The Hidden Mistakes Killing Your Illustration Progress

Whether you know it or not, your art could be outing your newbie-illustrator status. Check your mistakes and correct them with these guidelines to bring your work to a new level of polish.

Mistake #1: Confusing Visual Storytelling

If someone can’t understand the story from your image alone, the illustration is unclear or too complicated. Test your images by showing them to others, including children, without the context of the story. You’ll know you’ve succeeded when they understand the plot without having any context for your illustration. 

Mistake #2: Cliche Images

Don’t illustrate the obvious answer! Take a unique angle or do something unexpected to keep your viewer engaged. Writing and word association before you thumbnail can help you form connections and find new approaches to familiar ideas.

Mistake #3: Telling Too Much in One Image

Don’t try to show everything in one image. Remember, every story has a beginning, middle, and end. Avoid cramming each phase onto one page. Instead, focus on illustrating the moment right before the peak of the story (the beginning) or right after (the end). This allows your viewer to fill in the obvious gaps with their imaginations, making your image even more appealing.  

Mistake #4: Designing Weak Silhouettes

Master illustrators know to prioritize not only good drawing and color theory, but a command of the silhouette: the shapes your characters, and the spaces around them, form. Simple shapes can be used to direct the eye towards your focal point, so put as much thought into designing the supporting elements of your image as your main character.

Mistake #5: Lack of Focal Point

Does your image direct the eye towards a specific character or moment? Decide what you want the focus of your image to be and use surrounding elements to direct the eye toward that focal point. Be just as confident leaving details out as you are adding them in if it serves the focal point.