weeklyillo-blog

[weeklyillo-blog]

Challenge 04 I’m a little behind on Challenge 03 but sometimes life just happens, I’ll try and catch it up by next week, but we’ll see how it goes. The wheel keeps on turning. The size for this illustration will be a 210mm x 297mm portrait -standard a4- at the usual 300dpi. Get drawing!

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Challenge 03 Something light and interesting. This brief is particularly open to colours and a flat, layered style.

The size is open to what you find fits your concept, but I’ll be trying for a 200mm x 200mm frame. As always, resolution should be marked up at 300dpi. Good luck.

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Challenge 02 done! I’m really enjoying my black and white style, but I think I’ll need to find ways of adding colour soon. This piece answered the idea of ‘drowning’- having your social media life out of control.

Next article released tomorrow, something fun.

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Challenge 02 is up! Something that always hits a bit close to home whenever I read about it, this is an article exploring our growing reliance on instant communication, and marks 6 ways to combat it. No in your face theme to worry about. Enjoy a chill read and get drawing. Sizes are 200mm x 200mm square or a 200mm x 113mm portrait or landscape (a 16:9 aspect ratio to fit on a phone screen); both @ 300dpi.

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challenge 01 - stages of grief

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Challenge 01 done!

This was a flirty juggle between two internships and the beginning of another semester of uni. Got through it on the tip of my nose.

What I drew from the article was a call to embrace life for all it’s worth. Grief gives way to light, and there’s a value to a transient life. Life all the more rich for its slipping through our fingers. The tighter we grasp, the quicker it disappears. Thank you Karina for your submission. A simple and elegant metaphor for the stages of grief.

Challenge 02 will be updated tomorrow.

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Challenge 01 A bit of a fun one here. Nothing like the pressing weight of death to bring up the mid week. It’s not Gichuki’s first language, but she more than makes herself understood; her writing is compelling. Death is macabre and gruesome, but Gichuki’s message is one of hope, love and learning. At least, that’s my spin on it. Time to draw.

Sizes to draw to are 150mm x 250mm landscape or 200mm square @300dpi. Goodluck!

[weeklyillo-blog]

Hi. Welcome to the Weekly Illustration Challenge. I made this to improve my skills in applied art and editorial illustration, but it’s open to everyone. I welcome you to join in. How it works Every Tuesday I’ll post an article. It might be about sports, lifestyle, fashion or food. It’ll be a surprise, even to me.

An illustration needs to be submitted by the following Monday. Real life doesn’t wait for anyone, and clients even less so. So this needs to be quick and jus a lil dirty.

Medium is your choice. I’ll give size parameters with each article. Bonus points if you can make some spots (small illustrations that go within an article body).

And above all, don’t stress yourself. Have so much fun your asshole falls off!

Process

For those new to the editorial illustration process, I’ll give a quick rundown on workflow and deliverables. I’ll be sticking to this for the challenge, and I suggest you do too. Note: Most Illustrators wouldn’t spend more than two days for an article piece. Clients pay for 1-3 days worth of work. Keep that in mind, so time doesn’t slip from you.

Concept Generation Construct a word map. Make note of an article’s tone of voice, of it’s key subject matter, and of imagery a quick read conjures within you. Pull out your favourite thesaurus. Don’t get bogged down in details, and don’t try and use every idea the article brings up. It’ll make for a piss-poor illustration.

Concept Iteration Make 3 or more sketches following from your strongest word ideas. Just basic composition, keep it quick. If you have more than 3 sketches, narrow them down to 3. This is what you’d submit to a client. They’ll pick a favourite or ask for some more options (which you should charge for). Unfortunately, there’s no client, so you’ll have to rely on yourself, your mum, or a kind bus driver for direction.

Development You’ve got your concept sorted, it’s time to work! Plan out your composition and smash out your style. You’d supply a black and white version of this stage to a client- so they can check off on what the finished art would look like and make note of any final changes.

Final art Finish up your work. You’re done. And it looks beautiful. 

That’s it! Good luck. Let’s get started.