The Thoughtful Illustrator
Or, What Separates the Amateur from the Professional?
When I was an art director, I received countless postcards. On any given work day, I’d find a handful of them in my mailbox or inbox. Let’s say five—some days more, some fewer. The average American works 260 days a year, give or take. Nineteen years of my life was spent in corporate publishing. So, at minimum, I saw around 25,000 postcards.
I don’t remember all of them, obviously. However, I distinctly remember two postcards from different illustrators that arrived around the same time. Here’s what they looked like:
The first postcard showed a zoomed-out view of a typical dragon (on the left) fighting a typical wizard (on the right). I had seen the sky and mountaintop a million times before. It was a two-dimensional, theatrical composition. Everything existed on the same plane. Not that that was a bad thing, per se. I’m just trying to paint a picture for you. Stylistically and technically speaking, the faux-realism was impressive. The scales on the dragon. The fire out of its mouth. The folds on the wizard’s robe. All well-painted. Within three seconds, I looked at it, shrugged a little, and trashed it.
Weeks later, the second postcard arrived. A blue, goofy-looking dragon in the foreground looked embarrassed. Water was dripping from its mouth. It appeared as if it was trying to hide the fact that it was a water dragon, not a fire dragon. Several fire dragons in the background were pointing at it and laughing. It terms of style and technique, the artist left a lot to be desired. It was academically inferior to the first postcard. But, I looked at it far more intently, for far longer. I wanted to know more. What happens next? Do the fire dragon bullies get their comeuppance? Does the water dragon ultimately embrace its individuality? I must know! Then I trashed it.
I didn’t hire either illustrator. That’s not the point of the story. The first postcard was well-done, but lacked emotion, a narrative, and interest. The second was poorly done, but had depth, heart, and relatability (I was bullied a lot). What was the big difference between the two?
Thoughtfulness.
Allow me to explain why I think thoughtfulness might just be the great separator between amateur and professional illustrators.
