STAEDTLER: Artist of the month

So I was recently hand-selected to be the Staedtler artist of the month. Yay!
And they sent me a big exciting pack of Staedtler pens and pencils. Fuck yeah. 
I was asked if I could put pen to paper on some drip-infested pen-loving artwork for them.
I've always loved the Staedtler range ... especially the heavy-duty fine liners they produce.

My process for this was simple.

• I started by sketching onto a thick slice of A3 paper, with an HB pencil.

• As I find shapes I like, I thicken them up with the 2B and 4B pencil.

• I then erase most of my line-work ... leaving just a vague-suggestion of form.

• Then, with the fattest of black markers, I trace up my main outline of the character.

• At this stage, I scan the artwork at a high-resolution. So I can come back to it later.
  Because I like to be able to later use the simple and fat outlines later.

• Then I'll shade the artwork with pencils. The darker the better... gimme that 8B.

• Once that's done, I erase anywhere that I want highlights to shine through.
  And again, at this stage I scan my progress so I can use it later if needed.

• Then I go mental. Dark shading, textures and marks all over everything.
  And again, I scan it so I can use these textures subtlely at a later / digital stage.

And so here it is, my finished artwork for the fine men and women of Staedtler.
Visual proof that Staedtler makes wonderful, yummy and delicious pens and pencils.

And if you get a second, checkout my speed-drawing video below.