Context: For those who don’t know, I am writing my first book. It is a memoir about the last 6 years I’ve spent exploring the natural world. In it, I talk about my adventures running after snakes, running away from elephants and much more! This post marks a year of working on the draft.
Since I am an artist and my book is about wildlife, making illustrations seems like a no-brainer. But truth be told, the idea never occurred to me. It was only after my father repeatedly suggested it to me that it sank in. And so, for the past few weeks, I’ve been diligently penning away at my sketchbook.
The book has 11 chapters (as of now), and I’ve planned to have one illustration at the beginning of each chapter. Here are the lessons I learned along the way
- Creativity vs. Deadlines: Doing art for the craft’s sake is one thing. But doing art for a project is a whole other kettle of fish. Here, you have a clear goal. And so that entails a certain discipline. You can’t just work when inspiration strikes; you need to be at it until you’ve completed everything. Moreover, I realised that I needed a consistent style across all the illustrations. I had to take a structured approach for each of the illustrations; that meant meticulously going over each line (as opposed to my typical loose, gestural style). I had to prioritise anatomical detail over artistic flair.
- Not all pieces will work out: To achieve 11 usable illustrations, I made 17 drawings. Six just ended up being too inferior to consider, but that is the nature of this endeavour. Some pieces just aren’t going to hit the mark. It is important not to lose your morale during these instances. Taking it in your stride is the only way forward.
- Selecting the right subject: For some of the illustrations, I chose an animal that was simply beyond my artistic capabilities. For example, I’ve learnt that drawing snakes is much more complex than it appears. These creatures have a geometric structure that does not gel with my loose, gestural style. As a result, I had to be a lot more rigid in my approach, which tested my creative limits. But birds had a lot of creative leeway, so my bird illustrations came out well. Choosing the right subject (animals, in this case) can make all the difference.
- Planning the layout and position of the subject: Even after choosing the right animal, you must choose the right angle. Some angles just don’t work artistically. I have no tangible way of explaining why. They just don’t. I ended up drawing three elephants until I landed with something that I liked. So make sure to closely study your photo reference before you start.
- Doing extra for redundancy: I’ve finished 11 sketches, but I’m doing some more to have a few options to play around with. Later, you might realise that a specific illustration just doesn’t fit with the chapter and so on. Having that optionality helps you in the long run.
- Just get started!: Procrastination is the biggest enemy. Just get started-the rest will fall in place.
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2 Responses
Takes a lot of hard work and patience. Well done!
Thank you so much! It was a lot of hard work but it was also very fun 🙂