📝 Some ideas are so fundamental that everything else is built on top of it, this is one such idea. Thinking of illustrations as arrangements of icons was a defining part of my practice.
On Drawing and Making
Sentences are composed of words.
Illustrations consist of icons.
One of the breakthroughs in developing my illustration style was thinking in terms of icons. Choosing the right icon is akin to selecting the right word, making the communication clearer and more precise. Every icon has a purpose, and I no longer fill pages with pointless lines, shapes, or objects.
Each icon had its place.
The best writing advice I ever received was, "Omit needless words."
The illustration equivalent of that would be, "Use only precise icons."
illustrations are drawings to be read.