If you want to illustrate for editorial (magazines and news publications), advertising, packaging, retail, greeting cards, and beyond, then knowing how to communicate a big idea in just one, powerful image is a must-have skill! This skill is called CONCEPTUAL ILLUSTRATION, and in this class, you'll learn how it's done—and that it can be easier than you think.
The secret of conceptual illustration is that it's not about being super-clever or original. In fact, the strongest concepts can be based on totally unoriginal ideas — even clichés! The clever part is in choosing the right cliché and knowing how to change it in just the right way to make your point. No longer is conceptual and editorial illustration shrouded in mystery. In this class, award-winning illustrator and Top Teacher, Mr. Tom Froese, pulls back the curtain to unveil the 3 secret tools of conceptual illustration: Symbols, Idioms and Tropes.
What You Will Learn
- The differences between Conceptual and Non-conceptual illustration
- How to understand and use SYMBOLS as the building block of your concepts
- How to leverage IDIOMS to make invisible ideas visible
- How to find quick visual metaphors using ILLUSTRATION TROPES
- Tom's entire illustration process, from start to finish
- How to create a finished editorial style illustration using Procreate*
*Procreate is used in the class lessons, but all apps/techniques are welcome.
Why Take This Class?
- Learn from an experienced Top Teacher, with over 142,000 students taught over the last decade
- Free access to Tom's custom Procreate brush set, Inky Basics!
- Free printable downloads, including Tom's Illustration Tropes chart and Illustration Tropes BINGO card!
- Each lesson is packed with real-world examples
- After each lesson, you get to test out your knowledge with fun Exercises
- Thorough, step-by-step tutorial (demo)Â of the entire illustration process, including brainstorming, sketching, and illustrating in Procreate
Make Your Own Conceptual Illustration — As usual, you'll learn all the required theory in the Primer, and then get to apply what you learned in the class project — where you get to create your own conceptual illustration based on a realistic editorial-style brief. Mr. Tom Froese walks you all the way through, from brief, to brainstorm, and from sketches all the way to finished illustration.
DRAWING IDEAS truly demystifies the dark art of conceptual illustration. The most powerful tools — Symbols, Idioms, and Tropes — have been kept a secret for too long, and in this class, Tom spills all the beans!
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MORE CLASS DETAILS
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What is the Class Project?
- Create an editorial-style illustration based on a unique "New York Times" style headline
How is the Class Structured?
- PRIMER - Key insights about what conceptual illustration is and the three tools: symbols, idioms and tropes.
- EXERCISES -Â Each lesson concludes with an opportunity to put what you learned to the test.
- PROJECT - Work to a realistic editorial style brief to create your own conceptual illustration.
- DEMOS - The project includes a full tutorial on the basic techniques and brushes I use to create my illustration using Procreate.
What Resources are Included as Free Downloads?
- Tom's "Inky Basics" brush set for Procreate
- Illustration Tropes Reference Chart (PDF and JPG)
- Illustration Tropes BINGO Cards (PDF and JPG)
- Sketching Template (PSD and Procreate)
- Final Art Template (PSD and Procreate)
More Reasons to Take This Class
- You want to learn how to come up with ideas in your illustration
- You want to learn how to express ideas in simple, clever ways
- You can make nice illustrations but struggle to make conceptual ones
- You want to learn how to illustrate ideas in your own style
- You want to know how other illustrators come up with their ideas
- You want to be able to come up with more original ideas
Who is This Class For?
- New and intermediate illustrators looking to work more conceptually
- Illustrators who want to get more editorial illustration projects/clients
- Anyone who wants to learn where illustration ideas come from
Prerequisites
To get the most out of this class, you should have the following experience/skills:
- Some experience illustrating, either as a student or professionally
- Basic drawing and sketching skills
- Basic skills in illustration software, such as Procreate, Photoshop, Fresco, Adobe Illustrator, Krita, Clip Studio, etc.
Materials/Resources
To complete the class project, you will need the following:
- Sketchbook/pencil or digital equivalent
- An illustration app on your computer or tabletÂ
- Analog illustration tools are welcome as well but you will still need to digitize your work to be uploaded to the class projects page.
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CLASS CREDITS
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Script Reviewers
Thank you so much to the following kind souls who reviewed my very long early manuscript for this class.
- Robyn Hepburn
- Natahsha Priya
- RJ
Example Illustrations (Copyright Information)
I have used many illustrations from many illustrators and artists to help students visualize the various principles that I am teaching in this class. There are so many amazing illustrations here that it was not possible to secure permission for every single one of them before publishing this class. However, I believe my specific usage here falls under Fair Use under international copyright law, as follows:
- The works have been included in the class for educational purposes, to exemplify the principles being taught.
- The works are clearly contextualized as such examples and not used to as illustrations in their own right. In this sense the use is Transformative, according to The International Copyright Alliance.
- The works are always displayed alongside the artist/author name.
- The work is shown in a favourable light
Artists are listed below under the respective lesson titles in which they appear. If you are one of the named artists and would like to see your work as used (but are not a Skillshare member), please let me know, and I will give you access to the video. If you would like to request removal of your image(s) from my class slides, please contact me at [email protected], and I will do so immediately. This list also includes free B-roll video footage from Pexels.
All images are copyright of their respective authors/creators.Â
ABOUT THIS CLASS
- John Holcroft
- Zeloot
- Katya Wolf (Pexels)
- Everett Bumstead (Pexels)
- Yaroslav Shuraev (Pexels)
- Tom Froese
WHAT IS CONCEPTUAL ILLUSTRATION?
- Craig Frazier
- Gaspart
- Sjoerd van Leeuwen
- Carolina Relander
- Brice Marchal
- Tom Froese
- The Printed Peanut (Louise Lockhart)
- Asahi Agata
- Alice Oehr
- Paul Garland
- Robert Young
- TBWA
- Laura Liedo
- Freepik
- Noa Snur
- Pierre Kleinhouse
WHAT ARE SYMBOLS?
- Evgenia Kirpichnikova (Pexels)
- Cottonbro Studio (Pexels)
- Pavel Danilyuk (Pexels)
- Paul Rand
- Pixabay
- Nicholas VK / displate.com
- Mellow Gold Studio
- Freepik
- Schmitz Illustration
- Antonio Uve
- Eric Petersen
- Sofia Ali
- Mitch Blunt
- Frencesco Ciccolella
- Josef Micic via iStock
- Milton Glaser
- Monica Garwood
- EamesBot
- Craig Frazier
WHAT ARE IDIOMS?
- Milo Winter
- Adolphe Yvon
- Edel Rodriguez
- Beppe Giacobbe
- John Holcroft
- Vlada Karpovich
- Kotryna Zukauskaite
- Sebastien Thibault
- pngtree.com
- Ling Hem Swee
- Dreamstime
- Adam Niclewicz
- Zeloot
- Tom Froese
- Yaroslav Shuraevv (Pexels)
- Sini Ko (Pexels)
WHAT ARE TROPES?
- Giovani Flores
- Eiko Ojala
- Edward McGowan
- Giacomo Bagnara
- Lisa Tegtmeier
- Andy Westface
- The New York Times
- Shutterstock
- Monica Garwood
- Davide Bonazzi
- Vectorstock
- Creative Market
- Casual Polar Bear
- Katie Baker
- Jack Hudson
- The Heads of State
- Kotryna Zukauskaite
- Adam Podrez (Pexels)
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MY TOOLS
You can find links to the tools I'm using in the class below!
- iPad Pro 12.9" (2020)
- Apple Pencil 2nd Generation
- PenPad by PenTips
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MOREÂ HELPFUL RESOURCES
Want to learn more about editorial and conceptual illustration? Here are a few handy resources I recommend:
- Conceptual Illustrations: Solving Problems with Storytelling - Jay Perlman / Blush Design
- List of Conceptual Illustrators - Anna Goodson Illustration Agency
- Illustration Tropes Pinterest Board - Tom Froese / Pinterest
- Pete Ryan - Clever Conceptual Illustrator
- James Steinberg -Â Great examples of classic Illustration Tropes in use
MORE OF TOM'S LINKS
- Thoughts on Illustration Podcast
- Tom's website
- Tom's Instagram
- Tom's YouTube channel
- Tom's Patreon - Become a Drawing Buddy for $8/month
