How creating 200 illustrations on a weekly basis has made me a better illustrator
I recently posted my 200th illustration on Instagram. As you may know, I started this project of creating 1 piece of illustration per week back in 2018. I first reflected on this journey in 2020 when I reached the 100 milestone. Now, after another 100 pieces, it’s about time for me to look back again and share with you how 4 years of consistent practice, especially in the last two years, has shaped my illustration style, and I hope that this will give you inspiration in whatever goals you want to achieve.
Cracking the Code of Vintage Vibe
A breakthrough I had during the last 100 illustrations is that I finally mastered the creation of vintage color palettes.
I’d always been fascinated by the nostalgic colors in vintage pictures. I like that vibe a lot, but it was hard for me to get a handle on the process of creating it. I’d tried in the past, but the results I got were not to my liking.
Thanks to the weekly practice. It has allowed me to try out different color combinations and styles. Through analysis and experimentation, I finally got to the results that I liked. I learned that the key to generating the vintage vibe is the use of relative colors, and created a course sharing my insights and learnings about on Skillshare. If you’re also into the vintage colors, check that out.
Finding My Own Voice
When there’s enough accumulation of hours spent on honing a skill, amazing things happen. For me, after about 200 weeks, I could feel that my own style started to develop: I’m bolder. My illustrations are more refined.
Now when I look back at my first 100 illustrations, I can see that the lines were more stiff and rigid rather than fluid. The proportions of my figures tended to resemble those in the real world. Over time, the illustration routine has made me more relaxed, which was reflected in my work.
Recently, I started to combine florals, foliage, small dots, and figures, and tried to use them to fill the canvas as much as possible. I liked the result a lot. The gaps created by different objects of different scales were like rivers flowing through the entire piece, creating an interesting texture and drawing my eyes. It was my voice, my style.
In hindsight, I can see how the dots were connected and inspired my style. I ventured outside of figures and started drawing more flowers and plants in the last two years. I learned lettering, and I practiced making seamless patterns. Filling the space is something I gleaned from drawing extra thick letters. Having objects of different scales and using small dots are a common practice in pattern design. These seemingly unrelated things came together and formed my style.
So never stop practicing. Never stop experimenting. Always show up and cherish each opportunity to work on your crafts, because you’ll never know how things will work their magic to help you discover your own voice, and make you — you.
It’s an Investment
Even though I’ve been weight lifting for more than 12 years, I still gain unique insights from time to time. This year, I noticed how a subtle shift in the way I grabbed the bar with my fingers could lead to different muscle engagement, which resulted in different levels of effectiveness in training. This is something I would never have learned without a sustained practice.
In many ways, creating 1 illustration per week is similar to hitting the gym. Without it, I wouldn’t have been able to experiment, to try out different things, to loosen up, to play, and to have fun. I wouldn’t have been able to crack the code of vintage vibe. I wouldn’t have been able to find my own voice. My style wouldn’t have developed.
So if this is a small investment over a long period of time. The compound interest and the return for me include not only the refinement and maturity of my style, but also the tremendous joy and fulfillment along the way. I hope that the small actions I’ll take in the next two years will make me an even better illustrator, and a better person as a whole in the process.
