Adding Found and Traditional Media Textures to Digital Illustrations
It is 2024 (!!) and I am embarking on a Year of Experiments in my illustration work (read a little intro to this series here if you want more context). Up first, something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now but haven’t made time for in earnest: adding found and traditional media textures to my digital illustrations. I love how adding traditional textures can add interest and surprise, and I’ve included some examples later in this post of contemporary illustrators who each do this in their own way. The illustration above is my experiment with this technique! Read on for a little bit about how and why I made this.
For a while now I’ve had the feeling that my work is missing spontaneity, happy accidents. Perhaps some of my fellow illustrators out there can understand this: with infinite undo/redo in Procreate (where I tend to create most of my illustrations), I’ve lost the joy of the accidental ink splatter, the unintended blur of watercolor, the charcoal smudge that makes a mark imperfect in the best way. When I made art as a kid, these kinds of happy mistakes would drive me crazy, I liked things to be exactly as I had intended them. As I’ve gotten older, the need to control each mark has softened a bit, but I still look at my finished work and crave more looseness, more movement, more spontaneity. I’m seeking a happy medium between my natural inclination to be detailed and precise, and my personal taste in illustration. I don’t think they are necessarily at odds! An illustration can appear loose and free, like the artist simply dashed it onto the page in a few minutes, but often achieving that look takes time and care.
INSPIRATIONS
Molly Mendoza
Molly Mendoza is an illustrator also based here in Portland, OR. They create vivid images that often feel psychological and exploratory. Molly creates traditional ink paintings and then scans and colors them digitally.
Molly Mendoza
Dandelion by Molly Mendoza
Jon Klassen
Beloved children’s illustrator Jon Klassen uses a lot of beautiful textures in his work. I’m not certain they are always traditional media, but they have a very traditional feel.
Interior spread from The Rock from the Sky, Jon Klassen
Interior spread from We Found a Hat, Jon Klassen
Interior spread from The Skull, Jon Klassen
“Consider everything an experiment.”
— Sister Corita Kent
CREATING THIS ILLUSTRATION
I started this illustration with play. I got out my ink, charcoal, crayons and paints and made a bunch of textures. I also pulled out bits and pieces of paper and fabric that I had lying around.
My needle-felted character “Ploof” overseeing the process :)
I then spent some time scanning everything in and building a texture library on my computer that I can continue to dip into in the future. I opened up procreate and made sure I had my sketch just right. This image turned into a self-portrait as I drew it. I dream of a convenient way of carrying all my art supplies with me at all times, also I love the idea of having Rapunzel hair. There’s something here too about acquiring metaphorical tools as we run through life; not being weighed down but empowered by our experiences.
The sketch lines became part of the final illustration.
Once I had the sketch where I wanted it, I selected about 5-6 of the texture files and played around: adding, removing, adjusting levels and colors, until the textures felt like they were part of the illustration.
I overlaid a charcoal texture in the hair.
A piece of striped wrapping paper for the vest, a swatch of cotton fabric for the pants.
This whole process felt new and a little uncomfortable—I loved it! It lifted me out of my “production artist” mindset and forced me to be more curious. It felt like a step in the right direction, a little piece of what I’ve been searching for in my process. I’m already itching to make more illustrations incorporating found textures, and to try more EXPERIMENTS! I’ve got a whole list of things I need an excuse to try, which I can’t wait to share here.
Thanks so much for following along, feel free to leave a comment or question below!
Love,
Chamisa
P.S. If you want to dive deeper into the process of this illustration, I post an in-depth process video each month on my Patreon. For this illustration, we walk through creating and finding textures, scanning or photographing, and then putting it all together in procreate. Learn more here.
