Creation of the Death Quail

The title of this entry is improbable, even for this site. I highly doubt that if you used the google to look up “death quail” much would turn up. In any regard, I want to break the long pause since my last post with a look into one of my newest illustrations: “Warning! Giant Quail of Death”. I’ve been working steadily on it for the past week or so and feel really good about it, it’s own absurd title included.

The idea for this illustration came from looking at the work of artists I really admire (Dan May, Michael Slack, Seb Van Doninck and of course, Tim Biskup). The work I was most drawn to was half-absurd and half-fantastic. Not too cute or too dark, but a balance of the two. About half way through the sketch I knew it was a keeper. I can’t tell you how many hours I spend drawing crap things, never of the quality I’d even share in my sketchbook on this site, a place where I’m supposed to have fun and let it all hang out. I’m sure many of the illustrators I really admire have similar trash bins as mine, filled to the brim.

The goal is always to refine a good idea to a great sketch. The sketch becomes the blueprint for building shapes in Illustrator and applying texture and color via Photoshop. This process is like a good roller caster. Excitement of the idea gives way to the fear of sucking, followed by the shear joy of the creative process. A few moments are filled with dread, for sure, but overall at the end of the ride I usually feel like jumping back in line and starting another sketch.

With illustrations like this one, I usually work on a color palette before I build the shapes. This enables me to fly less blind and make some rudimentary decisions up front. I knew this one would feature retro-ish color choices, and I knew I wanted a light blue as a highlight color. After working up some color choices, I “invert” them to show me their complimentary counterparts. This helps with working up a richness to the final art work and gives me more options as I go.

The longest most drawn out process is usually applying color and texture in Photoshop. It’s laborious detail work, but the thrill of trying new techniques and not being afraid to “play around” makes it worth it. I think theres this natural tendency in illustrators to get tight when they fall in love with the thing they’re working on. I try to fight this tendency and push myself to try new things. I almost never regret it, plus there’s always the history function. Building up texture and color is a process that needs to feel a little out of control.

Overall? This roller coaster was worth the ride and I’m back in line for the next one.

This is where I ramble on and you tell me about it below. Ok, I actually hope to do more than ramble, but the jury is still out.