DRAW A DYNAMIC DINOSAUR

Find out how EL GUNTO improvises a T-rex from scratch, using contrast, shapes and more for a striking illustration

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For the last 20 years I've worked almost exclusively with digital tools for commissioned jobs. At the beginning, I would be sketching my art on paper, scanning, and then colouring with Photoshop. Later on I had the chance to get a Wacom Cintiq tablet, and at that point paper and pencils basically disappeared from my life.

But since AI-generated art has become so prominent, a few months ago I decided to go back to basics in protest, and to feel the texture of the paper, the sound of pencils scratching, the dirty hands, and working without the safety net of being able to hit Ctrl+Z.

Each time I start a drawing with pencil and paper, I feel like a total newbie. But I love how the final results – and the accidents that happen along the way – are all unique and something that a machine won't be able to replicate.

So I invite you to see how I take on these artistic adventures, working up a rough initial composition using Photoshop before swapping over to traditional tools to create the final image itself, adding a little blast of vibrant colour along the way.

Whenever I sit down to create, I honestly don't always know what the result will look like. But as we're so often told, it's not about the destination, but the journey we take there... and the dinosaurs, of course.

1 Lay out a basic composition

I haven't completely erased digital from my art; 20 years of Photoshop doesn't disappear just like that! After getting an idea, I work digitally on a simple composition with silhouettes and shapes. Two characters mean two silhouettes with different proportions and values for contrast, and an interesting composition.

2 Make a rough sketch