Hello again!
I'm back again this week with a new Illustrator interview!
Next up:
Milena Milak
The big one is visual storytelling. I used to create "pretty pictures", where I would focus so much on my technical skills, yet hardly any of my portfolio pieces had any storytelling going on. It was only after my portfolio was rejected by agents that I decided to dive deeper and understand illustrating children's books better, and the craft of telling a story with pictures. I still have a lot to learn. What has changed is that every time I work on a new portfolio piece, I try to build more than just an aesthetically pleasing image.
Can you take us through a spread of work you've created (published or not): from sketches, to thumbnails and final work and talk to us about what changed along the way and why?
Lately, I've been feeling pretty confident and happy with how my characters and colours work together, but I still feel I have a lot to improve when it comes to illustrating more detailed scenes and environments. With this illustration, my goal was to illustrate an emotion using both a character and their environment. There's a bored kid in a room full of toys and objects, and no matter how hard they've tried to entertain themselves... they're still bored.
I started by building a mood board with pictures of kids' bedrooms.
I spent quite a bit of time thinking about the composition. One thing I knew was that I wanted to avoid an eye-level, straight-on view and play with a more interesting perspective. It's been months since I started studying movie stills to improve my composition and storytelling (you can read about it here: https://www.milenamilak.com/blog/cinematic-composition-guide), and I decided to use what I learnt. I wanted to experiment with foreground, middle ground and background to create a stronger illusion of depth. That's why I added the open door and the table with the snake toy in the foreground.
This idea was all about how the environment is part of the story too, so instead of drawing a generic bedroom, I wanted every object to add a little to the feeling of boredom. The toys and objects scattered around should feel like they've all been played with and abandoned by the girl in the tiger pyjamas. There are unfinished drawings, an open book, teddy bears left behind, and half-eaten cookies. It's almost like you're able to retrace everything Lucy tried before finally giving up and collapsing on the bed.
For this illustration, I wanted to keep most of the painting in blue and purple hues while using orange for the details and Lucy herself. I love using complementary colour palettes for contrast, and orange stands out against the purples and blues just perfectly!
Even at the early stage, I already marked that the orange I used for Lucy should be darker and much more saturated than any other orange in the painting. I wanted whoever looked at the illustration to notice her first.
One habit I've developed over the last few years is constantly checking my values as I paint. I add a new layer on top, fill it with pure black, and change the blend mode to Color. This lets me see the painting in greyscale.
If all the values are too similar, nothing attracts our attention. I always make sure there's enough contrast to keep the focus on the main subject, which in this case is Lucy.
I ended up happy with the final illustration, and it's one of my favourite portfolio pieces I've created in the last few months.
What do you notice a lot of in your life? How do those things make their way into your art, or how do you get rid of them while you're working so that you can bring what you want into your art?
I've always been a quiet observer, and I've remained one. I enjoy watching people and creating little stories about their lives. I love watching their interactions with the people around them, their surroundings or their pets. I find myself sitting on public transport and daydreaming about the lives of people I've never met. Characters have always been a central part of my art, and to this day, creating a character with their personality, look and backstory is my favourite creative process. I'm particularly interested in wordless interactions and how much can be conveyed through a gesture, body pose, mood and surroundings. I dream of creating a graphic novel with no text.
When you’re feeling at your best or your worst—about your work or a specific project—what does that look like and how do your work habits help you?
It's very important to rest. I'm late-diagnosed neurodivergent, and one thing I need to remind myself is that rest is productive, not a reward I need to earn. If the project timeline allows it, I try to disconnect completely over the weekends. I don't check work emails, and I stay off social media. I like watching movies or playing video games to relax. Engaging in fictional worlds helps my brain relax.
Have you ever taken something out of your portfolio that you really liked but knew wasn't helping your overall portfolio? How did you decide?
Just this summer, I worked on my portfolio and recently updated my website. I decided to remove all work that focused on a character but that I felt lacked story. I had a few portfolio pieces with a character just standing or wearing a costume, and I felt it was time to let them go. I still like them, but with my focus on picture books, I want to show I can do more than just character design.
You can find more in-depth process from Milena on her blog here: https://www.milenamilak.
Bear Howe is an author/illustrator and multidisciplinary artist living in Michigan, USA. Their art practice includes fine art, illustration and staying curious, exploring themes of belonging, awe, mystery, discovery and liberation. Where you can find Bear:
On Substack at BecomeingArt and @bearhoweart on IG
My website has my Portfolio
Teaching kids art classes at Young Illustrators Studio
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