So I emailed you my sketch ideas and gave you my rationale behind them. (Being an illustrator doesn’t mean I just paint pretty pictures… I also need to help you communicate the idea and solve the problem visually. And, at the same time, draw a viewer in by the image. It’s not that difficult, but this illustration needs to pull a lot of weight.)

You looked over the sketches and discussed them with your partner or editor and then got back to me with your choice, and any changes you think would strengthen the image. And I am happy you picked one (hopefully it was my favorite of the bunch) and we move on to the final. This is where I get to paint and be messy and play with color (my favorite part).

For my illustrations, I stick really closely to the approved sketch. I do this because I don’t want to surprise you with something unexpected that leads to you being unsatisfied with the illustration or require tons of changes. And I want you to know what to expect when you hire me back for future projects (you’ll do that, right?… ?cause I’m so nice…)

So here are finals for the sketches in the previous posts:

On to the last phase.
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After I do some extremely loose sketches to jot down and work out ideas, I can see that some of them have legs and others are total floppers. The ones with legs (doesn’t that sound insect-like?) get a more formal sketch… more thought-out composition, etc. Maybe you sent me an initial layout pdf… I love it when I get these because it allows me to put my sketch into context and think about how the type will fit around the image. Being from a design background, I like to design my illustrations to the allow the reader’s eye to move smoothly around the layout.

Like this (see how I have the hummingbird directing you to read the title?):

So finally I email about 2 or 3 tight sketches to you. (I like to work it all out in the sketch stage and have fun painting, but other illustrators give really loose sketches and then transform it in the final stage.)

Here are tighter sketches from the roughs shown in the previous post:

We’ll continue in my next post.

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From the NoD Sponsor:

Sessions Online Schools of Art and Design is an accredited online graphic and web design school offering design career preparation including Web Design Certificates, Graphic Design Certificates, Multimedia Arts Certificates.

So we’d love to work with you. Pleasantries and ideas have been exchanged and all the job order stuff has been filled out (?cause we both need stuff in writing, even though we’re friends). You send me (can I just talk like it’s me you’ve chosen to work with? So much easier…) the story or the job brief and we settle on a sketch due date.

Then it’s my problem. I read everything over and let it marinate in my brain for a day or two, if the timeline allows, until small ideas start popping up. Below are a few of my very very loose sketches that I start with. (Note: you’ll never see these… you’ll find out why later in my story.)

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From the NoD Sponsor:

Sessions Online Schools of Art and Design is an accredited online graphic and web design school offering design career preparation including Web Design Certificates, Graphic Design Certificates, Multimedia Arts Certificates.

I am not scary. I promise.

I started off my career as a designer at an ad agency and I was a little intimidated by illustrators at first. (Should I admit that?) I guess it was mainly because I was so green, but I didn’t know the first thing about how to work with an illustrator, even though I was used to living with their work (in magazines, on tv, book covers, etc). So I waded into my first project with an illustrator very slowly… and luckily she was nice and walked me through it. (Thank you Sandra, wherever you are!)

So now that I have switched over to the other side, I’d like to speak for my fellow illustrators and say “Hello, I’m here to work with you.” WITH you. Like, collaboration and building on each other’s ideas. And it’s so much fun! (not scary)

I’m happy to be a guest blogger here on Notes on Design and I’d love to be that illustrator who walks you through it (if this is your first time). Here we go… Read the rest of this entry »

I just read a great interview with illustrator/animator Kao Lee Thao.

Kao mentions that the one theme that resonates in her work is the swirl, ‘…the swirl is a symbol of proportional perfection but what I’m drawn to more is the visual appearance of having no beginning or end is could easily travel on forever. A swirl has an underlying energy that dissipates from the central origin and reaches out to the viewer.

Check out Kao Lee Thao’s swirls as she gets ready to launch her personal website soon at www.innerswirl.com.

Artist Geneviève Godbout is 22 years old and orginally from Canada. She graduated in the traditional animation of Vieux-Montreal and then the Gobelins in Paris. These days she’s a freelance artist, based in London.

We came across this great illustration of her’s by way of Veerle’s blog and just had to share it with you all.

HAPPY HUMP DAY!

I’ve recently become a fan of Silja Goetz, a freelance illustrator living in Madrid. Born in Germany, Silja studied comunication design in Nürnberg and worked 2 years as a graphic designer for Allegra Magazine in Hamburg. Her work has appeared in:
Nylon Magazine (USA), Neon (Germany), Rosebud Magazine (Germany), New York Magazine, Yo Dona (Spain), Stern GL (Germany), Emotion (Germany)…just to name a few. I had a really hard time picking just one illustration…but this one definitely caught my eye.

See more of Silja’s wonderful ink drawings, splendid illustrations and some great collage pieces.

Today is definitely a good day to stay under the covers. For those of us who can’t afford to…take comfort in the storybook-like artwork of Catia Chien. The Brazilian artist’s work will take you back to warm memories of childhood. Known for featuring dreamy watercolor landscapes enlivened by colorful Edward Gorey-esque characters, Chien’s talents don’t stop at paintings. She has created concept art for films and comics, as well as having contributed to an anthology of art inspired by Belle and Sebastian songs.

More from Catia Chien

Hooded Bandits

From designing chocolate to graphic tees, Ayo Kato has done it all!

Check out her latest designs

Microsoft has come up with some creative advertising for their new Microsoft Office 2007 launch. This web advert takes the shape of a ten page illustrated fairy tale comic book that features a fairy tale princess CEO who saves her woodland empire through the wonders of Office’s newly redesigned interface. Kudos to Microsoft for breaking out of the usual boundries of creativity in promoting software products.

via digitalthread