05/25/2026
How do you know you can have faith in your artist's freehand skills?
Derrick did this freehand+stencil combo piece of a dragon and peonies.
The key factors to look for is
A) Proven drawing expertise; sketchbooks, consistent past work, self-drawn flashes, the 'nub' on your phalanx middle or index finger always a good sign
B) Limitation self-awareness;
Has confidence via proven exercises in what they can draw as well as what they can't draw and won't budge to 'try' for a optimistic client
C) Can illustrate their ideas in words and a simple sketch; explains their concept with easy-to-understand instructions and can demonstrate this by mapping on paper
While none of this guarantees a 100% great outcome, it helps w**d out the 'fake it til you make it' from those who've made it and respect your results.
Finally, if the artist doesn't appear to be happy to do it, even with experience, then you're better to find someone happy for the right reasons. Artist alignment absolutely affects results like any craft.
Thanks again Kafela and hope to see you again soon :)
