Experimenting with markers

Drawing Nature

Hey all,

Welcome to Drawing Nature, the companion newsletter to Human Nature where I talk about my illustration process.

Today I want to talk about last week’s Bipolar Disorder illustration, and I promise not to make it as technical and dull as the last one!

So here are some sketches to start off with, nice and light-hearted.

Seville sketches in markers and graphite aquarelle

Recently, I have been experimenting with non-digital ways to add colour to my drawings. I’d been wanting to try out markers for a while, because I thought they’d be good for adding big blocks of colour and could complement the pencil textures well. My friend Zosia had given me a bunch of them that she didn’t use, and I tested them out in my sketchbook on a recent trip to Seville. I quite liked the pencil-marker combination, with the subtle variations in colour and texture of the markers and their vivid colours contrasted with the dark and gritty pencil marks. So I decided to have a go at using them in an illustration.

Bipolar disorder original drawing

For the most recent Human Nature article on bipolar disorder, I wanted to create an illustration that showed two opposite emotional states existing within one person. And although it is a bit cliché, I felt like drawing someone looking at their own reflection in water. I thought that the red of the reflection would provide enough of a contrast to the surrounding cool and serene colours to communicate the message, but I don’t think it did. I was happy enough with it as a drawing though and would definitely like to continue incorporating markers into my illustrations, even though they have a few downsides.