Copic Marker sketches by Kelly Custer

Here in the Mobile Work Unit (MWU) in Portland, Oregon the Coroflot team is getting pretty damn excited for our first ever Sketch Jam. If you haven't already heard the news, the event is going down on April 26th from 6-9PM at the Hand-Eye Supply's Glisan Garage in Downtown Portland, Oregon. It promises to be the most high-concept, high-flying, and downright fun sketching competition you've ever seen. There will be sixteen competitors and the winner of the bracket style competition will receive a Wacom Cintiq 27!

In keeping with the spirit of Sketch Jam, we've decided it's the perfect time to highlight some of the most talented sketchers in the Coroflot community. These aren't just any sketchers, but rather ones who occasionally forgo the temptation to use a tablet so they can keep their analogue skills sharp. Digital sketching is definitely more practical for most jobs these days, yet there's something still so satisfying about seeing a sketch done on paper. Maybe it feels more personal because we get a slightly closer look at the ideation process. Whatever it is, we love checking out analogue product sketches. Here are 10 designers from the Coroflot community with some serious sketching skills:

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Jeff Smith - Concept Sketches - Linework - Multiple Ideas per page

You want linework? You got linework with a large collection of concept sketches done on a handful of different kinds of paper - even yellow notepad paper! Whether he's drawing baby sippies or futuristic weapons, Jeff is a pro when it comes to on-the-fly sketching.

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Grant Riley - Printer Concepts

It's not exactly easy to make a printer look interesting, and in that feat Grant succeeds. His sketches are simple and clean, managing to visually convey the dimension and feel of this product.

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Chelsea Young - Sketch Dump

Despite what the project title suggests, these sketches are far from dumpy. While some are digital, the ones that really stand out for us are the pencil and pen sketches. Even though we're not sure how the concept would work, the hourglass lamps look cool as hell.

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Himanshu Soni - Sketch Book 1.0

Gotta love the ideation! With Himanshu's collages of sketches, we are presented with a clear image of how his mind works and how he translates his ideas to stylish designs. These sketches are fairly minimal in terms of drawing material, but the design ideation is captured perfectly.

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Kenneth Bontje - AQUA LUNG EXPLORER COLLECTION

One of the trademarks of this longtime Coroflot member is the extremely thorough presentation of each project he posts. Sketches don't take the spotlight in the project as a whole, yet what we do see gives us clarity into how focused Kenneth is from the moment he begins working on an idea until the moment production is finished.

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Kelly Custer - Sketchbook

Kelly Custer is responsible for some incredible digital sketches too, but we are consistently blown away by the sheer mastery of her skill she demonstrates with just some markers and a note pad. Her designs are highly technical and her techniques are tip-top. Bonus points for taking such good photos.

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Marc TRAN - Yanara Technologies - Pilot Case

Marc's sketching is precise and in this particular project he clearly lays out every step of his process. We especially like his use of Chartpak markers to communicate the exact colors and shades of this product.

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Mauricio Cavalheiro - BluePencil

Simplicity is key in this brief collection of car sketches. Mauricio uses only a blue pencil and you can tell he moved through these sketches quickly, yet the skill demonstrated with just this one drawing tool is impressive to say the least.

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Hector Silva - Analog Sketches

The thing we love the most about this collection of sketches is that you can tell Hector was doing them for fun. He sketches everything from Stormtroopers to old school iMac computers, and he does this without taking himself too seriously. Sometimes it's good to just play around on paper and that is exactly what we get here.

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Michael Angelini - Sketch + Renders

In this collection we get a little bit of everything, and we especially like how Michael shows the sketches and then also includes the digital renderings. He perfectly illustrates the importance of simply throwing all of your ideas out onto the page and then his process for bringing those ideas to fruition.

Sketch Jam takes place on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 from 6PM-9PM in Portland, Oregon. Want to apply to compete? ENTER HERE! You can check out the Design Week Portland event page HERE and our Facebook event page HERE. Make sure to follow Coroflot on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more Sketch Jam updates!