Jonathan Livingston Seagull is one of my favorite books. The hard copy that I own has several grainy photographs of seagulls flying around, which I have always appreciated, and I thought I would try my hand at illustrating Jonathan's efforts toward achieving top flying speed.
The final illustration is drawn with black and white colored pencil on gray paper (intended for black-and-white publication). After testing materials out on various papers I concluded that this combination made for the soft aesthetic for which I was hoping.
OBJECTIVE
Draw an image for a black-and-white publication that illustrates the overall idea of a section or chapter.
IDEA
Illustrate Jonathan Seagull’s efforts toward achieving top flying speed for Richard Bach’s book “Jonathan Livingston Seagull.”
EXECUTION
The final illustration was drawn with black and white colored pencil on gray paper. After testing materials out on various papers I concluded that this combination made for the soft aesthetic for which I was hoping.
The illustration displayed in Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the book
Final drawing: black and white colored pencil on gray paper
Initial sketches for the composition
Linework for the final composition
Samples of material combinations: various papers, black and white colored pencil, and pen
Testing the composition with white colored pencil on smooth black paper
