It’s been nearly three decades since I last set foot on the grounds of the University of Utah. When I graduated in 1993, I left and never looked back. Three decades later, I decided to pay the campus a visit on a recent trip.
A few days ago, I received the following invoice in the mail requesting payment for a pending trademark application. Just an invoice, nothing more.
A couple months ago, I was out in the neighborhood late one evening and decided to swing by a local bar for a drink.
It’s inevitable. Eventually, a client will approve concept sketches and give you the go ahead to proceed with the finished illustration only to reject the final piece.
Rejection is part of the business of illustration.
For the past three years, I’ve used the first and second generation iPad Pro exclusively to create the vast majority of my client and personal illustration work. As a result, I have a handful of opinions about working with this device.
Some people get lucky and begin their illustration careers with immediate success... I wasn’t so lucky.
Once you establish a baseline of steps that work for you, the mechanism in your brain that tells you “I need to do this, then this, then this… in order to achieve this” will begin to function like a perpetual engine—this is your process.
I think it’s safe to say that you will have some semblance of a layout rattling around in your head prior to picking up a pencil. Even if that vision is hazy, hashing out the main characters first will aid you in nailing down the layout. Sometimes the brain-to-paper translation isn’t as clear as you’d like.
My latest cover illustration is designed to foldout from the cover of the printed report.
Process and patience are the two most important components in realistic drawing—not your tools. When you find the perfect balance, your best friend’s personality will begin oozing off the page long before you’ve finished the drawing … as well as every ounce of heart you put into it.