Theo Bertz: Sketchbook 02
Theo Bertz: “Graphite on Paper—Strokes on Canvas 2/3”
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For Theo’s book, I used InDesign’s layers, layer modes and opacity extensively. These work together to give you precise control over document visual hierarchy and layout transparency. Layers act as transparent sheets stacked on top of each other, letting you organize, lock, or hide related elements—like keeping text, images, and background graphics separate—so you can edit one layer without accidentally shifting objects on another. Opacity determines how solid or see-through an individual object, stroke, fill, or entire layer is, allowing lower elements to show through as you lower the percentage from 100% down to 0%. Layer modes—found in the Effects panel—dictate how the colors of an object interact mathematically with the colors directly beneath it. By switching from standard Normal to blend modes like Multiply (which darkens and blends dark tones) or Screen (which lightens), you can create soft shadows, realistic color overlays, and complex visual effects without modifying the original assets.
Many pages in the book start with a background texture, scribbles, paint blobs, etc. I used about 15 different backgrounds. Theo loved this as soon as he saw the first page where I used it.
On top of the background image, I added a layer of color often selecting multiply as the blend mode.
Here’s the page with just the sketches.
Originally I only had the black and white sketches. That looked good but it need something more, so I added the color sketch and the page (my favorite in the book) came alive. I didn’t like the rectangle, so I used basic feather from the effects panel
Here is one of Theo’s original sketches before I turned it into greyscale and adjusted the levels for contrast.
Here’s the final page with everything in place.
