My Illustration Process - And The Role Of Curiosity

Often times when I create, I’m mesmerized by the story that emerges. Often I start off an image with either the character, an object, or the setting. In every stroke, digital cut, and illustration choice, I’m asking the illustration question such as:

• What’s going on here?

• Where are they?

• What’s happening right now?

• What just happened?

• What are the “verbs” involved in the scene?

• Who are the characters who will play a part in this scene?

• What’s their relationship to one another? What’s their relationship to the setting?

• What is the emotional beat of the scene?

For example, in the scene above, I decided to illustrate something that is on my “100 things I love to draw” list. The initial object of focus was the bike itself - vintage bikes make me smile.

So, off I go to study the shape design of the vintage bike. Then after it was brought to life, I began thinking about the characters who are in the scene with the bike itself. And then I saw an image of a curious dog. And thought, that’s it! That’s who belongs in this scene: curiosity.

The dog’s curiosity in this scene reminded me of my own curiosity - with this process, with the toolset, with how the illustration will ultimately turn out, and with the world at large.

Curiosity! ahh, yes. I love approaching illustration, storytelling, and life itself with curiosity.