One thing I thought about when I was devising a style for illustrating picture-books was that it should be fun to look at as the sausage got made. One way I’ve achieved that through the years was by painting on blank sheets of paper with no drawings on them then applying those painted paper to my illustrations digitally.
As my style develops, the goal is to make less and less of the process digitally.
Painting papers
These papers were painted to serve as textures for a baby penguin, when painting the papers my only thought is of the colour and the brushwork that create the texture. I experiment and create more than I need, in fact I probably use a small proportion of what is created.
I am at once exploring what marks my tools are able of creating.
I’m creating some patches that will likely be used.
And I’m mixing the colours that will be used in the book.
When painting textures I try not to let the textures I try to be subtle yet descriptive. Textures are meant to describe to the eyes what something feels like to the hand.
Is it sharp or soft? (Use line and shape)
Is it hot or cold? (Use colour tempreture)
Is it thick or thin? (Use layers)
If you work digitally, hand painted textures are one way to make the work more tactile, and if you work physically, painted textures can instead be used for creating collages!
TEN MINUTE ARTIST PROMPT
Paint some texture sheets.
Think of an animal, perhaps a gorilla, or a frog, or even a crocodile.
Study some pictures of them paying attention especially to the textures, make more that you need, you are half creating and half exploring, in the next post we’ll turn those textures into a collage, I’ll use a gorilla for my example.
Even if you don’t join in for the next post, some textures painted in your artist diary make for fun exploration and more understanding about the tools you work with.
Style is a way of working, having unique ways of working is one way to be consistent in your style while setting you apart.
Paid subscribers will get a deep dive on how I combine sketches and paint done physically on my iPad to create final illustrations later this month. It’s also one of the modules that we’ll work on together in the Portugal Retreat.
