Thumbail sketches are fancy names for really small drawings, smaller than your palm. They are for exploring ideas and practicing; for me personally, a dopamine boost because honestly, not every day begins with a “Yay, I got to do what I love!”.

For a big project

They are particularly useful when you work for a large project such as a series of illustration or a big detailed painting. They are just still scribbles, but in a professional way. It is a way to getting your mind in a comfortable and relaxing state to create. Maybe this is a personal experience, but I found things created in rush often not as good as the arts I made calmly. (Or when I received a complex and urgent request, I just went straight to draw without exploring the options).

This is useful when working on a comic book or a series of illustrations with the same theme. It’s not the only way, but this helps me stay organized.

For testing color and composition

Composition is something I never fully grasp; some artists spend the whole life exploring it. It is difficult to explain why putting the flower here and not there is a better choice. And without testing, you will never know there might be a better layout waiting in your mind.

Anyway, they are also good for testing color, this is something I learned in the Famous Artist book series.

Putting color together before setting out on a full scene illustration is a good way to avoid getting lost later. (Or if you want to get lost and mixed up, go ahead and skip this part). But for an important commission, I won’t let myself getting into trouble, that’s why I need to do thumbnail sketches to check things. They are also useful to present my ideas without putting a lot of effort.

For doing studies

With a person (slightly) obsessed with completing as much as possible, this is a way to focus on quantity rather than quality. It help easing my mind that I did make a lot of things or did do things during a day. It’s a common thing for freelancers, particularly during low period – having less or no income can trigger a lot of thoughts about being worthless or being useless.

They are not important, so I can use up any scrap paper or paint over any piece that I don’t like. Thumbnail value studies are especially helpful when I feel that there are endless things to learn, there are unlimited opportunities to take and there are thousands roads to go. It also works when I feel like nothing is working and the world is doomed. Basically, every artist needs to feel lost in in his or her own mind sometimes and that’s when we need to start small with a grayscale small painting.

At the end of the day

Being an artist is hard, ideas come and go. Sometimes I wonder how I spent the whole day making scribbles, not masterpieces. So if you’re stuck like me, overwhelmed, or just not feeling it… maybe don’t aim for a masterpiece. Just draw something the size of your palm and see where it goes.