Freelance Illustrator: Illustration Process — Part 4

<< Part 3

Illustration Style

I believe what separates me from the majority of illustrators is that I was trained as an animator. While illustrators are encouraged to develop their signature style (I know this because my roommate studied illustration), as animators we are trained to apply our skills to match the style of different movies. As an animator, I therefore adapt my style to best suit the story. This is why I have a different approach and a different look for each age group. Further factors that determine my approach are genre and the mood of the story.

When deciding on the illustration style, the first thing to consider is for whom am I creating this illustration? Who is my main audience?

Elatsoe is a Middle Grade book. Therefore my illustrations are chiefly for 8 – 12 year old children.

This does not mean that I will make an illustration that will not appeal to teenagers and adults. I very much believe in Disney’s family entertainment model when it comes to creating any artwork for children.

The main character is a girl, so I can assume that mostly girls will be reading this book.

The main character is Navajo. Can I draw upon the style of the authentic culture?

I think back to when I was an 8 – 12 year old girl. What illustrations did I love?

My favorite illustrator at that time was Maria Pascual. I adore her girls, her brushstrokes, the sense of motion, simple backgrounds.

I run down to my basement and pick one of her books from my collection to use as inspiration.

I get my iPad and start to sketch.

I keep my sketches in the 3000px square format, because I fully intend to share them with my Instagram audience.

If you are working for an actual Art Director and not an imaginary one as in this case, you may need to sign and NDA where you will not be able to share a single drawing online.

I also draw on a non-white, 25% warm grey (Color: #dcc9c3) background, because it is easier on the eyes.

For these initial sketches I use Procreate’s Sketching > HB Pencil Brush (Color: #1f1122).

Before I can begin illustrating I need to design my characters.

I like to begin designing my characters by drawing their portraits. Looking at Maria Pascual’s book, I think about what Elatsoe looks like. What makes Maria Pascual’s girls so appealing? What features distinguish a Navajo girl from a white girl like me? Elatsoe rides her bike everywhere, so she should be fit. She is strong. She is seventeen…

After I create a few portrait sketches, I look at Maria Pascual’s illustrations and copy one of the character’s poses giving her Elatsoe’s features and clothes. Then I try to move the character by drawing her in different poses.

I proceed by drawing Elatsoe with different facial expressions from different camera angles.

There are two styles I like, but I settle on the one with the top bun, because I feel having her hair flowing under the sea would look better.

With Elatsoe roughly designed, I move on to designing Kirby.

I create several studies from the images of English springer spaniels I found while Googling, paying attention to the characteristics of the breed.

The next step in designing characters is to put these two characters together in a few scenes. The goal is to explore their relationship.

With that out of the way, the last thing to do is to create a Character Chart, where I show Elatsoe from the front, side and back, with her height defined in head measurements, then I add Kirby for size comparison. The purpose of a character chart is to provide me with enough information for me to draw the character from different angles. I like to keep the pose as simple as possible. This is not the time to show off my awesome animation skills by creating a full character rotation — K.I.S.S., time is money.

At this point, I finally feel that I have enough information to begin the actual illustration.