"My Illustration Process" presented by Lunchbreak Comics

STEP ONE: THE PROMOTION two of my promotional postcards

Every couple of months, I send out a few hundred promotional postcards* advertising my illustration services to art directors, editors, and other folks with the power to hire me.

Some of their names and addresses I get from a book called "Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market" and some I copy out of the front of magazines I find in Barnes & Noble. I try to target publications that already feature cartoony illustration similar to my own style, and I make sure that my postcards mention that I have more samples on my website.

* (When I was starting out, my postcards were just black-and-white photocopies on cardstock, as pictured, but now I have them professionally printed by modernpostcard.com.)

STEP TWO: THE ASSIGNMENT

I'm contacted, usually via email (but sometimes telephone), by an art director who liked my postcard and online portfolio, or one with whom I've previously worked. They'll tell me what the assignment is, and when it's due, and sometimes they'll even give me suggestions for what they'd like me to include in the illustration. Almost always, they will include a copy of the article for me to read so I can decide how to illustrate it.

STEP THREE: THE SKETCH a rough thumbnail sketch

This is the most important step in the process, in which I totally determine the look of the illustration.

I work up a bunch of rough ideas and thumbnail sketches. I keep trying to find ways to make the illustration more dynamic and interesting. Often, my first sketches tend to look kind of flat, but I can fix that by experimenting with different perspectives and adding elements in the extreme foreground, giving the drawing more of a three-dimensional feel.

It's during this stage that I "audition" the "stars" of the illustration by drawing countless versions of the characters (in this case, the starlet walking down the carpet, and the excited children in the crowd) in all sorts of poses, outfits, and hairstyles. I also have to design the props like the poles, the books, and the limo in the background.

some of my 'audition' sketches

the full-size sketch I submitted to the art director

When I'm finally satisfied, I draw a full-size sketch in non-reproducing blue pencil, which I scan in and email to the art director for approval.

I like to draw many of the elements on separate sheets of paper, which I'll later assemble as layers in Photoshop. This way, I can draw overlapping objects--even the parts that will be partially hidden--in their entirety, and move them around at my discretion. I like having the freedom to tweak my drawing like that, even in later stages; plus I find that it encourages me to attempt more complex and detailed layouts.

STEP FOUR: INKING my pen of choice

I ink the drawing with a Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen, which gives me nice, flexible, brush-like strokes. I use a felt-tip pen for any fine lines or crosshatching.

If there's anything I'm hesitant about, this is a good time to fix it. For example, in this drawing, the girl on the far left taking a photograph of the starlet didn't quite look right to me, so I redrew her without the camera.

STEP FIVE: SCANNING

I scan all the different elements into Photoshop (I have version 5.0 LE, which came with my scanner). For a typical print assignment, I scan everything in as a 300 dpi black/white document. Most of my light blue pencil lines are not picked up during scanning.

note that every pixel is either black or white, with no in-between gray tones

note that every pixel is either black or white, with no in-between gray tones

Once each element is scanned, I convert it to a 50% threshold bitmap. This eliminates all gray tones from the illustration, including any stray pencil lines. If you looked closely at the image, you would see that the lines are not "Anti-Aliased," or smoothed over with shades of gray. Instead, they look a little jagged, but only up close. At print size, you can't tell.

I then position each element, on its own layer, roughly where I want it to go, keeping the foreground elements on the top layers, and the background ones on the bottom.

STEP SIX: COLORING the finished product

Still in Photoshop, I use the Paint Bucket tool to fill in solid areas of color, almost like a coloring book. I'm careful to make sure the "Anti-Aliased" option is unchecked here, or else the color will bleed a little into the black lines. This way I can change my mind as many times as I like, and nothing else is affected.

I also create a "highlight" layer, on which I add effects like airbrushing, paint splatters, and gaussian blurs. Some people go overboard with these, but I try to keep them pretty restrained, to suit my style. In this example, the shadow on the carpet and the earring sparkle are the only effects I used. Again, I keep these things on a separate layer so that if I change my mind, it's easy to redo them without affecting the main drawing.

STEP SEVEN: THE END RESULT how the finished art looks on the page

Finally, I make sure everything is the way I want it, before I save another copy, merge all the layers and adjust the size to the art director's specifications. I then email it off, and wait for feedback.

Usually, the art director is satisfied, and I get paid, but if any changes or alterations are necessary, I can still go back to my original copy and replace any unsatisfactory layers, without having to redraw the whole thing.

A few months later, the magazine comes out (I frequently receive free copies in advance) and the whole world finally gets to see my work in print!

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