Digitally drawing an image using a photo reference.
Here’s a full start-to-finish timelapse of me digitally replicating an image of a striped shore crab. The process is very similar to traditional drawing with pencil or pen—the only major difference is the luxury of having an undo button. Back when I worked strictly on paper, I’d erase mistakes or, if I was using ink, find creative ways to cover them up.
When I’m working on something like this, my focus is on breaking the subject down into shapes. I concentrate on outlining each form as accurately as possible, comparing it to the reference image. That often means isolating specific areas and refining them individually until they match the original crab photo.
Once the full outline is complete, I evaluate how close it is to the source. If everything checks out, I trace over the base with a clean, solid black outline that becomes the final structure of the image. From there, I color it in—pulling the exact hues directly from the original photo to match the crab’s tones.
This particular piece actually started as a logo redesign, but later I expanded it into a full-body illustration, which you’ll see unfold in the timelapse.
