#weeklyillos

My biggest challenge was definitely the texturing process of the water. To make it feel alive, I manually warped the lane lines underwater to simulate refraction and used different textured watercolor brushes to achieve the look of a realistic water surface. To add even more realism, I varied the water contact of each body to create interesting layering and depth. As a final touch, I incorporated dramatic sunlight beaming into the room, giving the whole scene a polished feel. This process taught me a lot about how to combine texture and lighting to make a scene feel dynamic and alive, and I’m looking forward to using these techniques in the future.

As an enthusiastic doodler, I wanted to get back into using outlines. I’d never used Photoshop for drawing before, but I tried the Brush Pen and immediately fell in love with its chunky and organic look, which renewed my enthusiasm for outline-based illustration. The biggest challenge I faced was color balance. With so many different products, the illustration could have easily looked chaotic. My method to overcome this was to make each item stand out but also feel cohesive. I achieved this by strategically distributing a core set of colors across the entire product range. This "mix and matching" of colors created a balanced distribution that makes the whole composition feel unified and harmonious.

For this week's theme on “Tension & Focal Point,” I immediately had the idea of a giant wave forming in front of a surfer standing on a beach. This concept seemed perfect for reflecting the theme. I never painted waves before and texturing was always a difficult part of illustrating for me, so that was a new technical challenge I wanted to tackle. I tried to mimic an analog painting style for the wave, using different rough brushes to build up the form and achieve the dynamic power of the water. In comparison, the small figure of the surfer with his yellow surfboard creates a powerful focal point. This gets emphasised through a few key choices: the massive scale of the wave, the choice of complementary colors and the strong contrast in lights and shadows right at the center. The challenge to avoid distraction from the surfer by adding too much detail to the wave was a big one. But I learned a lot about how to use different brushes and blending to help guide the viewer’s eye and achieve the impactful end result.

This illustration really got me into working with Adobe Illustrator, because I haven’t tried vector illustration much before, so it was a great learning curve for me on how to use the tools and effects of the program to create the end result. It really motivates me to try out more different techniques in the future on my illustration journey, but first: grab a snack!

I've always been fascinated by concept artists who can create entire landscapes with just a few brushstrokes. I wanted to try this minimalist approach for this illustration. My concept was a natural cliff formation on a coastline, where a lonely seagull looks out over the sea towards a flock of other gulls, all bathed in the soft light of the golden hour. The positioning of the cliffs and the curve of the beach were intended to guide the viewer's eye from the seagull in the foreground along a natural leading line to the flock in the distance. Using a deliberately limited color palette, I tried to implement this concept with simple shapes. This wasn't as easy as it sounds, as I often had to resist the temptation to add more detail. Placing the shadows correctly also proved to be more challenging than I initially thought, due to the specific lighting in the illustration. However, exploring the interplay between the foreground and background, the colors, and the overall composition was a very interesting process.

I stumbled upon the idea for this illustration while scrolling through Instagram, where I saw a post by Victoria Rose Richards, who creates beautiful cross-stitched aerial landscapes. My concept was to divide my landscape into two layers: the analog and the digital. To achieve this, I painted the fields and bodies of water using watercolors, creating an organic and textured look. In contrast, the top layer represents the digital realm, composed of clean-edged clouds and geometric shapes. A red airplane, positioned according to the golden ratio, serves as the focal point of the illustration. This fusion adds a depth to the overall picture that wouldn't be possible with a single medium. Although the two layers are so distinct, they complement each other perfectly, resulting in the beautiful composition I had envisioned.

Music - that was the first thing that came to my mind when I read the topic "Composition & Scale". My goal was to combine the visual definition with the musical one. The idea of having cars drive as musical notes on staves seemed very exciting, and I wanted to illustrate it in a style I had never tried before: isometric. With this style I had the option to choose this unique perspective with the diagonal leading lines to achieve my vision. I was inspired by the mobile game "Crossy Road," which has a similar look and theme. As someone who usually works with more details, I challenged myself to use simple shapes and colors for this illustration, which was a great approach to learn something new and expand my drawing skills.