During the rough stages of the illustration, I wanted to include elements that are easily recognizable to agriculture. More importantly, I wanted to highlight the migrant workers who toil for hours on end to provide for themselves, their families, and the nation. I included some of the machinery that is prominent in the produce coolers and some tools used for harvesting. Additionally, I included the Japanese flag as an ode to the Japanese roots and early agriculture. 

Generally, I like to keep my sketches clean, so I start with a pencil and then I like to clean it up with some brush pens. This helps me focus on the final illustration with few modifications midway.

here you can see how I included some of the crops grown in thus town in a pattern like banner. 

here is the final line work for the piece all done using the vector persona on Adobe Fresco.  Generally, I find working in fresco and illustration to be quite seamless as Fresco can easily send files to Illustrator. 

For the color palette, I wanted to choose colors that had both contrast but had some sort of harmony. Although, I tried to keep the color palette limited I am quite pleased with the results. I also added some typography to give the piece some balance while also making the statement relevant, as Salinas is commonly referred to as the " Bowl ". 

Overall, it was a fun illustration to take on. It celebrated and highlighted my culture and the city where I'm from. I can't wait to start on the next one. 

You can find more of my work on my website www.leonardorangel.com or instagram for more update work/ works in progress @Leo---rangel ( that's 3 underscores). Thanks for looking!