Pencil before Pen

Whenever I watch YouTube videos of people drawing, I always see them sketching things out with a pencil first before going over it with a pen/marker. I never liked the idea of penciling stuff first because I feel like it's not as spontaneous as if you drew directly with a pen from the start. I'm finding it hard to find the words to describe how I feel about it.

But anyway, I decided to try it today because I was actually short on time and wanted to get a card done as soon as possible. And man, it makes life so much easier. I'm used to drawing things a few times before settling on something I like but sketching in pencil first will save a lot of paper. Ideally I'll get so comfortable with drawing that I will be confident that every pen stroke was as intended but I don't know if that's realistic. 

So today's 'learn something new everyday' lesson is: sketch in pencil first, save yourself the trouble, save the trees and we will all be happier for it.

Made this congratulatory wedding card today for a couple that liked to bake, cook and ballroom dance. I actually ended up enjoying drawing this one because it's of things I would usually not think of drawing on my own. Looking at wedding cake designs was also probably a first for me.