Watercolour

Illustrator CHUMA HILL explains his process for crafting a stunning character in watercolour, with a little help from some extra traditional techniques

Watercolours are a beautiful medium and create such stunning, delicate art. Here I’ll work on a geisha character, while also giving her my own personal touch. I imagined a strong, self-confident woman wielding a katana, and enjoy merging the traditional geisha figure with all the samurai symbolism to create a brand new combination.

I usually work traditionally, with watercolour my speciality. I usually combine it with other traditional techniques such as ink, coloured pencils, markers, and so on. The fusion of these techniques in a single illustration provides the tones and textures I find attractive for telling the stories I want in an image.

I also use digital retouching tools in my work as a cover illustrator. They offer a final step that’s essential for the narrative of each illustration.

GUIDED GEISHA

In this tutorial I’ll show you how I typically work through a simple illustration. We’ll go step-by-step through each phase of creation, from the initial sketch through to making the final touches.