The first step is to sketch out your artwork. I usually do not get any more detailed than what you see above, as this image will just be used as a template to trace the art in Illustrator. The level of detail is up to you - I tend to keep it loose, as this method is designed to give a hand-inked feel. I do not want the lines to be perfect, which ironically Illustrator is really good at doing. I want something loose, with some energy in the line work, and usually keep my sketches loose so I am forced to really look at the image when I get it into Illustrator.

Once your sketch is ready, scan it. I usuually go with 150-200 DPI in grayscale mode. The black-and-white mode will not pick up the nuances of your pencil lines. You do not need to scan at a higher resolution than this as you will only be using this image to trace. Any larger, and the file will just make things slower in Illustrator. Monitors (well, most monitors) display at 72 DPI, so anything higher is redundant. The reeason I go to 150-200 DPI is because many times I need to zoom in on areas, and 200% zoom is usually sufficient. You can go higher, it just starts getting pixelated (blurry). Usually it's clean enough to make out what you need to trace though.

Now that your scan is ready, play with the Levels if necessary [Menu -> Image -> Adjust -> Levels]. Move the two end sliders toward each other, to the beginning and end of the slope. Adjust the middle slider if necessary. Oh, yeah - I do this in Photoshop. If you are using another pixel/raster–based image editor, there will be something along the same lines, and probably called the same thing. This step is optional anyways, it just helps to define your lines a bit more clearly.

On to Step Two…

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