A little intimidated by
Tem’s beautiful rough, I wanted to talk some more about roughs. I recently had a request from a third year illustration student for external feedback on a college project; not a bad idea I thought for students about to go into the world of work. His rough drawings didn’t really hit the mark (his coloured work looked pretty good) and it made me think again about the purpose of roughs in publishing; what impact roughs have on a project; what publishers and authors expect to see; how different illustrators make rough artwork.
I replied that I think there’s a knack to roughs; an illustrator doesn’t want to spend forever on them because there are deadlines to meet etc. but you have to show that you’re up to the job. You have to show your intentions with a bit of flair and assure the publisher that you’ve grasped the brief, understood the story, considered characterisation and so on; roughs need to have an energy that promises that the project is taking off.
I love roughs; I’m still enthralled by the way that a pencil line (I would always use pencil; my colour roughs are a disaster) can describe form and character, mood etc. and the best day is one where I have only to draw.
The main example is for a story about a Miller who finds a fairy cape that makes his dreams come true, published by Eaglemoss Magazine.
I work on marker pad or layout paper, and make very rough drawings; refining these by overlaying and redrawing on the semi-transparent paper. I often act out the person I’m drawing or pull the face I want to see. The finished (presentable) rough usually comes very quickly, just two or three stages, occasionally more, and sometimes it happens in one go as in the smaller example. I redraw, sometimes with a light box, for the finished work. I find it’s best to leave something to do in the finished artwork because this takes on the energy from the rough.
I’d love to hear other peoples’ thoughts and experiences on this and whether you get “That’s a rough?” or “Blimey, that’s rough.”
Alan Marks
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