In spring 2022, I signed a contract with a Chinese Great Strar Media and Co. publisher to illustrate a collection of fairy tales by H.C. Andersen. Thus began my journey into the world of book illustration; it was my first book, and it was a very large-scale project. In total, I needed to create 120 illustrations, which was a real challenge for me. I can't say that working on the book went smoothly, but in the end, it was completed, and I am very proud of it.
My pipeline:
NATURE
The book contains many illustrations of nature and animals. Perhaps these are my favorite subjects; I truly enjoyed drawing them.
The book contains many illustrations of nature and animals. Perhaps these are my favorite subjects; I truly enjoyed drawing them.
One of my favorite illustrations is the two-panel illustration for the fairy tale "What the old man says is right". I really enjoyed drawing it; I love drawing trees, grass, and rural life.
DETAILS
Another passion of mine is working with fine details and textures. That's why illustrations featuring architecture or abundant vegetation brought me immense pleasure when working on them. I'll show some of them here.
PEOPLE
Of course, I had to draw numerous characters. I didn't draw people very often before this, so I had to learn quite a bit on the fly to fill the book with vibrant and diverse characters. And I think I did a pretty good job with that task.
PROCESS
The workflow was structured as follows. I would work on the series of sketches, refine some of them in color. Then, using a special lightbox, I would transfer the sketches onto paper (I use 100% cotton from Baohong) and work on three sheets simultaneously. That's how many glass drawing boards I have.
In my work, I use Mijello Mission Gold watercolors and granulating watercolors from the Nevskaya Palitra brand. Then, I would refine the illustrations with colored pencils (I use Faber Castell Polychromos); that was my favorite part of the process. After that, scanning, piecing together, and post-processing in Photoshop.
I often had to work at night (thanks to my neutral spectrum lamp, it was quite possible) and without weekends. Of course, it was most enjoyable to work outside on the terrace when I visited my parents in the summer.
FINAL ILLUSTRATIONS
Working on the illustrations for the cover and title pages was incredibly enjoyable and relaxing. I needed to create beautiful background illustrations featuring architecture and plants, which is what brings me the most joy. Additionally, it meant that such a long journey of over a year was finally coming to an end.
First, there were sketches:
And this was a result
This is the thick stack of artworks that resulted from over a year of work.
Of course, I didn't show everything. But I showed what I like the most.
Thank you for watching!
