Research & reference
When doing an illustration based on a book, it’s usually a good idea to try to read at least some of the source material. This isn’t always possible, especially with a book that hasn’t been published yet. Fortunately, when I first started doing the Game of Thrones art last year, I went out and bought a couple of books in that acclaimed fantasy series and read through them, to get a working familiarity with the characters and their world.
Also, the Web is obviously a great place for reference. There happen to be several sites specializing in this series, so rather than thumb my way through the books to find the passages describing the “Unsullied”, I just Googled to find them. You never can tell when a small detail from a book, or a description from a fan online will suddenly give you a great idea to bring your illustration to life.
This time out, several details were important: the “Unsullied” are master fighters, eunuchs, and have some resemblance to Roman infantry. A large and bulky soldier came to mind, a professional warrior who would show no mercy. Great stuff. I also thought of a wonderful picture from a 1950’s movie that I had in a book, with a costume that I could use as a starting point for my character. Reference complete! Some jobs require a bit more work in this area, finding obscure pieces of weaponry, or animals, or buildings or whatever. This one was pretty easy.
Concept development
On high-end jobs, with a long time provided to complete the project, it may be your duty to provide several alternative layout ideas for consideration. For faster or lower-paying jobs, it is often acceptable to provide only one sketch idea, especially if the client already knows your work. In fact, on rare occasions if the client is particularly well-acquainted with your style, you may sometimes be asked to skip the sketch and go straight to the finished piece, if the deadline is very tight.
As I mentioned previously, this would be a merciless professional warrior; big (a eunuch), mean and tough. From the brief, I knew there would be two characters: the Unsullied warrior, and his victim. At this point, I just started to doodle some ideas on paper.
I try to keep my first ideas very simple – really little more than stick figures. This way I spend as little time as possible on potential dead-ends. As soon as I can, I try to come up with a little “story”; some sort of narrative that will imply things that happened before and after the picture, even if the action being illustrated is very straightforward, like this one.
By doing this, I can establish a link with the viewers – I pull them into the world I’m creating, and make them think about more than just what they see. If I succeed, then I’ve created more than just a simple snap-shot of action; I’ve told a tale that will make it seem as though my picture can tell a whole tale.
My idea in this case is to think of what it would be like to BE this fighter, gutting a victim with my short sword. The blade would go in, sure, but I’d want to get it out. Perhaps contemptuous of this delay in my killing, I’d want to push my prey away as I pulled out the sword. The still dying man might flail a bit, not realizing that he was already as good as dead, while I was already starting to look around for my next foe.
It’s not much of a story, but by extending the time of my picture to include before, during, and after, it builds what could be a simple drawing into a full-fledged illustration. It also gives me a few visual “hooks”:
-pushing the victim away while pulling the sword out
-a contemptuous look on the warrior’s face as he starts to look elsewhere (maybe over the victim’s shoulder
-the victim flailing while dying
You need some sort of “hook” in each picture you do. It might be a striking visual, like a clever layout or wild juxtaposition. It might be a fun bit of storytelling. It might even be a particularly pretty rendering of some central object in the picture. But something needs to stand out in each piece, or you’ll be reduced to just painting some guy standing there. Don’t let this happen!
Think of it this way: an illustrator is in the entertainment business. Remember to entertain your audience!
