One of the things that inspires me the most about being an illustrator is the possibility of embedding every fibre, every pixel of your artwork with a sense of narrative that’s happening right below the surface of the canvas – conveying an underlying story, just as if you’re capturing a moment in a storyline that’s already in motion. Sure, we can do this with sequential art, like comics, but I do love the story-oriented approach of creating an illustration that’s a vertical slice of an ongoing narrative – without the ‘before’ and the ‘after’, just a glimpse that will entice our imagination.
What we’re doing in this workshop is exactly that: creating a scene with compelling characters that will make us ask questions, and lead us to inspiring places. I feel that asking questions is more interesting than answering them, at least in the context we’re dealing with here, so our goal will be to develop a piece that will inspire others to pursue those answers their own way, through their own sensibility lenses.
I’m doing this workshop illustration using Procreate for the iPad Pro, but I’m making sure you can apply any of these fundamental ideas using whatever support you’re familiar with. This guide is more about the subjective creative process, not so much the drawing and painting foundations.
So grab your pencils or brushes, our story starts now.
1 Develop the concept
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2023 من ImagineFX.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة January 2023 من ImagineFX.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Raquel M. Varela
Raquel is inspired by magic, fantasy and fairy tales. She loves designing female characters from distant worlds. \"My greatest reference is Loish's art, thanks to her I learned to draw the movement and fluidity I like to convey.\"
Estrela Lourenço
Estrela is a children's book author and illustrator. Her work is influenced by her background in character animation and storyboards for clients such as Cartoon Network, and she channels comic strips like Calvin and Hobbes.
Daria Widermanska
Daria, also known as Anako, has been drawing for as long as she can remember. Inspired by Disney and classic anime, she loves creating new characters and often finds that a single sketch can spark a unique story.
Allen Douglas
Allen has been painting professionally since 1994 for the publishing and gaming industries. Inspired by folklore, he distorts the size, relationships and environments of animals, and calls his paintings 'unusual wildlife'.
Thaddeus Robeck
Thaddeus has been drawing from the moment he could hold a pencil, but it was the 2020 lockdowns that gave him the time to focus on honing his skills.
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