congratulate me on that drawing. It is always touching. Then a local men whose name is Joo, sat beside me. He asked me for how many years do I draw such illustrations. I told him that I actually seldom do that. These last few years, I am into ...
draw people on notebook
HAPPY DIPAVALI ! Today is the day of light in India. I am now in Penang, Malaysia where the Indian community is quite huge here. Despite of the rain we expect great festivities and an awesome fireworks side the sea tonight. 🙂 TIP#52 LOOK AT PEOPLE YOU DRAW. DON’T BE SHY. It is something that I am still working on ...
Watch a Two Minute Sketching Video of Y-3 Adidas Sneakers
I was chilling at Georges Town White Coffee. A beautiful Coffee built in a 100 years old house at Penang, Malaysia. That city is one of the Unesco World heritage site. I hoped that place would have good vibes for inspiration. These are my first video I publish of my live sketching. It’s a good way I think to show ...
TIP 51 | How To Draw Anything For $1 and Never Get Bored
I started to take a bad habit. Looking ay my phone or Ipad when I get bored. And it happens multiple times in a day. Besides that, I am also part of people who think that kids today shouldn’t play at Angry bird, but instead playing marbles or hide and seek. I have the nostalgia of the period where we ...
TIP 50 | Train Your 3D Vision: How to See Anything in Transparency
This is an essential skill that a designer need to train. If you want to be able to draw things fast and create from your own imagination, think in 3D. Decompose what you see in basic shapes and volumes such as circle, ellipse, sphere, cube, cylinder, cone. Assemble them, then go into the details. TIP 50 Train your 3D vision ...
TIP 49 | Why Sketch Thumbnails (Instead of a Finished Piece of Art)

When you start drawing, your are often more focused on making a beautiful picture than getting a great idea. There is nothing much wrong about it as an artist.

But let’s look at a Designer’s daily life.

A designer has to allocate most of his time into idea exploration. A client is not looking for a beautiful ...

TIP 48 | How to Use Live Postures to Enhance Your Product Design Sketching

During my first year of Product Design school,
we had a quite particular class: Live Nude model sketch.

I was browsing Instagram pictures. And I noticed the pictures of Suicide girls MX*. Girls from Mexico loving tatoos and who are just beautiful with a Polaroid feel. That's how I started my sketches of the day.

* The content is sensual and ...

TIP 47 | Unlock Creative Potential With Random Doodle Drawing

Before going to sleep, I doodled a bit without much thinking. I guess I was starting dreaming.

TIP 47 Doodle randomly to explore new shapes


Little by little, some shapes appeared quite interesting to me. I developed it and end with a bird creature.

It is It is really interesting to work with randomness. You create some abstract shapes which ...

TIP 46 | Incorporating Catwalk Designs into Your Next Shoe Collection
I am following the sneaker magazine ConceptKicks since I am student. A bit of story: This site showcases some student and professional designer artwork in the sneaker industry. It inspired me a lot, and kept me motivated when I was student. I dreamt to be as good as these people who are featured inside. Today, I feel honoured  to be ...
TIP 45 | Train Yourself Drawing Things You Love - Learn With The Minions!
TIP #45 Have FUN when you draw !!


CHOUTAC CHUNG – THE MINION INVADERS

All started with some random circles. I was wondering what to draw, and suddenly, some Minions head pop up from these circles in my mind ! That was irresistible. So I sketched them !! I actually get inspired from an exercise you can find in ...

TIP 44 | How to Turn Quick Ideas Into Powerful Creations with Deep Research
TIP #44 When aN idea pop up, Don’t wait for getting the whole picture. make SOME rough sketch, and carry on from there.


Chou-Tac Chung - Strong bagpack, 2014


Chou-Tac ChungSoft bagpack, 2014

In other words, don’t use your brain to store your ideas. Free your mind by taking them down on paper. You will be much more ...

TIP 43 | No More Erasing – Learn Product Design Sketching Faster!
Learning how to draw seams to be already quite tough. Then we should learn without erasing and correcting ? Why ?
As a beginner, you start learning with basic shapes. And these shapes such as a simple straight line and a circle are the best way to train your sketching ability. It calibrates your brain with your pen. CHOUTAC CHUNG ...
TIP 42 | How to Get Inspired to Draw: Concept Art Tips
How to Get Inspired to Draw: Concept Art Tips

Today I show you great Concept Art tips to progress faster at sketching!

It is always a magic moment to get inspired
from someone's drawing to create something new!

Thank you Adrien Wira (my friend from Design School)
for telling me about the concept artist: Darren Quach.

You can find more about Darren's ...

How to Evaluate the Quality of a Design School


LASALLE – SINGAPORE

First off, I’d recommend that you visit multiple schools and make sure you learn their general philosophy and approach to design. If their philosophy doesn’t jive with yours, cross the school off your list. Visit the next one. Try to avoid naïveté: double check your information about a school with multiple students attending there.

About Internet research, ...

TIP 41 | Creating Beautiful Color Palettes: How Designers Do It Easily
Spot existing color palettes around you

To choose a color combination seems not that easy. However, here is a simple trick that the fashion industry commonly uses without using Colour palette generators.

You can apply it to choose the marker colors combination for your sketches.

It just needs a bit of daily observation effort.

Look in the street, media, magazines ...

Drawing with Analogue marker colors

TIP #40 Test your marker combination - Side by side and superposed. If it looks nice, go ahead !

Chou-Tac ChungColor combination test

What’s your favourite combination of colors ?
Share with us !

...
TIP 39 | The Elbow Trick: How to Make a Perfect Circle

I realized that Basic essentials is what people need the most. How about I publish more articles and TIPS for beginners ?

TIP#39 to make a perfect round circle, do not rest your elbow on the table

SPHERE TRIMMING

Today, we’ll just talk about circle. Ellipses will be the topic of an other tutorial. One step at a ...

Design School Application Tips: What You Need in Your Portfolio
How to Start a Portfolio Most schools will ask you for a portfolio in order to see some of your previous work. But not everyone has a chance to be well informed about the intricacies design school applications, and maybe you don’t even know what a portfolio is. A portfolio is a folder where you gather the work you want ...
What Quality Design Schools Look for: 3 Must-Have Skills
Disclaimer: Some private schools may try to impress you with the latest technologies and software while the school may be an empty shell of design knowledge.

If you hesitate to join a design school like I did, and you do not dare to apply thinking you are too weak, let me help you.

You don't have to be great in ...

TIP 37-38 | How to Draw a Creature With a Light Marker

Villy da’Locca saw the TIP OF THE DAY on the blog Facebook Page, and he decided to apply that TIP, NOW. That’s the best way to learn efficiently how to draw. You memorise and make useful the knowledge you’ve just learned. Otherwise, the human brain might unfortunately soon forget.


>> Villy, you rock ! 😉

TIP#37 Use a light ...
Which is the Best Drawing Software for Beginner Designers Now?

There is plenty of drawings software and apps I like. But the one I use for years is Sketchbook Pro.
In term of drawing, that software is a lot better than Photoshop.
I enjoyed the dynamics and natural lines that Sketchbook Pro provide. It's a very light software, so it doesn't lagg.
You can easily find it any platform – ...

Fashion cow boy drawing

I don’t have internet yet in my new apartment. So I went to a Hong Kong style cafe nearby where they offer free wi-fi until 2 am. The cafe had some magazines. I took one and get some inspiration in the fashion photoshoot pages. My favorites! I took my sketchbook, and I started to draw.

Chou-Tac Chung- ...

Debunking The '10,000 Hours of Practice' Rule

Thank you Renata for your comment at theDesignSketchbook Facebook page.
It helped me to clarify even more my point of view.

In the article about “I have been really bad at drawing since my childhood. How do I get started?” I said that “Practice Practice Practice” is overrated. My friend artist, Renata* kindly reminded me the existence ...

How to Overcome the 'I'm Not Good Enough' Mindset and Start Drawing Again
"Practice practice practice drawing" is overrated.

It's truly important,
but that's Not the only rule to success.

Before that, you need Motivation and method, or you might end to Practice, practice, practice for a month without progressing fast.

  • Practice as often as you can, but remember that you will need help to acquire skills.
  • No one has the innate talent ...
TIP 34 | Draw Anything From Any Angle (3D Vision)

I found some drawing in my luggage from when I was watching RIO2 in the plane.
I was looking for paper, so I started to draw on the first paper available, the Air Sickness Bag.

I personally like animation.
I believe that it helps me to give motion to my drawing lines, but also having a better understanding of 3D ...

TIP 33 | How to Overcome Your Fear of Failure

Have you ever felt awkward to draw something when people are looking above your shoulder?

It happens that a sketcher suddenly can’t draw anything. Trying to sketch new things, he’s paralyzed and draws nothing; thinking that his sketch may be judged by people.

TIP#33 No Failure, No Progress

Similar to "No Pain, No Gain",
When you meet a difficulty, face it ...

Taschen design books - Chairs and Design

Let me recommend some art books that I personally enjoy: the products of the publishing company Taschen.

Taschen publishing started in the eighties as the brainchild of an 18-year-old comic shop owner, Benedikt Taschen.

Since then, Taschen has become a staple of art books. Its publications cover painting, sculpture, photography, and fashion alongside, of course, product design. Taschen’s publications are ...

colour leads for mechanical pencils

Today, we talk about art material to add in your drawing tools as an artist or designer.
After sketching The Grand Budapest Hotel in the plane with a Twin Marker,
I wanted to practice an other great tool: The mechanical pencil with color lead.
With that, you will draw better croquis!

Mechanical Pencil 0.7mm Greater croquis with a color lead

Color ...

TIP 30-31 |Exploring the Benefits of Creative Thinking Like Google for Designers

I was taking the plane to Singapore for a 13-hour journey.

Usually, I only take long distance flight at night. You can just fall asleep and wake up “fresh” ready to start a new day. But, that time round, the departure time was at noon.

Fully awake, guess what I did to get busy ? Sketching.

I remembered an ...

TIP 29 | Practice Drawing Till the Basics Become Instinct

 I dig in an old toolbox at my parents’ place. I found this door hinge.
I took one of the most “intricate objects” from the box. I actually liked it for its mechanism.

So, I decided that it will be my sketching challenge of the day!

TIP 29 basics will become instinct

Train yourself at drawing things in different angles ...

TIP 28 | Doodle Easy with Bender (Futurama)

Today is the third day I play with Bender, from Futurama with the K.S. Challenge.
I was bored in the train, so I was doodling Angry Bender again.

TIP 28 Doodle EASY

Doodle with a loose hand, and the wrist being NOT in contact with the table/tablet.
You might not be accurate, especially at start. However, it can ...

TIP 27 | Draw a Creative Background For Your Character

Street Fighter II x Futurama
I grew up playing Street Fighter.
It was one of my favorite inspiration for my tone of drawings as a teenager.

Still having Angry Bender in my mind
How about mixing both inspirations?

Capcom - Super Street Fighter II

A friend told me that fan art artist usually spend time on learning how to draw their favorite ...

TIP 26 | Get a Doodle Sketchbook to Draw Fearless!

Just did a sketch from memory of Bender.
Bender is the robot of the animation Futurama, from Matt Groening (Creator of the Simpsons). He’s popular for his angry mood.

Forgetting his antenna on his head, I feel he looks like a gangster.

TIP 26 Get a Doodle sketchbook

Use a cheap recycle paper to draw in whatever ...

Tip 24-25 | How to Doodle Note Easily (Unlock your Creativity)

It takes about 4 hours to go to Annecy from Paris by TGV (300km/hour High-speed train).
The landscape displayed fast behind the windows.
It’s beautiful, but it’s actually quite redundant.
Getting bored, I took out my sketchbook and doodled a bit. looking for some creative ideas.

TIP 24 Never get bored. Doodle anything, anytime, anywhere

Taking a train, waiting for ...

TIP 23 | Designers Need To Warm Up Before Drawing

There are some days that we feel we can’t draw.
You may still try, but your sketches are still not as good as usual.

It may be too early morning, too late, too whatever, you won’t be able to know why. A
nd you will give up. Some for a day, some for a week, other for month or forever ...

people sketch in paris

I don’t remember when was the last time I draw some buildings in Paris. I went to the 1st floor of a Starbucks, and sat in one of their comfy chair. Then I draw what I saw from the window.

TIP 22 Bring life to your drawing

Add some people in action in your drawings.
They could discuss, smoke, looking ...

TIP 21 | Don't Rely on Specs Buying a Drawing Digital Tablet

When I saw the Samsung Note Pro 12.2, I couldn’t resist drawing something on it. (See at the bottom of this page)
The tablet carries a customized version of Sketchbook pro.

TIP 21 | To get a digital tablet, do not believe the specs

My first tablet was a Graphire Wacom tablet.
The pen was 512 sensitivity pressure.
It was already ...

Scale of a human next to a giant creature

Chou-Tac ChungArachnid Creature

TIP 20 Draw a giant creature in a second

Insert a small human silhouette as a scaling measure. Few pen strokes will do.
The creature will appear giant like David and Goliath.

Osmar Schindler – David and Goliath

If you like this trick, let me know in the comment box below.
Feel ...

TIP 19 | Exploring Nature – A Secret Source of Inspiration for Your Artwork

I am fascinated by the tool “Vertical Symmetry” of Sketchbook Pro.
You draw a half, and the software trace the second half automatically in real-time. Wondering what to draw today, I had in mind the insect pinboard where butterflies and other beetles are perfectly displayed.

So, I decided to practice that tool today, with a spider.

Drawing insects ...

How to draw transparent objects in 3 steps

In a previous post, we saw how to draw a reflection on flat and transparent surfaces.
Now, we draw a transparent object: The cap of a Bic Cristal pen.
The degree of difficulty is a bit higher but still achievable by beginners.

Let’s study a transparent BIC ballpoint pen Cristal cap. How to draw transparent objects in 3 steps STEP 1| ...
TIP 17 | Don't Let Negativity Rule Your Life as a Designer: Here's How!
 TIP 17 Don’t be a fool. Be happy. Filter the information which tries to come into your brain. Decide what you want to see, hear, eat, feel.  Focus on your own priorities instead of the one people try to make you believe in. You could keep your natural happiness – and get inspired by what really matters to you. Ultimately, ...
TIP 16 | Sketching with the Samsung Note Pro 12.2 | Review
Chilin at the airport, I made a stop at the IT store. I saw the latest Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 inch digital tablet - with a sensitive pen pressure feature. It really looks promising.  Let’s have a closer look. Two birds one stone Why not sketching the 11th sketch at the IT shop testing that new tablet. Many ...
TIP 15 | The Basics of Capturing the Moment: Draw People in Real-Time

Last night I took the plane from Saigon to Singapore. Landing around midnight, I stayed overnight at the airport chilling around. 19 hours of transit was in front of me. (4 hours more to go.)

So I stopped at Mc Donald, took my portable digital tablet, on my favorite software Sketchbook Pro and slowly started the 10th sketch of the ...

TIP 12 | Draw Inspiration From Your Surroundings

Does it happened to you often to lack of inspiration?
When you feel like sketching, but you don't know what to draw?

Instead of looking at the blank ceiling,
try to look around you.

I noticed out of the window, the overhead electricity wires and high voltage power lines from the street.
They looked organized yet chaotic.

I felt it like ...

How to draw light reflection

Theories that explain "light reflection on glass surface" are complex and can take a lot of time to fully explain. But it can also be explained in 4 steps only!

For now, we’ll approach things simply, using a light reflection method that takes advantage of shortcuts.

How to draw light reflection in 4 steps

The first shortcut is to treat ...

How to Draw a Simple Shoes Easily for Beginners

To draw shoes easily requires some skill and a few tricks only experienced artists know.
Check out my sketching tutorials to get the basics of shoe drawing and create stunning pieces of art!

The Secret to Draw Shoes Easily (FREE BOOK)

Have you ever wanted to learn how to draw a shoe, but didn't know where to begin?
It might ...

TIP 10 | Bring Your Ideas to Life - Doodle Your Ideas on Post-it Anywhere

Yesterday I went to the hospital for a body check-up in Saigon. I checked my hung, liver, stomach, blood, cholesterol, diabetes, and so on... In the end, the doctor said I am 100% healthy. : )

Once in awhile, do a complete health check-up!

The Saigon hospital is crowded and gave me a feeling of a Supermarket where people came ...
TIP 8 | How to Draw with a More Sensitive Pen with Sketchbook Pro? (For heavy-wrist sketchers)
The earphone is a great subject for sketching various forms. They could be organic or minimalist.

Today is just a quick sketch of an earphone that got a flat wire on my Wacom Cintiq 13HD. The plus of its flat wire is that you could easily customize or replace the wire color. Simple. Did you notice that most faulty earphones ...

TIP 6-7 | Sketch on a Digital Tablet with Keyboard Shortcut
Being not satisfied with the previous “Sketch 5 | Concept diving mask”, I decided to sketch a new version of it. Sketching on a graphic tablet is not only about learning how to use the digital pen, but also the keyboard shortcuts. Your right hand is drawing with the pen, while your left hand is on position ready to use ...
TIP 5 | Set Up a High-Resolution File With Sketchbook Pro
Even if I have spent quite some time on that sketch, I am not really fan of it.
I was trying too hard hiding my mistakes by overloading it of details. I guess I blind myself and didn’t realize early enough that the sketch base was not right. It naturally gives a clumsy result.
  1. The glass area ...
TIP 4 | How To Assemble a Women Body Armour
TIP 4 Assemble a body armour An armour can cover and hide a high percentage of the body. Visualize well the body below, it will help you to assemble that armour. You can leave a comment in the box below.
...
TIP 3 | Dry Your Marker to Get this Special Effect
Today I've just get a set of 30 twin markers. The brand is TOUCHLIIT.
My friend gave me a warm recommendation of them. Let's try them! The sketches are done with the thick tip only.
Unfortunately I didn't get the "Layout paper" for markers. Be aware that by using normal paper, more ink will be absorbed and kind of ...
Napkin ketch of a tea cup

I love napkin sketches.
You can catch unexpected scenes when you are ready to draw on any support!

At Cuc Gach Quan, Saigon -
I discovered a mix of modern and antique restaurants.

The walls and props decoration has been preserved for decades:
Bowls, spoons, and wood chopsticks are so authentic.
You could see some cracks on the bowl edge, which is ...

Line of action drawing
Last night I received a call. My friend told me that I should draw something that I am not used to. That it would be a great start for the “365 keep sketching challenge”. That night he was playing football. He asked me to join them to sketch them playing. I told him that I tried such thing in a ...
LEARN 1 TIP A DAY WITH THE 365 KEEP SKETCHING CHALLENGE !
Being a designer means spending your entire life learning from the things around you. Observe, analyze, and imagine as often as you can in order to better understand your environment. And above all, put your ideas down as sketches. Whether in snow, wind, or the middle of a storm, I draw anywhere: at my home, in a park, on a ...
Using a Killer Perspective: Learning from the Masters
A thorough understanding of perspective is indispensable for a solid foundation in drawing. Remember: Perspective is a highly effective tool for visual communication Perspective establishes a 3D image, representing volume in space by simulating the way a human eye sees. As with a camera, perspective can be manipulated or skewed to distort reality. This is a trick that photographers and ...
How to Convince Your Audience With the Power of Line Weight in Sketches
A designer needs to be good at visual communication. In order to defend his ideas and convince his audience.  Best presentation boards are the one which doesn’t need the presence of anyone to give an explanation. We want to be efficient, attracting, and giving a path to people’s eyes on your presentation boards.* *It’s similar to how a graphic designer ...
Learn how to draw smarter with Michelangelo!
“A man paints with his brains, not with his hands.”, Michaelangelo It’s often said that the artist Michelangelo was a genius. If his art is so impressive, it’s because he had an artistic approach that was, above all, scientific and pragmatic. To better learn how to draw, let's see how was Michaelangelo creative process. Michelangelo was fascinated by the study ...
How to Draw Perfect 25cm Straight Lines Without a Ruler
Before beginning this tutorial, I suggest you to refer to “Be a pro at dot-to-dot mastering straight lines” HOW DO I DO 25 CM STRAIGHT LINES
  • Turn the paper 45 to 60 degrees. Adjust it to your convenience.
  • Before drawing the line, simulate the gesture just above the paper*.
  • Draw using the movement of your whole arm and chest.
  • Draw ...
  • How to draw good and quality hatching without ruler - ball point pen drawing - the design sketchbook - chung chou tac

    How to draw good hatching?
    Remember, draw your lines in a clean way.
    Begin cleanly, and end cleanly.
    Meaning, try to keep even pressure and speed from beginning to end.

    I show you a hatching drawing technique that is simple to apply.
    If you need it, you can train at drawing straight lines freehand first.
    Make sure you draw also with the proper drawing ...

    How to draw straight lines (without a ruler)
    How to draw straight-line without a ruler It may seem easy to some people, and downright difficult to others. Nevertheless, try not to ignore its importance, because the straight line will be one of the basic skills that you must absolutely master. After this tutorial, at very least you’ll be a pro at Dot-to-dot! Monkeying around – Dot-to-dot books Start ...
    Nike Tennis Fashion Design
    How to draw a girl wearing a Nike Tennis outfit in 4 steps Today is a quick tutorial of a Nike Tennis ware fashion illustration. I sketched and render in Photoshop and show you the process with the 4 main steps. All was done with a Wacom graphic digital tablet. From left to right:
    “Bad artists copy, good artists steal.”, Salvador Dali
    A few days ago I was invited to the manga convention Manga Festival, which was hosted in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.* * I’m living here for two months. The convention wasn’t huge, but it attracted lots of passionate people, including cosplayers of the same excellent caliber as you’d find at Comiket in Japan or JapanExpo in Paris. I visited ...
    DRAWING TIPS YOU SHOULD KNOW BALLPOINT PEN

    Welcome to the world of ballpoint pen artistry,
    where the humble pen becomes a powerful tool for creativity and expression!
    As a designer, I’ve found a deep appreciation for drawing with a ballpoint pen, and I’m not alone.

    Many artists turn to this versatile instrument for their daily sketches,
    embracing the immediacy and spontaneity it offers.

    Without an eraser, ...

    The Art of Drawing Clean, Professional Lines - Tips from a Designer

    The properties of lines are the keystone of a professional designer’s style. For example, you can find certain types of lines that are more likely to be associated with architecture, product design, or fashion.  This is, however, merely a generalization, because part the magic of art and design is the mixture of infinite and contrasting styles.

    We’re interested here in ...
    Are you drawing with a correct body posture ?

    Drawing Posture is essential.
    Just like playing sports or the piano,
    when you’re drawing you need to pay attention
    to the body position for drawing, especially the hands, elbows, and fingers.

    Most people don’t realize it,
    but good posture allows you to draw faster,
    draw more precisely, and for longer periods of time.

    You can always draw with bad posture, and ...