Wishing you a triangular August
Creating and editing an illustration, and the power of triangles
Hello friends,
How are you? Hope you’re well and happy and having a cosy day so far.
Recently, I went on a little mouse drawing kick, so I thought I’d just share the process with you here today. Sound good? Okay, lets go!
One day, this little guy appeared in my sketchbook. He seemed like a nice little chap, so I decided to draw him in more depth.
For most illustrations, I do two rough drawings: one in my sketchbook (above) and a more detailed one in Photoshop or Procreate (below). I think the double rough helps me figure more things out.
The rough soon translated into a first draft of a colour illustration.
I liked the general composition, the triangle formed by the mouse character looking down at the fish in the water.
Triangles are always a strong compositional tool when creating an illustration. There are so many reasons why triangles work well in art. They draw the eye to the key elements, and create balance that’s a little off balance. They create a sense of stability, while also having energy and movement. They’re more dynamic and surprising with a rectangle or a square.
If you will indulge me on a triangle tangent, let me show you one of my favourite paintings as a more exaggerated example:
What I like about this painting is how surprising the composition is. And the surprisingness of the layout reinforces the emotions of the sculptor. It feels much more modern than it is because it feels like a candid photo, off balance and quickly snapped.
And in that composition there are… so many triangles!
The focus point taking the viewer’s eye from the sculptor on the right up to the face of his sculpture; both of the characters’ bodies themselves; the rug; even the floor. Triangle city!
Imagine if this was actually painted straight on. Please excuse a quickly photoshopped version of this to show what I mean:
This is a way less interesting composition, because it’s so stable. It feels more predictable, more static, and doesn’t convey the shock of the moment so much. It even brings the shapes of the two characters into more grounded and therefore less interesting shapes because although they haven’t changed, their immediate surroundings have.
Okay, back to my mouse illustration:
Forgetting triangles for a second, something wasn’t quite working with the first colour version. It wasn’t quite clicking into place for me. Something was missing.
The colours in the original version are too same-y and too pale. There needs to be a little more punch. Nothing is automatically drawing your eye. The palette in the rough drawing seems way more saturated and bright than the illustration itself.
I also needed to relook at the seaweed (riverweed? Is that a thing?) and the dragonflies. Both don’t feel like they are taking up enough visual space, which was making the background feel a bit empty - and in turn that was making the mouse character feel oversized, human rather than mouse sized.
So! Back to the drawing board (literally).
I added a lot more saturation and contrast into the illustration, and turned the little jacket red to make it - and therefore the character - stand out more.
Now, as well as the original triangle formed by the mouse character looking down at the fish in the water, we also have a triangle of of the orange/red, created from the jacket and the fish.
I enlarged the dragonflies, and the create their own little triangles of interest, two small ones balanced by the big one.
I redrew the riverweed (we’re committing to it) as two varied shapes with more contrast, creating more movement.
Here’s a triangle-free illustration for you:
What do you think?
Other illustrators, how do you go through the process of making an illustration? What things do you think about during the process?
What Will I Be From A-Z is out in the UK! Yay! Order yourself a copy online or from your local bookshop, or order it to be borrowed from your local library!
And author Laura W Carter was on TV talking about it, and our previous book!
✱ A star this month has been spending time with friends! In beer gardens, on picnics, at bbqs, in the sun, in the rain, drinking Aperol, warming hands by the fire, dressing as Mamma Mia. I’m very lucky to have had a friend-filled month.
✱ This is my favourite song this month
✺ We have a bunch of different visitors coming to stay this August, and I’m looking looking forward to doing some Cambridge-y things!
Ok, that’s all from me. Have a sunny day!
Hugs, Anna x
This is unbelievably helpful, SAVING THIS IMMEDIATELY XXX