ABSTRACT
Now that we have gone through the elements of expression, posing, and staging for your composition, now comes the fun part: creating an illustration from start to finish. I had a recent request that makes for a good example to look at as a progression. A friend of mine who is a talented illustrator in China asked me if I would illustrate my version of the ancient Chinese story “Journey to the West,” also known as “The Monkey King,” for an art book he was com?piling for an international audience. This story is as old as their land and is engrained in their culture. The more I researched the story, the more intimidating the notion was for me to illustrate an image inspired from it. Much like our own early American or European folk tales, the story is grim at times and has many elements that mean something within that culture but might not translate as well to others. Still, the heart of the story is about a character, Sun Wukong (the Monkey King), who must overcome huge obstacles and mighty foes to find his destiny. This is the core story of many myths, legends, and Disney films, so I felt a little more comfortable illustrating my piece of it.
