A Look at Process

September's Illoguild Q&A

I’m a member of the international group of picture book illustrators called Illoguild. Each month, we each answer a question here on Substack. For September, that question was: “If you are doing an assignment - how do you take it from initial requirements to a completed artwork?”

My answer: What’s Your Spin, Schedule Check-In, Break It Down & Get To Work!

What’s Your Spin: For me, having a unique take on a project is important. There’s a reason someone has hired me or there’s a point of view I want to communicate when adding work to my portfolio.

In my first career as a Graphic Designer and then Creative Director, I worked for Big Blue Dot - a firm that specialized in design for the audience of kids and families. I was lucky enough to intern there in high school and when I went to art school I had a mission: create a portfolio that would get me a job there. So, for every assignment, I filtered things through that lens. An annual report? I did it for a Children’s Museum. An invitation? I created work for a Children’s non-profit fundraiser. A web site? I designed for a kids’ tv show. Then, when I graduated, I had a portfolio filled with the work I wanted to get.

Now that I’ve been taking illustration classes for the last couple of years, I have made another lens: My list of 100 things I want to draw. I have a giant white board in my studio that has my list of favorite things on it. I got this idea from an interview with agent Chad W. Beckerman. And it’s how I’ve filtered all my class assignments. Right now, I’m working on a home decor collection and was given a mood board with fancy regency era motifs and colors and I’ve combined it with one of my favorite things to draw: Dinosaurs. That means that while my collection will be weird, and not something everyone will love, it will have my voice and if someone ever does want dinosaur rugs, maybe they’ll ask to work with me.

Schedule Check-In: Basically checking the deadline and figuring out how much time I have in my schedule in order to complete the assignment and make the most impact available with the time I have.

Break It Down: Break the assignment into smaller tasks, put those tasks into a list and check them off one by one. If I’m stuck on one part or procrastinating, it probably means that list item is too big or not specific enough and I need to break it down even more.

Get To Work: Check off those lists! Doing tiny tasks adds up, and I love checking things off of a list. It turns a job into a game. I usually have a big list and then I put three items into my calendar per day. Once I’ve done the three most important things, I can add more from the bigger list. Three items is a good amount. It’s respectable, but also not intimidating. It’s the magic number (for me, at least).

What are your tips for getting to work and completing assignments? Let me know if you found any of these helpful! Process is an always evolving thing and I’m constantly fine tuning and adjusting things as I go, so I’d love to know how you tackle things too!