How I Create An Editorial Illustration

Recently, I created an illustration for the Mississippi Free Press's Voices column. The article entitled, "The Love Of Mississippi Women Restored Village COVID-19 Broke", was written by  Shanina Carmichael, in which she shares her experience enduring Mississippi relationships with the challenges of COVID-19. 

I wanted to share how I created the illustration with images in this particular blog. Since the  Voices article was about the need for community during Covid-19's quarantine, I wanted to express that in the artwork. I pulled together a few reference images of women leaning on one another because that was the essence of the writing.

I began by sketching the women and figuring out which placement would work best for the sizing specifications for the online publication. I worked with about 12in x 8in, which is typically the standard size for all the banners I've created for MFP. 

Sketch for MFP illustration (1)

Sketch for MFP illustration (2)

I knew that I wanted there to be some sort of pattern on the women's clothing, so I began creating flower motifs that can be turned into a pattern.

Floral Sketch for Pattern Design

The color palette comes into play with how I'd like the work to feel. I usually look at a color wheel to determine what colors I think will complement one another and best fit the mood of the illustration. For this piece, I wanted to use purple. Purples are a magnetic color that pairs well with greens and yellows. So that the floral pattern would stick out, I made them a bold yellow. The color palette complemented the women's skin tones, too.

Background Texture

Floral Motifs

Once I have all of my elements painted on watercolor paper, I scan them into my computer and correct any mistakes using Photoshop. 

Illustration Work In Process

Here's the final piece:

 Check out the article by visiting this link: "The Love Of Mississippi Women Restored Village COVID-19 Broke"