The Official Process

I bet you’ve always wondered what steps I follow from the beginning to the end of each illustration project. Below is brief overview of how the magic happens.

Once I get an assignment, the first and most important thing I do is get on the phone with the client and gather information. Finding out the parameters of the project is key—not only the desired subject matter or initial idea, but also the intent. How will the art add value and meaning to the piece(s) it accompanies? What freedoms can we take; what ideas are available to explore; what critical elements need to be included; what physical reproduction circumstances need to be considered?

Next, I get good ol’ fashioned paper and pencil out, sit at my drawing table and quickly rough some thumbnails to brainstorm ideas, really focusing on basic composition. Once a plausible idea rises through the scattering of pencil scribbles, I define it better in a larger sketch that I then scan into the computer and pass to the client via email.

After the client and I agree to the sketch, it’s time to render on the computer. In Adobe Photoshop, I use the scanned sketch as a reference template to block in the shapes and lines I’ll need to define all the objects in the scene. Since my approach derives from traditional airbrush technique, this “blocking” step is similar to creating all the masks necessary to isolate areas for painting with the addition of selecting basic foundation colors for each object. For me, a typical illustration in Photoshop can have 100 layers or more depending on the complexity of the piece.

After the blocking stage, it’s time to add texture, light, and shadow. This is my favorite step in the process as I get to witness the art actually come to life and artwork’s elements begin to interact in the illusion of space. From a technical standpoint, I’m using Photoshop’s airbrush tool to paint in each object while rifling among Photoshop’s various selection tools, loading custom created alpha channel selections, and loading custom Bezier paths to create refined masks to brush in and define areas within the main objects blocked in previously. Sometimes, I go to Adobe Illustrator to create more complex masks more quickly and precisely and bring those into Photoshop for use.

The rendering process is a very evaluative one as well. As I get deeper into the artwork, it’s critical to keep checking and ensuring the overall piece is going the direction you envision. It’s easy to get so focused on the details that the big picture can become disjointed or misaligned in tonality or color. In fact towards the end of the project, this evaluation takes over as you finesse details, contrasts, color temperatures and overall continuity.

Once the rendering stage is completed, I email a low-resolution sample of the art to the client for review, and after approval, the high resolution file is posted for the client to download. Another illustration filled with challenge and wonder completed!