Monday, February 22, 2021

A Recipe for Illustrations

By Meilo So

When people ask me questions regarding my illustrative process, they are more interested in the start of it: How do you begin? How did you do the research? Do you do thumbnails? How many sketches do you do before you find the one you like for the page? Shamelessly, I have to admit all these procedures require very little effort for me. From my experience a good idea will rarely come when toying on the desk. Going for a coffee usually works, if not, perhaps on a visit to the toilet, suddenly an idea will just pop into my head  from nowhere, perfectly formed and designed.

Many illustrators find it is best to work through a series of sketches, and I have tried this, only to find the one I go for is always the first one, so now I have learnt to trust this intuition, and try not to tamper with it.

How about research? It is safe for me to say the writers will have done plenty of valuable  research already. What I need to do is to read and understand the writings properly. I step inside the world of the author, and at the beginning it is mysterious and dark.Then after a while I feel and find the light switch. Suddenly everything comes to light. It is quite simple.

While starting work is like going on a jaunt to the food market when you are on holiday, finishing the job is more like the chef deciding what to put on the plate. All the ingredients are in front of you: for a weekly editorial illustration, an appetizer is required, a glossy magazine may like a little delicate dessert, some home cooking for a book cover, and for a children’s picture book, a banquet is called for. What you see on the plate will reflect the experience, judgement, and innovation of the chefs, and that is work.           

Being a Hong Kong-born Chinese, I am familiar with the Asian style of painting, and the calligraphic brush painting seems to please the public more than others. Like a Chinese calligrapher, I used to cut up a pile of watercolor paper, a bit of flying ink, a dash here, a blob there and you hope the picture will work like the master Qi Baishi ’s drawings of his shrimps and crabs. Now and again it worked, after doing two dozen drawings (and wasting 40 sheets of paper) I would find the type of marks that would make the picture work.

Once I was told by a designer that he actually preferred the image on the back of the artwork where I had ruthlessly made a big cross on it. Since then I have learned never to discard anything, or I should destroy everything.                                                 

With my growing interest in illustrating the content over the superficial appearance I have changed my method of work. Now I rarely use more than one piece of paper for each illustration (which saves a lot of material costs). I still like to keep the freshness of the Chinese painting, but I have learned to let every stage tell me what to do next, a bit like the chefs would taste and balance their cooking all the way. I want to stay focused on the idea or emotion to make sure they are properly conveyed, rather than getting distracted by some decorative arrangement that I am starting to fall in love with. Or perhaps spending more time working on the atmosphere of the setting that I am creating, I need to step back to make those decisions.

Very often my uncertainty of what to do next or my surplus enthusiasm might make me overwork the image. In desperation I would want to tear it up and start again, but now I take a deep breath and put it aside and have a fresh look a few days later.

Once the picture has dried I find it more forgiving, and perhaps I will paint over certain areas and work on it, without having to  start from scratch. Every illustrator will probably have faced times when they knew the pictures “had” been better, when there was still a bit of life before we worked them into their coffins. In the old days, all we could do was weep, but in this digital age, we can bring the dead to life again by pressing “Undo”.    

         


That is one great thing about digital illustration. It used to bother me when the piece of artwork did not look fresh, but experience has told me that what the reader is seeing is not my artwork but a print where the surface is always smooth and pleasing, and that is another great thing about digital illustrations.

What really matters before we decide  that the work is done? Let’s go back to the chefs and their plates. If the writers have given us the best ingredients, let the ingredients shine on the plate, keep it simple. If the ingredients are not so great, maybe more seasoning and spices are needed for enhancement, but still, never overpowering. The worst case would be to put too much on the plate where everything is lost and confused. And that is the time we ought to consider scraping the plate and starting all over again.

 ACTIVITY

Go to your favorite cafe/diner/your own kitchen. Open up a napkin-sized paper you have folded in half (or use a real napkin). Open it so it is like a double page spread. In less than 100 words, write on one side one thing that you find interesting in the cafe. Perhaps the tables, the cups, the pancakes, the bacon, the people, etc. Then on the other side make an illustration that you think could accompany your writing. Pay attention to the details that have not been mentioned in the writing and see if you can illustrate that.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Meilo So is the illustrator for many books including Follow the Moon Home; Water Rolls, Water Rises; Pale Male the Citizen Hawk; Otters Love to Play; and her recent book, Butterflies Belong Here published by Chronicle Books.

Meilo was born in Hong Kong and now lives in the Shetland Isles off the northeast tip of Scotland with her husband and daughter, two cats, a cockerel, and two hens.

54 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing your creative process!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My dad is a creative genius who oftentimes sketches out his plans for woodworking and machinery on napkins - if that is the only paper available to him at the time of inspiration. Your idea made me think of Dad and using a napkin for writing ideas makes me smile.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've enjoyed the art in your books that I've read, and I liked learning about your approach to illustration, Meilo. Now I'm eager to try the activity you suggested!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love how your creative process is like making a meal. I'm always amazed how illustrators like you add needed ingredients that have not been mentioned in the recipe/writing!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I enjoyed learning about your process. I look forward to doing the activity and checking out your books. I love your image of stepping into the author's story and looking around for the light switch. Illustrations definitely help illuminate the story!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Can't illustrate anything more than stick figures but loved hearing about your process!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you for sharing your process and the interesting activity idea.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you Meilo So for sharing your real thoughts about the process you use. Your work is lovely and soft. I really like your statement , " but experience has told me that what the reader is seeing is not my artwork but a print where the surface is always smooth and pleasing," I need to remember that!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for sharing your method of work. I find it very interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you for such a lovely post. I really enjoyed reading it and learning about the process you use when working on your illustrations. This sentence is going up on my bulletin board: "If the writers have given us the best ingredients, let the ingredients shine on the plate, keep it simple." It will remind me that as an author, I always need to do my best writing before the illustrator takes over. Although we work separately, it's a partnership that takes both of us adding ingredients to make the final product perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love the chef/cooking analogy, and I am a HUGE fan of your art! Three of my favorites of yours are Otters Love to Play; Pale Male & Alex the Parrot--very beautiful!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. That was fun to read. I love brush painting, and took a class... but have discovered I'm better off sticking to words and admiring the wonderful artwork my illustrating friends can create through the tip of a brush or pen.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Meilo, I am impressed (and jealous) of your artist skills. I too find I am most inspired when I am moving, not sitting around waiting for an idea to develop, but I would give anything to have the ability to illustrate as well!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you for sharing your thoughts in this post, Meilo! Although I am not an artist, I would like to try your activity suggestion. I think it will help me understand how important it is to leave room for the illustrator.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Meilo, thank you! It seems to me that you have learned to be kind with yourself as you have learned your process. I can interpret your advice as a writer: trust your instinct, focus on content versus superficial appearance, remember what isn't being explicitly described although you are communicating it (or trying to). I enjoyed your activity which focused on the cookbook stand in our kitchen which holds copies of healthy and not-so healthy, successful and less-than-successful recipes. My illustration was a cartoon-like grid of 30 squares showing a couple eating and smiling at each other night after night. Then I realized it could be just one of those images with images of fish and veggies and cakes and cookies floating around them, or maybe not! Anyway, thank you! I think it's valuable for me to think about how an artist might illustrate what one is writing.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow!! Loved this challenge and your process explanation!! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Well, I am no artist, but I love to read about the creative process and I really admire your confidence. Draw on! Thanks for the post.

    ReplyDelete
  19. This posting was very helpful in understanding the illustrative process. Working on the Activity was fun! When the contractor installed the ceiling lights over the kitchen sink, my immediate reaction was "ET!!" I can now say that the ET lights are in my kitchen!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Meilo,
    i liked your quote: I have learned to let every stage tell me what to do next, a bit like the chefs would taste and balance their cooking all the way.It is not only about the facts. It is the emotion behind the facts and the journey is to go step by step allowing my intuition to lead.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I love your book about Pale Male! Thanks for the insight into your work!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Your process makes my heart sing. Thank-you for sharing with honesty

    ReplyDelete
  23. Meilo, WOW! I love the activity challenge. As a baker, I have been binging on the Great British Bakeoff - when I need to decompress - and your analogy of creating illustrations really connected with me. I found it interesting that the illustrator "step[s] inside the world of the author, and at the beginning it is mysterious and dark." But we do live with these characters, animals, or topics for a year or two (or many more) so it is easy to forget that not everyone else knows the tiny fascinating facts and breaking science that we've learned. I love that you help make the books tantalizing to the senses! Thanks for a great post.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I love how you explained this with comparisons to cooking. It makes total sense to me! Less is more is sometimes a motto that can be applied to this process. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and journeys.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Meilo, love your recipe for illustrations. Thank you for sharing your process :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Thank you, Meilo. I was surprised how much of your illustration process applies to writing. Trust your process. Step inside the world. Create. Step back. Reflect.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Thanks for sharing. This sounds like a fun activity for illustrating.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thank you so much, Meilo, for painting this honest and inspiring picture of your process. I appreciate the activity you offer and look forward to seeing what appears. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  29. Thank you so much, Meilo, for painting this honest and inspiring picture of your process. I appreciate the activity you offer and look forward to seeing what appears. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Wow! One piece of paper! That's impressive! Thank you for the insight into your process.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Thank you for sharing your creative process with us, Meilo.

    The chef plate analogy made this post even more tantalizing.

    Suzy Leopold

    ReplyDelete
  32. As someone who "paints" with words, I found this very helpful! Thank you for sharing your kitchen with us.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thank you for sharing your artistic insights with us! I am looking forward to trying out the cafe' activity!!!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Thank you for the inspiration and the practical advice.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I am an artist, but not an illustrator, so it's fascinating to hear other artist share where they get their inspirations.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Interesting to read about your creative process. I love the picture with the little girl and the bookshelves.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Thank you for providing us a peek into your inspiring creative process!

    ReplyDelete
  38. Great tips! I don't usually draw but feel inspired to try again after many years (I drew a lot when younger).

    ReplyDelete
  39. I'm looking forward to doing this activity.

    ReplyDelete
  40. I enjoy sketching and have so much admiration for illustrators. What a lovely activity concept. Can't wait to try it out!

    Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Thank you, Meilo! I'm not an illustrator but I enjoyed your post and I love your work. My first introduction to you is still one of my favorite books: Tasty Baby Belly Buttons! I read it every year to my elementary students. They loved the story and your artwork!

    ReplyDelete
  42. A fellow Hong Konger who loves calligraphic brush art! Meilo has inspired me to keep up with my ink drawings.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Thanks for sharing your process. I loved the analogy of not putting too many items on a plate!

    ReplyDelete
  44. Thanks for the interesting insight into your process. As a writer only, this helps me see how important my thorough research is to the illustrator as well.

    ReplyDelete
  45. I can't wait to try this activity-- thank you! I'm always interested in tips and tricks to help make sure my writing is leaving room for the illustrator's process.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Thank you for letting us into your kitchen to see a master chef at work. I can see why you prefer digital illustrations, one slip of the paintbrush can wreak havoc on an illustration.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Thanks for this post, Meilo! Beautiful art. I love the suggested activity, too, and look forward to trying it later this year.

    ReplyDelete
  48. As a writer only, I admire the images illustrators create and find the various processes interesting. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  49. I love Follow the Moon Home. Must get my hands on Butterflies Belong Here. Love how you equated starting to work like going to the food store, finishing like a chef.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Thank you, Meilo! Great prompt and practice! I like your activity as I can practice my writing and drawing skills; both need a lot of work.

    ReplyDelete
  51. I'm always fascinated by the illustrator's process. Your activity suggestion is intriguing. I just may try it. Thanks for sharing, Meilo!
    P.S. I visited the Shetland Isles in August 2019. Very beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  52. Very interesting post! Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  53. Meilo, such an interesting way to describe the relationship between text and illustration! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete