This weekend, instead of preparing for being a guest blogger, I made two illustrations for The New York Times. I thought I’d share some of the process.
The first one was about polar bears and the climate changes. I made a polar bear in bright somewhat icey colours at first. I couldn’t help myself from thinking that this was a job for Loise. They didn’t like the tear and it was supposed to be in black and white. I rarely make black and white illustrations, you have to think in another way – in light and dark. So I started over but kept the same bear and gave it a polar bear friend, new icebergs.
They didn’t like the friend, too cartoon like, this was a serious article. And there was changes in the size. Now the polar bear friend is floating on an iceberg outside the picture and the size is changed. I think the new size made it better. This is the final illustration. It was on the Op-ed page this saturday.
The second illustration was about a homeless man who get his identity stolen. He get’s aware of it when he visits the hospital. This time I was braver ;) and started with a really rough sketch, just to show the idea. I had worked with this person one time before so I knew she was familiar with my work.
They liked the idea but didn’t think the nurse was necessary. I started working with that, first I made the hospital beds then I place a “homeless” person on them, looking much alike each other. What does a homeless person look like? I thought they had to have much clothes to keep warm, no bright colours. They wanted to have some scribblings in the back, as from a chart or something like that. This is how it came up.
Here is a link to the Last Iceberg that would fit well with my polarbear illustration. Via Joanna’s blog.
19 Comments
wow thanks for showing the process. It’s really interesting to see how particular they can get- but I think their comments were good. In both case the end result came out fantastic. it’s so exciting that your work is appearing in such major publications. Congrats!
thank you for sharing your way to work, its very intressting!
greetings from switzerland, christa
It´s great to hear about the working process…and in N.Y.T is not the worst place to get published…cool.
How did you make all the changes…in hand or on computer???
Everytime I see a new illustration from your hand I get this
surprised WHOUU feeling…in a very happy way… Thank you for lovely inspiration…
You are made of something very special.. :)
Thanks for sharing the process of working with the NYT! I have to say, I love the original polar bear illustration you did for them…:)
This is fantastic. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a blog entry so carefully! I will be linking to this from my blog, because I know a few other illustrators who would benefit from reading this process. Thank you so much.
-Jaye
I’m a graphic designer who is well (sometimes painfully) aware of what goes into finishing a project, but it this was a great peek into an illustrators process! Thanks for the insight!
My husband and I are just starting to take on jobs, so it was nice to read this and know a little more what we can expect from the process of working with other companies. Thanks!
loved this! thank you for sharing your process. the illustrations are gorgeous! i was curious too about how you are making the pieces and the changes (computer/by hand)?
Both. Both by hand and using the computer.
seeing the process behind your beautiful finished illustrations is both inspiring and reassuring. thank you so much for the post – and congrats on the nyt assignment!
Camilla,
Thanks for this post and for showing the process – very interesting and informative!
Camilla, I loved all 3 illustrations. but after reading the article, the tear was more than appropriate. It was perfect!
Camilla, I loved this! Such a treat to get a sneak peek into your process…
thanks…very nice post! allways use colors becouse you handle them very good.
i loved it
That’s so much hard work! For me it’s hard to understand that they said no to the first illustrations: I love them all very much! The final illustration on the polar bear is beautiful, but the first one in color is still my favorite. Love to see a print of that one for sale somewhere…
Your polar bears are lovely, Camilla. I love him with the tear and without. You did a super, super job. xo lj
Thanks for sharing, Camilla! I LOVE seeing the creative process in action. Well done!
Anne
Thanks for sharing this Camilla, I think it was a most interesting read. Being an illustrator and an artist is really two completely different things!
Great work. Thank you for sharing your process.
Leave a Comment