‘Illustrate what you love doing’—Graham Corcoran
What brought you to illustration?
I became an illustrator soon after graduating college, where I studied animation, I found I enjoyed illustrating more than animation, so it felt like a natural fit for me, as I had always had a love of drawing.
What is the most misunderstood thing about an illustrator’s role?
Probably how much time is required in creating an illustration, from research to concept to sketch to choosing colour palettes to finished artwork, including revisions and amendments to the final illustration. It’s a lot of work, especially illustrating a book, but it’s worthwhile.
What do you love about your work?
I love using textures with simple shapes and lines to portray complex subjects, it’s fun to look at a detailed building for example and figure out how I will redraw it in my style with minimal lines and graphic elements
What do you keep in mind when illustrating for children?
I like to add funny elements to my illustrations to make children laugh, like characters doing silly things in the background that children can discover for themselves as they are looking through the book.
What’s the most challenging thing for you about the process?
It can be a challenge to settle on a unified style approach to a book, one that is suitable for the subject matter, and that is also efficient to create for the deadlines required, but that is a rewarding process that is fun to experiment with.
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned as an illustrator?
Only illustrate work that you enjoy doing, if you are happy with the process and the style, the finished project will be a lot more satisfying for you.
What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about becoming an illustrator?
Do it! It can be challenging at times, but it is a fun job, with lots of varied projects, and it is such a fantastic feeling seeing your illustrations published in a book and seeing it on a bookstore shelf.
