Analog
to Digital
Getting Started with Adobe Fresco w/ Spencer Nugent
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
1
About Spencer
Spencer Nugent is a Jamaican-born creator and educator currently based in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Spencer is the founder of Sketch-A-Day.com and
IDSKETCHING.COM, has been providing free, high
quality online design sketching tutorial content and
on-site sketch workshops since 2008. He has created an extensive online network and following within
the Industrial Design community and continues to
connect with students and design professionals via
his online properties.
With his daily YouTube streams, he continues to share
his passion for creating and drawing on “Sketch-ADay LIVE” as well as the sketch-a-day Instagram.
Spencer’s professional experience includes working
at General Motors in Warren, Michigan, San Francisco based design firm Astro Studios, heading up his
own design consultancy, Studio Tminus where he
worked with several clients primarily in the consumer electronics and apparel industries. Spencer has
worked with brands such as Microsoft, Intel, Hewlett
Packard, BodyGlove, Adidas, Verifone, Kyocera Altec
Lansing, Hasbro, Dell, Tupperware, Motorola, and
Vivint Smart Home.
Spencer has led workshops and presentations for many higher educational institutions and corporate
clients including designers at Adidas HQ, Herzogenaurach Germany, Apple Retail, LG, Adobe MAX and
frequently hosts on Adobe Live on Behance.net.
In 2020, Spencer was awarded the Industrial Design Society of America’s individual achievement award
for his consistent work and passion related to industrial design education related to producing online
educational content.
Most recently, Spencer has been running his design lab, 5050.design where half his time is dedicated to
personal projects and the other to client work.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
2
Contents
About Spencer 2
Introduction4
Getting Started5
Warming Up: Lines6
Warming Up: Circles7
Warming Up: Ellipses8
Pen/Pencil/Stylus Grip9
Fresco Interface10
General Overview11
Pixel Brushes12
Live Brushes13
Vector Brushes14
Brush Options15
Layer Options Panel16
Color17
Other Tidbits18
Other Tidbits19
Importing Brushes20
Importing Brushes21
Let’s Sketch!22
Import & Transform24
Blending Mode & Color
25
Composing The Page26
Adding Color27
Adding Color28
Adding Color29
Collaboration30
Glossary31
Conclusion32
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
3
Introduction
Drawing is fun, but it can also be really intimidating if you don’t know where to start. I’m Spencer!
I’m an industrial designer, but really I enjoy creating all sorts of things. The skills you’ll learn in this
workshop may not immediately make you the best artist or illustrator out there, but the tools and
tips you’ll learn, should help you learn what you need to break things down and make them easier to
draw freely, expressively and expertly.
Today, I’ll be using Adobe Fresco on my iPad Pro. Adobe fresco is a fantastic and simple drawing app that brings your ideas to life. If you’ve never used Fresco before, that’s okay! I’ll show you
around the app, as well as take you through the process of working on paper as well as digitally.
Follow along, even if you don’t have the latest and greatest hardware out there. It’s the concepts that
matter most!
What’s ahead:
• Fresco Overview
• Drawing on Paper
• Importing Sketches
• Adding Color
• Using Guides
• Presenting a Concept!
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
4
Getting Started
Being in the right mindset it super important. If you’re feeling stressed out, try to find a way to relax
and chill before jumping right in. It’ll make a huge difference in how you approach your work and
what you’ll get out of it. If I’m feeling stressed or unable to be creative, I’ve found that sometimes,
walking away is one of the best ways to open up your creativity. Take a minute to do something opposite of radically different and it can open up your creative energy.
Warming up is critical. you wouldn’t go run a marathon without some training and a decent warm up,
so why jump into sketching without a little work up front? Certainly, your practice will matter, long
term, but it’s important to get the muscles in your arms and hands warmed up, as well as connect
the dots between your brain and your arms.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
5
Warming Up: Lines
The first warmup exercise involves drawing a series of parallel straight lines. This will be challenging,
so here are a few tips.
• Draw with your shoulder and elbow as pivots - try to lock your wrist. When you are drawing with
your full arm, you’ll be able to have more expressive and gestural strokes that are exciting and full
of energy.
• Focus on where you’re going, not where you are - it’s a lot like life. Focus on the end goal and follow through on your stroke.
• Add points on either side of your canvas or paper and draw from point A to point B.
• Draw quickly - the slower you draw, the more opportunity there will be for error along the path of
the stroke.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
6
Warming Up: Circles
The second warmup exercise involves drawing a series of circles as best you can. When I draw a circle, I try to hover over the screen or paper before actually making contact. This is called “ghosting”
and I don’t mean leaving that text from your latest crush unread. Think of it as a bit of practice before
committing to the final lines for your circles.
• Stay “loose” and relax
• Hover or “Ghost” in your circles before committing to the final circle
• Draw big - Aim for about 2-3 inches in diameter per circle.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
7
Warming Up: Ellipses
The third warmup exercise involves drawing a series of ellipses as best you can. Just like drawing
circles, when I draw an ellipse, I try to hover over the screen or paper before actually making contact.
• Stay “loose” and relax, hover or “ghost” in your ellipses before committing to the final circle
• Draw big - Aim for about 2-3 inches in width for each ellipse and vary the degree or openness of
your ellipses.
I won’t get into the mechanics of ellipses here, but if you’re going to sketch real things, you need
some basic information on how to draw objects that humans create, and by extension things like
ellipses. Here are a few links to videos that should put you in a good spot!
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
8
Pen/Pencil/Stylus Grip
I’m using an iPad Pro here, however since Fresco works on other devices, I’ll be a bit more general here. Try tp hold your drawing tool with a light, looser grip than you are used to when writing. If
you’re like me, a heavy handed writer, it’ll take some practice and adjustment to get used to it.
The tension or pressure you use to hold your drawing tool will transfer into your drawing. So, to have
a loose, lively and engaging drawing, you have to “loosen” up a bit yourself.
Try holding your tools a bit further up the barrel.
In addition to loosening up your drawing, an adjusted grip will allow you to see more of your canvas
or drawing surface so you can draw what you want to draw.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
9
Fresco Interface
The following section is a rundown of the user interface in Adobe Fresco and some important bits
relevant to our workshop session.
For a more comprehensive look, check out the official Adobe guide on Fresco
Official Adobe Guide - https://helpx.Adobe.com/Fresco/using/getting-started-with-user-interface.
html
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
10
General Overview
Following is a rundown of the Interface in Fresco and some important bits. For a more comprehensive look, check out the official Adobe guide (link)
Adobe Fresco features a very simple interface that helps you maximize your drawing space and
placing all the important stuff literally at your fingertips.
Home
Brushes
Pixel
Vector
Live
Eraser
Smudge
Document Name
Zoom Level
Undo
Redo
Help
Collaborate
Share
Settings
Hide/Show Interface
Layers
Settings
Grid/Guides
Comments
Add Layer
Hide/Show
Layer
Clipping Mask
Adjustments
“More”
Digital
Ruler
Color
Brush Size
Brush Flow/Mix
Smoothing
Other Brush Settings
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
Layers
Groups
11
Pixel Brushes
Tapping the brush icon on the left side of your screen will pull up a variety of options for brushes.
Here you’ll find many pre-loaded and preset brushes, as well as brushes that you’ve imported into
Adobe Creative Cloud Libraries (more on this later).
Each brush will have a star icon next to it. Tapping this star will add a brush to your “Favorites” tab
where you’ll be able to quickly access it. I use this quite frequently when drawing and painting to
save time.
Take some time to dig in and explore options
for each brush and adjust to the way you
draw.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
12
Live Brushes
Just below your regular pixel brushes you’ll find an option for live brushes. Live brushes are a feature
unique to Fresco that uses an incredible brush engine to deliver real Watercolor Paint and Oil Paint
effects in Fresco.
There are several defaults here you can try and use to add texture or effect to your drawings and
paintings.
Note: Using live brushes will create a brush layer for you to work on - Oil, or Watercolor. Check out
the videos to see how these work.
Related Video Links - Live Brushes
• Still Life Painting I
• Still Life Painting II
• Watercolor Painting I
• Watercolor Painting II
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
13
Vector Brushes
Fresco also includes vector brushes that allow you to create art that is infinitely scalable. This is a
plus if you want a sharp, clean look, no matter what size your artwork is.
Note: Using this brush, like your live brushes will create a vector brush layer for you to work on.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
14
Brush Options
To access brush options simply tap on any of the four icons on the lower left side of your screen.
Here you’ll find an option to adjust brush size, flow, smoothing, paint mixing if using an oil-based live
brush, as well as additional settings you may find to control pressure sensitivity as you would in Adobe for a shop.
Although some options are limited, the features that and customization here is something you want
to dig into.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
15
Layer Options Panel
For layer options, tap the slider on the right toolbar under the how/hide layer icon.
Here’s where you’ll find options to change the blend mode (similar to photoshop), and a slider to
change the opacity of the selected layer.
Pro tip - you can also tap on a layer, then tap again to reveal additional options for layer actions.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
16
Color
Tapping the small (black by default) circle or puck will expand the color palette. Here you’ll find a
color wheel, color sliders (you can also work in RGB by tapping the 3 dots), as well as a list of recent
colors and your creative cloud library colors.
If you work with Creative Cloud libraries, and need to use colors between devices, these will be
available in Fresco.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
17
Other Tidbits
App Settings
Tap the gear, check out settings. Here’ you’ll be able to resize, flip, or rotate your canvas as well as
additional settings under “App Settings”
Take some time to poke around here. You can also adjust the sensitivity of your stylus/apple pencil
to personalize Fresco to your own drawing style.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
18
Other Tidbits
Grids and Guides
Fresco includes grids and guides to help you draw accurately. To access guides, tap on the small
icon on the right side of the screen. The first option presents 2d guides as a grid. You may also select “perspective” under grid type to enable 1, 2 or 3 point perspective snaps.
In this mode, each line that is drawn will follow the type of guide selected.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
19
Importing Brushes
If you used Adobe Photoshop, you likely have some brushes that you love. If you have these brushes in your creative cloud library already, you’re in luck! Your brushes should be automatically synced
with Fresco.
If you’ve never added brushes to your creative cloud library, you’ll need to do this using the steps
below. You can find some of the brushes I use here - https://www.sketch-a-day.com/store/sketch-aday-photoshop-amp-fresco-brushes
When you open photoshop
you’ll see a bunch of documents listed and the option
to look at cloud documents.
Cloud documents are the
files in your Creative Cloud
Library that are available
across devices.
Open your brushes palette:
• Select Window -> Brushes
• Drag your brush into your
library palette.
• Pay attention to where
you drop them. This will
be where they show up in
Adobe Fresco.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
20
Importing Brushes
Now that we’ve added the brushes to our Creative Cloud library, they’ll sync across your devices.
When you open up your brushes, you should see the new library in place. The speed this happens
will be somewhat dependent on your internet connection.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
21
Let’s Sketch!
In today’s session, we’re starting out simple on paper with markers and pens. Here’s a link to all the
stuff I use - https://www.sketch-a-day.com/stuff
When in doubt, rough it out & Light till it’s right.
When sketching something, it’s a good idea to work quickly and lightly, if possible. Doing so will key
you get an idea down, even if it’s not perfect right at the get-go.
Working light:
If you can, when working on paper, use a gray marker to create a light sketch and work out the design or object you are sketching. I recommend using a 10%, 20%, or 30% gray marker as your light
sketch tool if using markers, or sketch lightly with a pencil or ballpoint pen.
When the details are hashed out enough, sketch over your gray lines with a pen, pencil or something
with more contrast to help your drawing show up more.
Start by lightly sketching in rough proportion of your object. In the Lab, we’re
sketching a chair, but you clan draw
anything.
Notice the pen grip as well.
Rough out your design using the light
gray marker. if all you have is a pencil,.
that’s fine. The idea is to work lightly until
you’re ready to commit to the final artwork.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
22
Finish up your design by re-sketching what you roughed out. Simply put,
re-sketching means that you’re using
the light gray marker as an underlay and
loosley following what was sketched
before.
Work quickly to maintain the life in your
sketch as you work with a pen or pencil
to finalize your sketch.
Scan/Import
I’ll be using Adobe capture to scan and import a sketch. Capture does a nice enough job of cleaning
up the sketch for import and use in Adobe fresco. you can download Adobe capture as part of the
Adobe CC library of apps avabilable on your mobile devices.
Now, we’re ready to scan!
I’m using adobe capture. It’s a great
camera app that lets you scan and store
documents, and I’ve found it handy to
use to import sketches.
Simply open the app, create a new capture and save to your files or camera roll.
We’ll be importing this sketch into Adobe
Fresco.
To import your file, tap on the import icon
(see interface overview if you get lost,
it’s on the lower left) and select the file or
image to import.
You can also select files in Adobe CC
libraries for import.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
23
Import & Transform
Transform
If needed, sometimes you may want to transform your sketch that was imported. By default, fresco
will pull up the interface to transform - scale, rotate, flip, your sketches on import.
Make any adjustments you need to your
sketch, then commit the changes.
Note: Once imported, you’ll need to convert the layer to a pixel layer for painting
and sketching.
If you missed it in the presentation, simply tap on the layer and select “Convert
To Pixel Layer”
If you miss this step and try to draw,
Fresco will automatically create a pixel
layer for you, if the imported image is
selected.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
24
Blending Mode & Color
Once imported and placed, be sure to change the blending mode for the layer. For my sketch, the
blending mode selected is “multiply”. This means that all the black lines in my sketch will still be
opaque, but the white areas of my sketch will show up as transparent.
With the blending mode change, color is
easy! Make sure that your sketch is the
top most layer, and colors are applied on
layers below.
Work light until it’s right. Start with lighter
colors and work up to darker colors.
I also try to work with different color families on different layers.
Working this way helps speed things up
as long as my sketch on top is looking
good.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
25
Composing The Page
Composing pages from paper sketches digitally is another way I like to work in both worlds. Sometimes it just feels good to work on paper. If i have an idea that i captured on a napkin, I can throw
that in there along with other scribbles to make a presentation ready page.
Import and Arrange:
Arrange your sketches on page after
import.
Place additional sketched and transform
to create a composition with movement.
Notice that some sketches are more finished than others are.
The scale and placement of sketches is
a bit like making music. The right rhythm
and variety can make the presentation
pop!
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
26
Adding Color
Fresco comes preloaded with many amazing brushes. Be sure to take some time to explore and
become familiar with the many options included with the app at install.
As an industrial designer, I created my own set that mimics some of my favorite tools.you can find
them here, on my website - https://www.sketch-a-day.com/store/sketch-a-day-photoshop-ampfresco-brushes
You can find out more about importing brushes in the Tidbits section of the workbook.
To work quickly, again, remember to have
the top layer be your sketches that have
been converted to pixel layers.
Switch blending mode to multiply and
start outlining your colored area with a
solid round brush
Continue filling in areas of color on your
sketch.
Working on separate layers for each color
or effect can save you a lot of heartache
later on if you need to make a change to
your work.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
27
Adding Color
To tone and shade, I use my core shadow air brush in my sketch-a-day brush kit
for PS and Adobe Fresco - https://www.
sketch-a-day.com/store/sketch-a-dayphotoshop-amp-fresco-brushes
Adding texture can really enchance a product concept presentation. Adding textures is really easy
using Adobe Fresco. Much easier, in fact, than trying to create the texture using paper, markers, pencils and so on.
To use a texture, create, or find an image that is largely black and white. We’ll be applying this layer
with a blending mode to enhance the sketch.
Remember to convert your import to
a pixel layer. Once imported, youj cna
modify and adaptthe image to fit your
sketch.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
28
Adding Color
Switch blending modes and modify yourj
texture to fit the area of the sketch to
which you’d like to apply it.
Continue adding tone and highlights to
make your concept pop and feel more
3D.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
29
Collaboration
Fresco now includes the ability to collaborate with others. Tap collaborate icon at the top of the
screen. you’ll then be able to invite others to comment on your document. Youj can also invite others
to edit the file if you are needing someone else’s input on your work.
Invite to edit is as simple as tapping the
icon and entering the person’s email.
Comments are a great way to collaborate remotely when working on the same
projects.
Comments are easy and show up quickly
in app so that you are communicating as
you create.
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
30
Glossary
Rapid Visualization or Rapid Viz:
Rapid visualization refers to a system of drawing in which we use simple tools and expressions that are largely visually symbolic and executed in a quick, energetic and concise way.
Ideation:
Ideation is the process by which we capture
iterative ideas in a medium or format of the
designers choice. Ideation is meant to show a
progression and development of ideas and can
act as a historical record of your process.
Line:
In reality, lines don’t exist. When we draw or
sketch, a line is merely a symbolic representation of the limits of what we can see on the
edge of an object. However, there are different
types of lines that may be used to show additional details like shading, texture or material
and part breaks.
can include: color, line, scale, balance, rhythm,
tone, texture, value and so on.
Layering :
In Adobe Fresco and similar apps, it’s possible
to essential stack your “sheets” or areas you’re
drawing in in a way that can create cool effect.
Think of layers as a pad of transparent paper
with the ability to draw on each transparent
sheet of paper.
Loose/Tight:
Tight or loose refers to how adherent one is to
a more rigid or flexible presentation of an idea.
Loose lines tend to energetic and somewhat
undefined, and tight lines are decidedly more
precise and intentional in nature.
Contrast:
Contrast refers to the difference in value between areas or elements of a sketch. For example, when sketching two surfaces at an angle,
there should be a discernible difference in value
(lightness and darkness) between the faces.
Perspective:
Perspective is a mathematical approximation
of the optics and way we see things in the real
world. In short, remember smaller means further away and larger means closer to you.
Composition:
Composition is the way things are laid out on a
page or canvas when you’re ideating and representing concepts. Elements of composition
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
31
Conclusion
Thank you for being a part of this workshop, and
I hope you’re able to learn a little bit about Adobe Fresco, and that you’re excited to jump right
in and try some stuff for yourself.
Remember, drink water and stay hydrated,n give
love, and always find ways to learn something
new.
If you have additional questions, I’m pretty easy
to find online. Just Google me!
Otherwise, here’s a few links and information
you can use to get in touch.
Spencer Nugent — SKETCH A DAY
Website: https://www.sketch-a-day.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/
UCBtSgEZk914z5InEs_U2J3w?sub_confirmation=1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sketchadaydotcom
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/dailysketches
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
32
Adobe Max Lab | Drawing is Fun - Getting Started with Adobe Fresco
33