material

The digital world can feel so impersonal. Illustration, especially when it looks as though it is drawn by hand, adds that human touch. You’ll likely see more websites and apps utilizing illustration in their icons, error pages, and accompanying login pages to make them feel friendlier and joyful.

Sonja Stangl's Full Of series

Although many of us probably used coloured pencils as a child (if we weren’t trying to break or eat them) before disregarding them, artists David Sparshott, Sonja Stangl, Lucinda Rogers and Josie Portillo continued to use and perfect the craft, some even creating their entire style - and subsequent artistic career - around coloured pencils.

The benefits of the humble yet effective coloured pencil are immense - simplicity, portability, tactility and freedom - something valued in a modern world when time is precious. Simply pack a few pencils and a sketchbook wherever you go, and when a brilliant idea springs to mind you can sketch out ideas straight away - no chalky mess, no clean-up required. And there's something unique about the basic pencil-to-paper process that digital applications just can't mimic.

When you pick up an oil bar you will see that it has an exterior skin that needs to be removed from the tip prior to use – you can do this by twisting the end into a cloth or onto some scrap paper. I like to use baby wipes for this so they are handy for cleaning my hands as I go along. (This paint skin will then reform after being left overnight, preventing the stick from drying out further).

I begin an artwork by drawing in the main shapes, followed by the broad areas of colour and tone, which quickly establishes the composition and feel of the piece. I then begin to add further layers of colour, scratching at them or scraping them back with my fingers or a pencil to reveal what lies beneath. Drawing into the oil bar layers with a pencil adds visual tension between these fine considered lines and the larger painterly areas of colour.

This technique also means that I can achieve passages of fi ne detail that are seemingly incongruous with the thickness of the oil bar. Left overnight, the oil paint will start to dry and give a textured surface onto which I like to lay more areas of broken colour. Although I like to manipulate colours on the page with my hands, blending sticks are available to make more subtle mixes. Alternatively you can use more traditional oil paint mediums to move the pigment about.

Janette Phillips,
Annie’s Curly Handled Jug

Based in Portland OR, Lisa Congdon is a fine artist, illustrator and author best known for her colourful paintings and hand lettering (above). While she still occasionally uses gouache paint to make illustrations, she transitioned to digital drawing for most of her client work over a year ago.

By comparison, Dutch artist and illustrator Rick Berkelmans aka Hedof uses his iPad more for playing and sketching. He says that “I really like the fact that it works like a sketchbook where you can quickly erase, undo, scale and share. It just speeds up the process of designing.”

Amelia also advices you to “try out all of the brushes on whichever app you prefer, and practice drawing the world around you. I think this is the best way to get used to drawing on the screen, and also helps to find which brushes replicate the traditional media that you enjoy using.”