Dr. Jane Goodall

Drawing Dr. Jane Goodall for the 2023 RAND calendar was a lot of fun. I was able to watch beautiful documentaries and read fascinating articles about her work. I used what I learned to inform the design of this illustration.

The brief that I received from the client asked me to create illustrations for the calendar that detailed the achievements and diverse backgrounds of each portrait subject. As you may guess, a great deal of research went into this project. Dr. Jane Goodall was a figure that I was familiar with, but upon closer examination I was thrilled to discover so many new details about her life and work that I was able to include when it came time to sketch out ideas.

After a brainstorming exercise I was able to develop sketches that addressed composition, value, and storytelling. I chose two options that I considered strong enough to present to the client.

One of the joys of working on this project was that I was given plenty of time to experiment and play. I had a few months to work on all 15 of the illustrations for the calendar so I took advantage of the time and made sure that I created a nice workflow. For the Jane Goodall illustration, I focused on drawing the portrait first and developed the layers over the course of three days. Once I had a portrait that captured her spirit and likeness, I went on to cut out the shapes of the clothing and the background elements.

When all the cut paper shapes were in place and the layers of pastel were fixed to the surface, I proceeded to scan all the layers into the computer to continue the drawing process in Photoshop. One of the benefits of working both traditionally and digitally is the ability to create contrast in the illustration with a variety of mark making techniques.

In Photoshop I was able to enhance the pattern of the clothing, modify the values, and pump up the contrast of colors. Overall, the completed illustration was a success, and the client was very happy with the outcome.

If you are interested in learning more about my illustration process, check out my Domestika course, Dramatic Portraits with Pastel, Collage, and Photoshop.