Monthly Archives: March 2016

I Can’t Burp – The Illustrated Guide

Last year I wrote a post about dysfunction of the burp reflex. Looking back on it now, I can see that it’s pretty wordy. Those who mock or doubt the condition would be especially put off from reading so many sentences about those who can’t burp (and it is they in particular who should read it!). Therefore I decided to create:

Can't burp title page

Since I’m an illustrator and all.

DBR - stomach

 

burp diagram

 

can't burp - dysfunction of burp reflex

I understand that this is still fairly wordy – some words were still necessary. Hopefully it has helped to explain this much dismissed (and bloody annoying) condition more clearly.

More illustrations about the condition, what can help and why to follow!

Fun Times with Illustrator

I hate Adobe Illustrator. There, it’s officially out there!

Viridian Mountains
Early Illustrator work. Actually self-initiated (thanks Colour Collective for that kick up the bum)!

Well I did, although my hatred of it is slowly dying down due to some brilliant tutorials I’ve found through my Skillshare trial (in particular, Australian photographer and writer Helen Bradbury is a fantastic tutor). Let’s say that I still dislike it somewhat.

In order to get further in my illustration career however I’ll have to struggle through the animosity. It’s an almost vital piece of software in the industry, and not learning it would be worse than the hours I’d have to put into getting familiar with it. I’m not great at self-initiating tasks I don’t like, so I’ve found that forcing myself to finish Skillshare projects has been quite successful in upping the Illustrator practice. I think my completionist attitude has something to do with it – I’ve clocked up 50 hours in Shadow of Mordor for pete’s sake (not including DLC!).

See some finished projects below:

Three Little Pigs cover - Illustrator Portrait - illustratorTukturjuit - Illustrator
I’ve managed to finish a few vector illustrations this way, and dare I say it – I almost enjoyed it! This time next month I’ll be declaring my love for Illustrator no doubt.

If you have the same trouble with an annoying piece of software, it can’t hurt to try a mock project from start to finish. If that still doesn’t work then you can always ditch it and look for a more user-friendly programme – Inkscape, I’m eyeing you up…