Wildlife Illustration
New for 2024, I am delighted to offer wildlife illustration as part of my commission-based work. In this blog post I delve a little further into how illustration commissions work, my illustration process and touch upon the wide potential for their application.
How illustration commissions work
Commissioning an illustration is a little different to the process for my wildlife portrait and pet portrait commissions.
Illustration artwork is licenced for a specified use; the original artwork is retained by the artist and, typically, a high quality image file is sent over to the client to be incorporated into their particular project. The usage of the illustration is bespoke and this is where traditional monochrome graphite illustration is particularly suited through the versatility of its application and the excellent reproduction quality and depth of tonal detail.
In the age of AI generated images and digital art, incorporating traditional hand drawn illustration into a project adds a timeless, personal and authentic touch.
The illustration process
My specialism in realistic illustrations of wildlife is underpinned by a twenty(plus)-year background in ecology, which enables me to bring an additional layer of understanding and authenticity to the artwork.
There are a couple of options when deciding on the best illustration(s) for a project. The first involves me working with the client to create a bespoke illustration(s); the second option is for the client to licence an existing illustration(s). In the first instance I work up a draft drawing based on the brief before progressing this into the finished artwork.
As a member of the Association of Illustrators, all of my illustration work adheres to standard industry best practice.
Use cases
From single subjects to more complex illustrations, my drawings can be used for a wide range of projects, from articles, leaflets and books, to products and merchandise, through to invitations, reports, marketing and sales material. Potential clients include wildlife and environmental organisations, private companies, publishers, authors and design agencies.
Monochrome illustration that is hand drawn using traditional methods provides an elegant and eye-catching addition to a broad range of applications, working beautifully alongside contemporary software-designed deliverables.
The versatility of traditional hand drawn illustration
As a quick exercise for fun and to demonstrate the adaptability of the artwork to the needs of a project and use of colour, I applied three of my drawings to an example opening page of a book (as above). In the first two examples the illustrations are in their graphite monochrome form, whilst the third example has been modified to match the green of the background page colour, all striking in their own right. Adding illustrations in this way can really bring a book to life – enthralling and engaging the reader.
I hope you’ve enjoyed finding out more about my wildlife illustration work in this blog post. Thanks as always for your interest and for reading this far. If you would like to find out more about commissioning an illustration(s), head over to my dedicated page here and please do share with anyone else you think may be interested.