Wrestle Your Illustration

My best illustrations are the ones I spend most time wrestling with. This is something I've had to learn to embrace in my years of illustrating and something that is not often taught. The old quote of "nothing good ever came easy" applies as much to illustration as to any other facet of life.

The art of successfully wrestling with an illustration boils down to these two principals: persistence and perseverance. Without these principles you'll stay stagnant, never progressing in your skill or understanding of how an illustration truly works. I don't say this as an illustrator who has it all worked out, far from it. I still have a mountain of things to learn, but each time I finish a piece I learn something new, even if it's how not to do an illustration.  

Here are three things to help you wrestle better!
Don't be scared to start over. If you find your illustration just isn't working, go back to the drawing board. Produce some more thumbnail sketches experimenting with composition and colour pallet.
Strengthen your weaknesses. If you stink at drawing hands, find resources to help you draw hands. If you don't understand colour, find a video that explains colour. The internet is filled with thousands of resources to help strengthen your artistic weaknesses.
Finish the Fight. Lastly, if you start it, finish it! Each time you wrestle an illustration you will become stronger and quicker until you find yourself winning all the fights.

TrailRun Magazine

At the end of 2016 I was approached by TrailRun magazine to do 6 illustrations for 2 articles. The first article titled The Revenant was written by adventurer and runner, Beau Miles. He wrote about his imaginative thoughts as he traveled by plane, overlooking the land where The Revenant movie was set.  

The second article required 3 illustrations and was about runners nutritional needs. Every illustration for these articles posed a new challenge and pushed my skills as an illustrator. I'm thankful for the experience and the free shirt they chucked in with my magazine! TrailRun magazine is available here.

Creative Congestion

As an illustrator it’s easy to get engrossed in your work and happily spend hours perfecting an illustration. It’s also just as easy to spend hours battling an illustration until you get so frustrated you throw your sketchbook as far as you can and vow never to draw again. I call this second scenario creative congestion, because it’s similar to the feeling you get when you’re stuck in traffic and you can see where you want to be but you can’t get there. If you’ve never experienced creative congestion, you’ve probably mastered the art of giving up, because it is something every successful artist I’ve encountered struggles with constantly!

Getting frustrated and battling with your creativity is often a sign of growth in your ability and shows that you care about your work. So don’t give up! Instead try and find ways of overcoming these frustrations, because they’re always going to be there. For me, the solution is found in three words…CLEAR YOUR HEAD! Go for a walk, ride your bike, go to a café, exercise, just do something that you enjoy that’s away from your work-space. Don't give up, just take a break! 

Clean Your Studio

Over the years I've come to realise that having a consistent process in illustration makes every project so much easier. One of the main contributing factors to that consistency is having an organised, clean studio. I've spoken to many illustrators and artists over the years that say they can't start working until they have a clean space to work. 

For me, having a clean, organised space not only helps my process, but also my headspace. An organised studio makes me feel like I've organised my thoughts. This isn't to say my workspace never gets messy, I think you have to get messy sometimes, especially in the heat of creativity! My studio usually looks like a bomb has hit it by the end of the day, but if you take some time to sort it all out when you're done, you'll be rewarded with a space that's easy and enjoyable to work in.

Art of Audio

Illustration is one of those practices where you spend big blocks of time with your eyes fixed to a sketchbook, canvas or computer screen. This leaves your ears wide open with nothing to do, so why not fill them with knowledge. I've always listened to music or had the TV on in the background while I illustrate but I've recently taken to listening to podcasts, audiobooks and sermons instead. Like many illustrators, I like to be efficient with my time and work process, so it just made sense to learn something audibly while I was drawing and colouring.

With an overwhelming amount of podcasts online, it's hard to know where to start. The best advice I can give is to find out what you're passionate about and see if there are any podcasts or audiobooks out there that can feed that passion. Try and pick a few different topics that interest you to keep your ears from getting bored. With enough searching you're bound to find something you like and when you do, you'll be hooked!

These are some podcasts I draw inspiration from:

• Pixar Podcast
• Ted Talks
• Animation Mentor
• Illustration Age

Enjoy!

About Me!

Over in America they've just celebrated Artist Appreciation Month and I was approached by fellow artist and creator of unique ornaments, Patience Brewster to get on board. You can check out some of her Christmas ornaments here. In an effort to get to know the artist behind the art I was sent a set of 5 interview questions. It took me a while but I've answered them all and even got a chance to draw a few accompanying comics.  

1. As a child, do you recall a significant moment when you felt truly affected or inspired by any particular artwork or artist?

I can't pinpoint exact moments that truly affected and inspired me along the path of illustration but the cartoons I watched had a lot to do with it. I loved Nickelodeon cartoons like Rugrats, Fairly Odd Parents, Hey Arnold and Rocko’s Modern Life. So in that sense I guess it was more a company of artists that inspired me rather than a single person.

2. As an artist, what do you hope to convey with your work?

As an illustrator I am always striving to convey emotion, life and simplicity in my work. I want people to be able to see the world through my eyes and feel something when they see it. I love making people smile or laugh or just ponder. There is no way to describe the feeling I get when I see an emotional response to my work, it’s just something money can't buy.

3. What memorable responses have you had to your work?

Probably the most memorable response I've had to my work was when I travelled to Nepal. I would go to the same coffee house in Kathmandu every day. On my final day I sketched a little picture to give to the people that worked there and they were very grateful. But the actual memorable response was a few months later on Facebook when a friend I had met in Nepal sent me a photo he had taken. It was a photo of the same sketch I had given the coffee house but it was hanging on a wall in another coffeehouse 100 km away. I’m not sure how it travelled that far but it was amazing to think that such a small gesture went such a long way….literally.

4. What is your dream project?

My dream project would be to have a small studio where I could teach and mentor young illustrators one on one and have other experienced illustrators come and mentor myself and others. I would love for it to be a place where people could just come and draw and work on their projects.

5. What artists, of any medium, do you admire? (Famous or not)

There are too many to name, but if I had to pick one it would be Charles M Schulz, the creator of Peanuts. I admire a lot about him. He managed to create these amazing characters filled with such life using only a few simple lines. He was an amazing storyteller and created a prolific amount of comic strips that are still relevant nearly 60 years on! I hope my work stands the test of time like his has.

 

Surgeons Overworked

This editorial illustration accompanied an article on the dangers of overworked doctors. It stated that the Australian Medical Association found the longest recorded shift by a doctor had increased to 43 hours straight. I came up with this idea to show the severity of the smallest mistake when surgeons operate after long shifts.

Daydreaming at your Job

One past-time I've learned to embrace and even practice over the years is daydreaming. The art of daydreaming to me is one of the most important ways of generating new ideas and stories. People will probably tell you that daydreaming is just escapism and I guess to a certain degree it is, but for me it's like a key that unlocks my imagination.

Funnily enough, daydreaming seems to work best for me when I'm at my part time job working as a labourer, putting up shelters over playgrounds. There's something about the repetitive nature of the job that seems to free up space in my head for daydreaming (I experienced the same thing when I was a dishwasher and a gardener). It seems that if I do something enough times my brain seems to be able to do it without me even thinking about it, kind of like being on autopilot (there's probably a scientific name for it). It's in this moment when my creativity is at its peak, it's when I daydream the most and when I come up with a lot of my ideas.

These ideas eventually form into illustrations, comics, stories and just about anything you can think of. So the next time someone tells you “you've got your head in the clouds”, take it as a compliment. Just remember to come back down to earth every now and then to put your ideas to good use.