Developing concepts for a political editorial illustration – my process

As outline in my Art Goals for 2023 post, I would like to update my portfolio with more editorial illustrations, focused on current events, especially climate change and sustainability. I prepped myself by reading lots of articles beforehand, and yesterday I started with the first concept thumbnails. 

I decided on a landscape, kind of long-ish layout, as this seems to be the usual in online news outlets as well as newspapers.

In terms of composition, these illustrations will need to be more focused on their main concepts, less reliant on minute details filling in the background – which I am prone to do, it is both my strength and my weakness! I am making this judgment based on other editorial illustrations I have seen in this field. So, I slight shift in my style will be needed for this brand of illustration (I also wrote about this in my art goals blog post, linked above). 

Adjusting to this was not easy at all, and in total I took about 2 hours and 40 - 50ish minutes to come up with three thumbnails! And only two of them are related to the same topic (transition to public mobility in Germany) – the other one addresses both transition of mobility and transition to renewable energies.

addendum: in all fairness, I should add that this was my first time drawing again after the long winter break, so I was a bit rusty. The following days I was able to draft my ideas more quickly. 

Starting an illustration on the transport/mobility revolution in Germany, mostly based on this article.

Some takeaways: 

1. The beginning is always the hardest, but you’ll get into the flow. Hour one I was really struggling. By hour two I was super in the flow. Then by hour three, I was feeling my will break a little lol. 

2. I DO NOT KNOW how to draw bikes. A little trouble shooting was required (practice drawing bikes in different angles), but realistically I know that, if this were a client project, I wouldn’t be able to stray too far off the path. There’s no time for crash courses – just make it work. By the way, I found this video by Robert Laszlo Kiss very helpful in explaining how to draw bikes from different angles, and I’ll probably apply this technique to other subject matter in future. 

3. It’s super important to take BREAKS! I’m not just saying this to be your nice auntie, I’m saying this because it’s part of the strategy. Your brain needs down time to process the problem, and to solve it later. In my breaks I…

• took a nap

• had my meals / snacks

• did 15 minutes of yoga

• played my keyboard 

• played Sims 4 lol (but only after I was done working for the day)

All together my breaks were about 30 - 40 minutes a piece, in between the one hour long phases of work. Perhaps you might think, “Damn, 2h 40m is not a lot of work AT ALL” – and it isn’t, but, it was focused, undistracted work, and I think that’s much more efficient than doing 10 other things while working. To be fair, if this were indeed a client project, I’d probably be pushing myself to work more, with shorter breaks, due to the extra fire under my ass.

** please bear in mind I also have house hold tasks, groceries, pet care, other freelance/admin tasks, and sometimes English tutoring to attend to, and I also consider this work **

I also have a rule of not working past 6.00 - 6.30PM (unless it’s tutoring English) because, otherwise, I really have trouble sleeping. Work = my caffeine

4. Soothing study sounds: listening to calming ambient music or even these café sounds help me focus without becoming terribly stressed out by the surrounding silence. I think it’s “proven” that ambient music helps with studying/focused work, but don’t quote me on that.

5. Shifting but still working towards the goal: As I mentioned, by hour three of work I was feeling my will break a little, and my hand was a bit sore, so I focused that time on learning more about the topic I was trying to illustrate (via podcast, articles, educational videos, etc). In total, that brought me to 3.5 hours of “work”. 

6. Pretend you’ve actually been hired: it’s easier to come up with a concept by taking an existing (ideally un-illustrated) article and creating a visual for that, rather than illustrating a broad topic. Bonus: the specific can be universal – as long as it’s not too specific. For example: an illustration on the transport/mobility revolution in Germany, if created in a way that leaves room for interpretation, but is still clear in its messaging, has the potential to be applied in other contexts. 

7. How detailed should the thumbnails be? In my thumbnails I try to achieve a balance between clearly communicated ideas + not too many details. That means: proportions and “recognisability” have to be quite accurate, so the client (if there were one) would be able to understand my idea. I can’t allow myself to fall into the trap of wasting time on details. A few written notes on the side could be helpful, too – much tidier than in the examples I have provided, mind you!

( Something I’m not 100% sure about is if it’s customary to create two or three initial thumbnails (in a client project context). For most of my client projects so far, I would literally just do one concept for each illustration, and the client would decide from there. These weren’t for newspapers or political topics though, so I’m not sure. I’m practicing with a process that includes three thumbnails, just to be safe 🤷🏻‍♀️ )

Anything I missed or you would like to share? Feel free to leave a comment below ~

My ✨ art goals for 2023 ✨

1. Have an illustration published by a (major) news outlet.

This has always been a somewhat superficial goal of mine – I say that because it seems like a cool thing to tick off of my “illustration career mile stone” check list, but I won’t be completely heartbroken if it doesn’t happen. 

Some actionable steps to take in order to achieve this goal: 

• Update portfolio with relevant (political, current events-related) illustrations. I will be working with a topic which appeals to me but is also very relevant: climate change and transitioning to a more sustainable future. I’m aiming for 4 - 6 works. If you are interested in reading further, I wrote about it here: Developing concepts for a political editorial illustration. 

• I’ll need to freshen up my editorial client list, and quite possibly reach out to some old, but hot 🔥 leads.

OMG, old video alert! I made it private because I stopped cold-emailing, but the info seems relevant now.

Ultimately, I realised I had this goal because I enjoy learning and sharing important information, and sharing this via illustration. And how illustration can draw attention to critical social issues, make it more digestible, or else present it from a different perspective. So, either way, if I get published or not – at least I’ll have new pieces for my portfolio which are totally aligned with my values.

Side note – it has happened a few times that a client stumbled upon an illustration I already made and then simply paid me for the licensing. Anything can happen!

2. Cozy watercolour illustrations featuring forest goblins and faeries 

I realise this is almost a complete 180 from the above, and also a topic I have never featured in my current portfolio… but I grew up reading fantasy picture books, and I love a good fantasy read even now. It’s a dream of mine to create a cozy little fairy tale escape. 

My goal is to create at least 4 pieces, so it can feel like a substantial part of my portfolio, not just a one-off (though if this ends up being a one-off venture, I won’t be too hard on myself – it’s OK to explore). 

3. Style changes – incorporate more texture, rely less on lined elements and details

This applies more to my editorial / client projects. I realised that, if I want to be taken seriously in the editorial field, my main concepts need to be more focused, with more room for negative space, less reliant on details. More minimal, but not necessarily easier – it can be hard to come up with strong ideas! Especially for me, I rely heavily on detail and I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a conceptual illustrator. 

Second point, texture: first step would be to create some textures using different media (e.g. charcoal), scanning those in, and creating a texture library I can use for future illustrations. It seems like a fun technique I haven’t used much in my work, and I reckon it could be a quick way to add visual interest in my backgrounds if I’m not going to be drawing them by hand.

Wish me luck! 
What are your art goals? Feel free to share in the comments!

All my current projects + Why I’m taking a relaxed approach to my work!

I’ve recently felt inspired to do more sketching. To capture the energy around me, and to keep drawing, even if it turns out bad. I haven’t felt that way in a long time. Perhaps it’s a summer thing. Overall, I’m prioritising mood over quality, though it’s also nice if the sketch turns out good at the end. 

I’m also working on this piece that I’m just calling “hot pot” for now. I have a thumbnail composition already, and my plan of attack is to do studies of the individual aspects of the image before hashing out the final layout. Oh, and I’m experimenting with dip pens + water colour, and I really like it so far! My favourite part is that you can draw kind of crappy and this medium will make it look intentional lol. 

In general I’m going for a more relaxed, imaginative and playful approach with this piece. I don’t want to always have to rely on reference images, and to check if every single detail is correct (my normal mode). It’s just so exhausting and really takes out all the fun. It’s hard to work alone because all I hear in my mind are those critical, perfectionist thoughts. I realised that I am a lot more easy going when I have someone to talk to while working. Just like in my personal life, I wish that in my working life, I had more of a balance between working alone and working with people around me. 

In the mean time, my  strategy is to be mindful – to notice when I have those extremely self critical thoughts, and then to let them go. It also helps to have relaxing music while working, here’s my drawing playlist in case you’re curious!

BTW, you’ve seen this already, but here’s the printed version of the feature illustration I did for Spectre Journal Issue 3! AD: Gabe Berlin, he was awesome to work with!

Finally, I signed a contract for another project with the Ban Ki-moon Centre in Austria. Here was the first project, in case you missed it. I’ll be starting next month, so I’ll keep you updated!