The Process: Rude Hawkers in Singapore by Miel

Posted: August 2nd, 2010 | Author: miel | Filed under: workflow | Tags: , , , , , , | 8 Comments »

PROJECT: Illustration for a Straits Times Life cover story about Rude Hawkers in Singapore

The brief from the editor was for an illustration to be done about “Nazi hawkers”– probably a reference to a “Seinfeld” episode from the 90’s about the so-called “Soup Nazi”, a restaurant owner who was ruder than most New Yorkers. Anyway, i cannot draw Hitler and show swastikas, which by right would have been the most cliched, knee-jerk, conceptual reaction to the brief.

I decided to draw it simply, meaning that, what we see is what we get since the experience with rude hawkers is almost universal with Singaporean. This being a cover illustration, the main idea has to be communicated through effectively and instantaneously.

But i had given it a twist, as you can see in the sketch (STEP 1). The focal point being the fire coming out from the mouth, nostrils and eyes of the fried mee seller.

The sketch was approved. So I scanned the sketch and save it at 72 dpi, tiff file. Once I had done that, i opened it in Illustrator CS. I reduced the opacity of the image so that i could “see” through it when I trace my lines using the “pen” tool in illustrator (weight 0.2) over the sketch.

You will notice that I had modified my illustration as I go along tracing the contours from the original sketch (STEP 2).

Once I had finished tracing over the sketch, I devised a colour palette that would tie up with the concept about “fire” and “kitchens”. So these are mostly warm colours like yellow and orange with a hint of blue/violet for contrast (STEP 3).

I highlighted those areas where I would assign colours in and use the dropper tool to click on the colour palette which I had pasted beside the outlined artwork earlier (STEP 4).

You can choose to add highlights and midtones like what I did here using ‘Gaussian blur’ and reduced “opacity” in some areas of the illustration.

Then, it’s done!

And don’t forget to save, every step of the way! :)
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8 Comments on “The Process: Rude Hawkers in Singapore by Miel”

  1. 1 Don Low said at 5:28 pm on August 2nd, 2010:

    Great process. Thanks for sharing. I like the color choices in this illustration!

  2. 2 Momo said at 6:48 pm on August 2nd, 2010:

    As always, it is so insightful to learn about the processes. Thank you for sharing.

    I like the way shadow is used for the arm and hand of the customer.

    Coincidentally, was looking at this illustration with a 3 year-old on Sunday and he was rather amused and also confused about the fire coming out from the mouth and nose.

  3. 3 mindflyer said at 7:55 pm on August 2nd, 2010:

    Great post Miel!
    I dunno why but the fire breathing hawker looks abit like u!! Is this a self protrait? :D

    Can u tell us how much time do u take from start to finish? Half a day? I understand newspapers normally have very short urgent timeline.

  4. 4 Don Low said at 8:45 pm on August 2nd, 2010:

    Wahahaha…

  5. 5 addie said at 4:01 am on August 3rd, 2010:

    hey this is interesting! never knew the creation process of ed cartoons :)

  6. 6 miel said at 11:10 am on August 4th, 2010:

    Thanks Don, Momo, Addie for the comments! :)

    @Mike, oh! hahahaha, oh yes, the fire-breathing cook looks just like me! but not intentionally–i have no other models to look at- so i made do with what i have.
    it took me about 3 -to 4 hours to do this on top of the daily ones. i could have shorten time by drawing/colouring this by hand but the colours might not be as vivid :)

  7. 7 Twisstii said at 11:21 pm on August 5th, 2010:

    Thanks for sharing Miel , this is awesome :)

  8. 8 TIA said at 7:49 am on August 12th, 2010:

    Awesome! What a great idea to show process. Kudos to mindflyer!