In Italian cuisine, odori is a term that often refers to the holy trinity of ingredients—or la trinitá, as my family calls it. They are: onions, carrots, and celery. Combined, they produce a soffritto, a foundational flavor, a base.
Every good illustration is also composed of a holy trinitá. They are 1) design (or drawing), 2) value, and 3) color. Quite a few illustrators focus on ingredients one and three. Drawing and painting. But, to quote Andrew Loomis, “If it’s worth painting, it’s worth planning.” And no plan is complete without value.1
Let’s talk about why every illustrator should see the world in grays.
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