Figuring out my illustration process
As I build up my portfolio, I’m trying to figure out what I like to illustrate and which mediums I prefer. I know I like texture but I also like simplicity, so I’m working on finding a balance between the two. I love working with gouache because I can layer it by varying the amount of water I use and by adding pencil crayons on top. I also love and appreciate the benefits of illustrating digitally, it’s so easy to fix things or to take the piece to the next level because the pressure of ruining the piece is not there. At least that’s how I feel about it. For now, I’m marrying the two and I’m first starting my illustrations with paint and brush, and I’m adding details and finalizing them in Procreate.
I wanted to document my process for creating the characters for the story “Erin and the Midsummer Bear,” written by Zoë Tucker for the course I took, Make Art That Sells. It’s a sweet story about the friendship between Erin and a polar bear who gets separated from her family. As I worked on these portfolio pieces, I tried to approach them as if they were real job assignments. I focused on maintaining character consistency, keeping my colours and techniques uniform across multiple spreads, and took detailed notes to recreate any characters if needed. Overall, I’m really happy with the results and the process, and while I want to keep exploring and trying different techniques, I feel like I’m on the right path and establishing my process.
My first step was to do some initial studies for a polar bear. I wanted to understand the bear’s basic shapes before figuring out how to characterize it. Here are a few sketches I did.
I then started playing with Erin and what she might look like. I knew I wanted her to look adventurous and fun. I wanted to research the environment where she lived, whether she should be wearing shorts or clothes that kept her warm, etc. I started stylizing the bear and what I wanted her to look like. I drew some rough sketches on paper, and then I scanned them and finalized the sketches on Procreate. I also finalized my colour palette in Procreate (forgot to save this part), drawing inspiration from images of the Lofoten Islands in Norway, where the story takes place.
I printed my sketches and re-drew them on my final paper. I did learn one thing at this step – I used a pink pencil crayon to trace the images. I thought it would be a good colour to hide under my paint, but in the end, when I scanned my final paintings, I was left with a pink halo around my images that I didn’t like. I think I might have done the outline too hard, I’ll try it again but lighter and see how it goes. I decided to do a warm yellow wash at the beginning, and I actually really liked the warmth it brought to all the colours at the end. You could see the warm yellow coming through, especially on the polar bear, adding texture to the white fur.
For these two last pictures, I wanted to show you the before and after. The first image is as far as I took the painting, I was starting to struggle with the colours on the cabin, and I was scared to continue the painting and ruin what I had so far. So I decided to leave it alone and take it into Procreate to finish it up. I’m so glad I did! I was able to play with the colours and clean up some areas I was struggling with.
I’m really happy with how they all turned out, and I only wish this was a real book that I was illustrating. When I’m not working on my illustrations, I’m thinking about my illustrations. I know I’m making the right move in my career, and even though I’m not working on a ‘real job’ yet, I am inspired and I know this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I’m already working on my next portfolio piece and I’ve started sending out my portfolio to agents and publishers!! A huge step for me. Wish me luck!
Until next month –