Illustration for an article in the Food section of The Skinny, October 2020.
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Thought I'd share the process of this one. I started by sketching out some characters on paper, scanning them, tracing them in Photoshop and playing around with the composition.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/8cd3c24b74f74c0e5e68982446405e18/887a0f7a-8440-42af-8fdb-72ed42ee1064_rw_1920.jpg?h=99a3386582ddd096432c12151da2011f)
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The article is about two queer, community-focussed cafes opening in Edinburgh and Glasgow, so I decided to approach it with the concept of "members of the community come to build a space together". I considered having people walk around with literal building materials, but I'm not so good at drawing ladders and hammers.
The AD asked me to add a few more characters, which I did. Makes sense to have people drinking coffee in an Illustration about a cafe, huh?
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![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/8cd3c24b74f74c0e5e68982446405e18/7c62da5b-cde9-4bb7-b551-31f23ba4faa0_rw_1920.jpg?h=e3e582d6ef0b09fec448d0a2b4b3cbe7)
I briefly contemplated adding a face mask to the dog but ultimately decided against it - seems a bit controversial, and I really wanted to draw the dog's face.
I knew from the beginning I wanted to keep the background white, but somehow the characters seemed to awkwardly float around so I added some shadows. One of my favourite parts of finishing an Illustration is adding the little details - like the sign writing on the chalkboard, the stripes on the kid's socks and the texture on the lady's jacket.
I knew from the beginning I wanted to keep the background white, but somehow the characters seemed to awkwardly float around so I added some shadows. One of my favourite parts of finishing an Illustration is adding the little details - like the sign writing on the chalkboard, the stripes on the kid's socks and the texture on the lady's jacket.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/8cd3c24b74f74c0e5e68982446405e18/2a44a381-cbef-4712-b936-a4a3e1c37292_rw_1920.jpg?h=b31fc1dae8b9893985d343996949cc39)