New skills, projects, ideas and fun facts about the world of illustration
The illustrators Fabi (of the duo Marmota vs Milky), Brenda Bossato and Weberson Santiago recreate drawings created as children (or by their children in Santiago’s case) and offer us advice on creativity.
The Wellcome Library in London has published these free-to-use images related to the history of medicine
Editorial illustrations complement a text and tell a story without using words Irish illustrator Jon Berkeley (@jon_24) found his call in editorial illustration. While he usually enjoys drawing for younger audiences, he has also found that working for newspapers and magazines is ideal for educating, informing, and entertaining readers, an activity he finds challenging and gratifying in equal parts. Berkeley was born in Dublin, the city that saw him grow and develop into a professional illustrator. He took his first steps in this field when the internet had yet to become the hive of creative opportunities it is nowadays and carved himself a career by knocking on every possible door. This is how he got to collaborate with Time, Newsweek, and The Economist.
Discover all the secrets of Procreate from illustration experts who work with the app daily The future of digital illustration is without a doubt leaning towards Procreate, the iPad drawing app that has become a favorite of creatives and artists throughout the world. Although it is quite intuitive, this software includes tools that might be new to you and these five free Procreate lessons will help you improve your illustrations. To watch each lesson, just click on the title in red and enjoy!
The 7 questions award-winning illustrator and author Jon Berkeley asks before starting any illustration Jon Berkeley has illustrated over 150 magazine covers during his career for publications including The Economist, Newsweek, and Nature, and has worked on numerous commercial projects for the likes of Vodafone, Smirnoff, and Ted Baker. In this article, Jon, who teaches the course Acrylic Techniques for Creative Illustration, shares the 7 questions that three decades of illustrating have taught him are crucial to answer before embarking on a project. 1. Where’s it going to be? The location of your image is one of its most definitive elements. There are ideas that only work vertically or horizontally and considerations change according to a picture’s position. 2. What’s the page layout? For example, if you are creating a piece for the front cover of a magazine, the design is probably going to have to strictly adhere to an established layout. Elements that will affect your concept and its effectiveness include titles, prices, barcodes and dates.
Inspiration comes in all sorts of places, so best be prepared for it. Here are 10 apps for illustrating on the go A sketchbook and a drawing tool have always been indispensable to artists, needing to be within their reach whenever the opportunity arises. New technologies have relegated paper to second place, favoring smartphones and tablets. Numerous apps are available to allow us to create illustrations with excellent results. Here is a small selection we believe you need to know. Procreate One of the best-known apps around, Procreate's technical and aesthetic features–along with its creative excellence–have earned it an Apple Design Award. It is a comprehensive app that allows us to create digital illustrations to a very high resolution.
Creative director and toy designer Nathan Jurevicius faces the Domestika Challenge Nathan Jurevicius' art is as varied and original as his own career: illustrator, conceptual artist, author, and toy designer, the multifaceted creator has contributed to numerous publications, advertising campaigns and exhibitions around the world. His clients include Nickelodeon, MTV and Ikea. His personal project Scarygirl can be found in comics, toys, video games, and a film is currently in production. In this Domestika Challenge, Nathan shares an exercise to unlock our creativity by combining watercolor spots and drawing as he faces his own Challenge in front of the cameras. Can he transform colored spots into characters and worlds with their own identity? Find out in the following video:
Nathan Jurevicius talks about the creative process behind one of his latest projects: Junction My name is Nathan Jurevicius and I'm a multidisciplinary artist working in the field of illustration, fine art, animation, games and publishing. It can be hard to limit what I do to one thing but currently I'm focusing on concept art for tv and film. I began my early career as an editorial illustrator for a number of magazines around the world and then shifted direction to interactive storytelling during the early 2000's. It was around this time I was approached by a company based in Hong Kong to develop toys. The first series that came out was based on my Scarygirl designs and from here I started creating comics and games around the brand.
Lapin, urban sketcher, explains what this discipline that arises from everyday life consists of What is your main source of inspiration? For urban sketches, inspiration is everywhere and in all situations of everyday life. This is the case of Lapin (@lapinbarcelona), an expert in telling stories with his drawings based on observation, which has led him to work with clients such as Air France, Le Parisien Magazine, Peugeot, Porsche, and many more. If you like to observe everything around you and want to discover a new style to express yourself graphically, as well as to explore architectural illustration, learn more about urban sketching below.
Learn the technique to draw animals with basic shapes from scratch with Puño, illustrator and teacher The good thing about drawing is that it gives us infinite possibilities: we can follow all the rules, or break them to let ourselves be carried away by our intuition and imagination. Regardless of whether we have a better or worse style, the important thing about drawing is that it allows us to express ourselves to have a lot of fun. In the following video tutorial, the illustrator and teacher Puño (@ puño) invites us to put aside embarrassment to learn how to create animals with simple geometric shapes, just with a marker and a sheet of paper or cardboard. Based on his advice, we can begin to realize that drawing is available to anyone. Discover it below
Mexican illustrator Alfonso de Anda tells us about his creative routine and sources of inspiration during confinement Confinement can undermine the inspiration of even the most creative people. Alfonso de Anda (@deandaalfonso), a multifaceted Mexican illustrator who has working on projects in areas as varied as editorial illustration, animation, advertising, mural design, fashion design and gallery exhibits, has not been immune to this effect. However, he has found ways to stay creative and productive. In this Domestika Diary, the illustrator opens the doors of his home, his routine, and his studio to share his daily life with us and the strategies with which he has fought the feared creative block during the pandemic. Discover it below:
Download Lapin's perspective guide to add soul and personality to your urban sketches One of the advantages of urban sketching is that it allows us to represent the reality of a city, but from our own perspective. Unlike what we would achieve with a camera, we have the possibility of instilling soul by adding details that would otherwise go unnoticed. In this case, perspective also plays in our favor: we can create a realistic illustration that fits everything we see including angles a camera could never capture.
The Ink Bad Company's founder tells us about one of his most exotic illustrated projects: postcards from Tel Aviv My name is Juan Carlos, and I manage a one-person studio devoted to illustration: Ink Bad Company. I was born in a small town in Jaén (Andalucía, Spain), where I learned to harvest olives the traditional way, by shaking the trees. I made my mother happy choosing to study in Granada instead and ended up moving to Valencia, where I'll happily draw anything in exchange for financial compensation. My field of expertise is adult, commercial, and media illustration. And even though I have worked for important clients and agencies in pretty awesome projects, I want to believe that I really draw for myself at the end of the day. I love to dig into my brain, extract things that I have seen out there, mix them as well as possible, and try to make the result drinkable and tasty. Basically, this is how I work.
Mike Sandoval shares some tips that will help you turn your designs into products people want to buy Whether you are thinking of creating a line of T-shirts with your illustrations or just want your designs to flood the streets as stickers, these tips are for you. Mexican illustrator and graphic designer Mike Sandoval (@mike_sandoval_) has transformed his work into silkscreen prints, T-shirts, prints, bags, pins, skateboards, stickers and any other product you can imagine. These years of experience have helped him realize what any creative should consider if he wants to turn his designs into successful merchandising. Define your style We are not talking only in terms of aesthetics, but also about the themes you focus on, as well as the causes you support with your designs or illustrations. In order to market products with your design in them, it is highly recommended that potential buyers recognize your work as yours. Having a clearly defined style is essential.
Illustrator Samuel Rodriguez takes on the Domestika Challenge Through his work, illustrator Samuel Rodriguez (@samrodriguezart) offers a new perspective in today's cultural landscape, creating striking portraits that incorporate graphic design and unusual visual elements. With clients that range from public art commissioners and non-profit organizations to brands and corporations, his pieces are both playful and powerful. In this Domestika Challenge, for the first time ever, Rodriguez tries to recreate one of his portrait illustrations in a pixel art style. How will it turn out? Find out in the video below:
Practice with simple exercises to perfect your watercolor painting and illustration techniques Watercolor painting is one of the best ways to get into both illustration and painting, due to the nobility of the material. Unlike other methods, learning to expect unexpected results will mitigate your fear of making mistakes and encourage you to practice more and more. Learn from these 5 expert watercolor illustrators and painters with exercises that will improve your technique right away. To watch each lesson, just click on its title in red. Enjoy!
Learn how to add realism and volume to your illustrations with this simple exercise by Óscar Lloréns Light is, without a doubt, one of the most essential elements of any illustration. Understanding how it behaves in nature will make your creations look more realistic and professional. Illustrator Óscar Lloréns (@ollorens) shares some tips that you can use to play with the different light sources in your illustrations, so you can give the desired volume and depth to the objects you draw.
Art director and illustrator Mike Sandoval opens the doors of his studio and explains his creative routine during the confinement A creative workspace is always important, no more so than during a situation like confinement. Art director and illustrator Mike Sandoval (@mike_sandoval_) has made sure to create an environment that helps him in his work and allows him to continue to express his creativity in his professional and personal projects. This visual artist opens the doors of his home and studio in Mexico and explains how he works day to day as a freelance illustrator in the current situation and how he has created a space and a routine that encourages his productivity. Discover it below:
Learn to use the Shape Builder tool in Adobe Illustrator and make your workflow easier While it might not be the most well-known tool that you Adobe Illustrator has to offer, it is very useful for working with vectors. The Shape Builder tool allows you to create complex figures using basic geometric shapes and work quickly with different design types. This tool is very straight-forward and easy to use. Once you get to grips with how it works, you’ll be able to work out how to create perfect shapes very quickly using the tools offered by Adobe Illustrator. Here we explain how to use the Shape Builder tool to create shapes in Adobe Illustrator:
Learn how to draw different types of hair to add movement and personality to your characters, with Marcio Takara Hair is notoriously difficult to draw, and because it’s such an important element of any character, that can make it seem even more daunting. But as with everything, a little practice makes perfect, and professional comic book artist Marcio Takara (@marciotakara) has a few simple tips for conquering this drawing challenge. With experience working with major publishers like Marvel and DC, in this video Takara shows the process he uses to draw hair and explains how it can be used as a powerful storytelling tool to convey your character’s personality and movement.
How did illustrator Mauro Martins start drawing? Did you know he lives in Brasilia? In this Draw Yourself, Martins recalls moments from his childhood, explains the concept of Brasilia, and defines the essential ingredients of a perfect city.
These are the graphic novels most liked by the Domestika community on Instagram When you mix illustration with extraordinary narratives, you get one of the creative world's most beloved products. Graphic novels can tell complex stories, which is why they have not only achieved worldwide popularity among all kinds of audiences but also serve as an inspiration to new artists. We asked the Domestika community on Instagram what their favorite graphic novels are, and these were the 10 most voted: Scott Pilgrim, Bryan Lee O'Malley (Canada, 2004-2010) This romantic comedy was first published in a six-volume black and white series and later republished in color. It tells the story of a young musician who falls in love while searching for his own identity. It has won the Doug Wright (Best New Artist), Joe Shuster (Best Canadian Cartoonist), Harvey (twice for Best Original Script), and Eisner (Best Comedy) awards.
Learn how to make two different types of gradients (from light to dark, and color to color) with this silk painting technique, with Desedamas Silk is a material that offers numerous artistic possibilities that go beyond sewing: it is also a canvas on which to paint and capture all kinds of illustrations. The textile artist duo Desedamas (@desedamas) teach us how to take advantage of the qualities of silk and master the technique of grading in two different ways. You can see the tutorial here:
Find out what fine art printing, also known as giclée, is and why you should use it in your art projects Fine art printing, also known as giclée printing, is a printing process that allows you to obtain much better image definition in photographs, illustrations, designs, collages, and any other type of graphic representation. A giclée or fine art print is made with an inkjet printer, on cotton or natural fiber paper (such as rice paper, or bamboo), with specially formulated inks. While printers typically compose the images mixing CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black), fine art or giclée printers use other colors like light cyan, light magenta, three types of gray, and some less common tones, such as orange or green. The exact mix depends on the type of printer. Like inkjet printers, this printing process deposits the pigment in small drops on the paper, but patterns and shapes are drawn in a much more defined way. This results in a high-quality digitized printout that looks manually produced.
Learn step by step how to redraw, refine, and polish the vignettes that will shape your comic, with Charles Glaubitz Nowadays, practically all comic book artists have to know how to work both in analog, with pencil and paper, and in digital, taking advantage of the drawing tools offered by programs such as Manga Studio or, more recently, the iPad software Procreate. Procreate allows us to import our sketches and work on them with a wide range of brushes that we can customize to our liking. Mastering it is an essential skill for any good comic artist, and the good thing is that its simple interface makes things much easier. In the following video tutorial, comic book creator and multidisciplinary artist Charles Glaubitz (@mrglaubitz) shows us step by step the process to import a sketch on paper to Procreate and start working with it, to get a fully digitized comic book. Watch the video below:
The professional fashion illustrator shares her daily routine and the process behind her unique fashion collages Fashion illustration is part fantasy, part reality. Translating the artistry of high fashion into typically two-dimensional pieces of work, it records the details of actual garments while also infusing them with a dreamy, imaginative quality. Connie Lim (@_connielim_) is a London-based fashion illustrator whose work with fashion collages literally adds new layers to the traditional fashion illustration. Her distinctive style incorporates illustration and mixed-media to create unique textures and details, and her collaborations include work with brands like Louboutin, Bulgari, and L’Oreal. In this Domestika Diary, she shares her routine, gives a tour of her studio, and talks about her creative process and sources of inspiration.
Alex Hillkurtz, a storyboard artist fascinated by urban watercolor, shows us his personal vision of Madrid When it comes to the art of urban watercolor, there’s a magical mix of two elements: the unique vision of the illustrator who executes it, ensuring that no two watercolors are ever the same, and the personality of the buildings, people, and streets of the city that they’re capturing. This combination makes urban watercolor a fleeting reflection of the observer’s senses and an ever-changing environment, its results defined by the viewpoint of the artist and the location that they are seeking to capture. Few have a viewpoint as unique as that of Alex Hillkurtz. A storyboard artist with a passion for urban watercolor, he has an innate talent for reinterpreting the cities he visits through striking splashes of color and fascinating perspectives. Because of this, we jumped at the chance to accompany him during one of his drawing sessions set in the streets of Madrid. Find out more in the following Domestika Diary:
Learn how the scribbles we make when daydreaming can become art from a master in the craft: Mauro Martins Illustrator Mauro Martins (@mauromartins) stood out as an art director in advertising and later established himself as a creator, applying a refined and personal version of doodle style artwork. His characterful work has secured him commissions from companies like Absolut, Domino’s Pizza, Amarula, and many more. He believes in the ability to tell small narratives through a style of drawing we typically call doodling, drawings that can grow in complexity as we improve. Below, he explains the characteristics of this playful and attractive style of illustration.
Learn to invert color by hand with this technique from Amadeo Gonzales Amadeo Gonzales (@amadeog77) is an illustrator, drawer, lecturer, and self-taught musician. He is the creator of Carboncito, a magazine filled with graphic arts and comic strips that, since 2001, has published the work of a wide range of contemporary Latin American artists. Amadeo has also published a variety of fanzines, including Tránsito intestinal, Actitú records, Bandas inexistentes records, Frustrazine and Nervenzusammenbruch.
Pablo Velasco Bertolotto takes on the challenge set by Domestika to reproduce in detail the iconic character from the Star Trek saga Hair, eyes, clothes, hands, reflections, and textures... all in pink: the challenge proposed to the illustrator and graphic designer Pablo Velasco Bertolotto (@bertolotto) in this edition of the Domestika Challenge. He will have to play with different shades of pink to obtain the necessary contrasts and variations to give life to the character. The figure that this creative artist has chosen for this purpose is the mythical Captain Spock, from the Star Trek saga. Will he be able to perfectly reproduce, with hardly any variation in color, the creator of the 'live long and prosper' greeting? Find out in the video:
