The
Process of Illustration in
Chalk
By
Bill Thomson, author and
illustrator
Every illustration that I create
starts with an idea. I explore different idea possibilities by doing a series of
rough thumbnail sketches, usually dozens for each illustration. These sketches
clarify the content of my paintings and begin to establish general compositions.
For this illustration, my idea is to show two children in a tube slide with a
dinosaur peeking in at them.
Once I settle on an idea, the
next step is to get visual information to help me bring my idea to life. Because
I work realistically, every part of my painting must look equally convincing. To
assist me, I take reference photographs to look at while I am painting. I take
hundreds of reference photographs for each illustration and between 5,000-10,000
photographs per book.
I don’t rely on any single
photograph, but look at the best parts from numerous photos and make changes
freely. Here you see photographs of a boy, a girl and a slide interior that was
some of my main reference sources for this illustration. Because there are no
dinosaurs to photograph, I made one out of clay. Photos of lizards and
alligators also helped me create realistic details for the dinosaur.
Looking at the best parts of
several photos, I make a detailed pencil drawing on watercolor board working out
everything in the composition. I try to make my drawings dynamic and use a
variety of perspectives so the reader will feel like they are part of the scene.
I also have to carefully plan the placement of all the elements and allow room
for the book’s fold and typography (if there is any).
Next, I paint over the
entire drawing with a mixture of gesso and yellow ochre acrylic paint. This
eliminates all the white areas and gives my painting a warm base color. Then I
paint over the entire image again with a thin wash of purple oil paint. After
the oil paint dries, I erase all of the light areas with a kneaded eraser. This
creates a nice underlying texture, and separates everything in sunlight (warm
color) and shadow (cool color).
Then, I do a very detailed
painting using acrylic paint and a group of very fine brushes. This is the most
important and time-consuming part of my process. In this illustration, I also
used an airbrush on the blue sky and tube interior. I don’t really like
airbrushes, and use them only to apply large, flat areas of color.
As the final step, I go over
nearly everything again with colored pencils. This allows me to add further
details and all the finishing touches to my illustrations. This stage is also
quite time consuming, but I enjoy it the most. Each illustration takes anywhere
from 60-120 hours to complete depending on its complexity.
