Creating a Digital File Cabinet

I had a good friend ask me today about the previous post and how I filed my photos and other references. I keep a file cabinet full of graphics, stories, ideas, clippings of my own and other related material. It is all very neatly organized into categories and I can usually find just what I am looking for. But it isn't in a file cabinet or in a bookshelf. It is in the computer on an external hard drive. Since the question was asked I decided to reprint an article I wrote for the New England SCBWI newsletter.

Maybe your system is similar or maybe this will help someone today or tomorrow.

Let’s face it. As an illustrator you create a lot of sketches. And if you don’t have an orderly system for filing and finding the perfect sketch for that current project you just might go on a never-ending search looking for that image you created ten days or two weeks ago. Gosh where did I put it? Which book is it in? Words to the wise: What’s in the sketchbook stays in the sketchbook. But are we worried?

Not at all…. Here’s the great news!

Creating a Digital Sketchbook/ FILE Cabinet

Most illustrators today have a computer. If they blog, send files to publishers, have an email account, or just want to check the internet news there is often a computer at their disposal. Great news!

Your friendly computer can become an illustration file cabinet. Before we had this tool many of us kept pages and pages of magazine clippings as references. Neatly filed of course. Yet our sketchbooks numbered in the dozens. Finding any particular sketch was a challenge unless they had been filed in the same way as the magazine clippings. More often they would have been stacked or stored in some other way.



Here is a simple solution. If you have a computer and a scanner you can create a marvelous digital file cabinet that is easily at your fingertips when you need that elusive sketch of the boy on a bike with a dog in the basket and a bird on the wing.

You need some basic tools. Your computer, a scanner (or a digital camera) and, if you are able, an external hard drive.

Easy, easy, easy. Scan the image. Or photograph it and transfer it to the computer. Now that it is safely in the computer you can move on.

Create a Folder labeled SKETCHBOOK. Within that folder you can create as many sub folders, as you need. For Animals, African animals, Domestic Animals, Dogs, Cats, Mice and Moles. Create folders for people, ethnic, large, small, children, adults, and costumed. Make yourself as many categories as you need and file them alphabetically or numerically and keep them in your computer.

Sounds simple, but what if your sketches are so many that your computer threatens to cough them up, spit them out, crash and sit on your desktop mocking your intelligence.

If you are able, the next step in this process is to obtain an external hard drive. (There are many good models on the market and many are under one hundred dollars.) By storing the entire folder of sketches on an external device you have the ability to save thousands of files …all in your newly designed file cabinet… without slowing down your computer or filling up that needed graphic space on the main drive.

The ultimate benefit is being able to find that sketch of the boy on the bike, in the rain with a dog in the basket and the bird flying high above, with one or two clicks.

Whether you are a digital artist or traditional media artist this type of file can save you hours in the hunt for that perfect sketch.

A little research

I needed do to some active research this morning for my current dummy. Because I want to represent leaves, ferns, berries and pond water I took a long walk with my camera and gathered a lot of good info. We have SUN today, so the time was just right in the early morning. Dew is still on the leaves, the grass is wet and the forest is fairly still.

To make the photos work for me I put them all into a separate folder within the current project file and make a little thumbnail photo like this one, so I can easily find what I am looking for.

My work is semi realistic in a painterly style, so these just serve as a reference. My paintings will be accurate, but not photo realistic. I am not sure how a PC handles this kind of file, but I like having the Mac that can show me at a glance where things are and which file I need for a reference as I draw or paint.

Morning Visitors

Every morning we walk Henry and take care of the pool chores right before breakfast. Most mornings these little guys are having an island adventure. They are really cute little guys and will swim away quickly if they see us coming too close. Eventually they are fished out and sent back into the forest.

Moving right along

Ongoing work is taking place during our significant rainy season. It is not supposed to be a rainy season. It is supposed to be a sunny, warm, let's go swimming season. Huh!

However, since it seems to have become the R A I N Y season, I am busy at work on two new ms/illo projects. When I tire of elephants and African plains, I can take a break and switch to families with interesting secrets.

Here on my worktable are some print outs. I often use these to help pace the story as I create sketches and a few finishes for the dummy. Finally happy with the manuscript I can concentrate on the best placement for the characters. Right now they are printed three pages to a sheet, but I will cut them apart for a thumbnail book and keep adding new sketches until I am ready to submit the work.

As many artists will tell you, we get very involved with and attached to our characters.

Sometimes they even shout back at us and say things like:

"Move me over there... I don't like it under this tree."

"I don't like fruit, paint in some cupcakes!"

"Where do you think you're going, you haven't drawn in my feet yet!"

And so it goes....

IF-SHAKY ~ Happy Fourth of July !!

(note: I did a bit of research on the gait of an elephant as it walks. From what I have been able to observe, the legs on one side extend in either direction while the legs on the other side meet in the center. Although the gait varies a little, this is as close as I could come to an accurate representation of the "walk.")

We rode along with the festive parade

and carried our huge flag proudly.

Our ride was admittedly shaky but

our friends in the crowd cheered loudly.

Study and research

When I can't go to the zoo or to Africa to sketch I will watch endless videos and read books about the subject. One of the ways that I found works nicely for me is to position my drawing table where I can also view my computer. If I have photos saved there or a video running I can sketch as I use those things for reference.

I keep the manuscript handy as well and might make changes in my overall idea for either the illustrations or the story I am writing.

Not much has changed

Here we are in JULY already! But just as in most every day in JUNE... it is darn right cool and still raining...buckets and more!

Sometimes it stops for a few minutes and we run out and pull weeds.... they are everywhere. Plus, the whole world outside is green! Even the steps and sidewalks are turning green from the rain and dampness. My garden shoes, which were left outdoors by mistake have grown moss on the edges. At least I hope it is moss. The slugs are multiplying, the pool is filling to overflowing, the puddles are enormous and the birds are hiding. I think sometimes I hear them singing, but I expect they are only crying.

And then, last night, when it was still pouring, I dreamt about ducks! Honestly!