Tis the season for festive promotions and this year I have decided to use a technical illustration and “spice” it up with some Christmas lights!

The International Space Station is all aglow as an astronaut is trying to get home for Christmas.

Wherever you may be this holiday season, I wish you and yours’ the best!

Merry Christmas!

Leanne Kroll – Technical Illustrator   www.leannekroll.com

For all the NHL hockey fans out there, just released this month is the Montreal Canadiens Limited Edition 100th Anniversary giftset which I designed collaboratively for Matrix Marketing Concepts.

This unique Limited Edition set includes:

• special collector wood packaging
• 4 DVDs and a 5th bonus disc of exclusive 100 year of Montreal Canadiens content
• frameable collector art
• collectable piece of authentic game-used item from the 100th season
• Centennial commemorative pin, and Upper Deck set of Centennial series trading cards.

If you’re looking for a great Christmas gift for a Montreal Canadiens fan that you know or if you would like a collector’s edition for yourself, visit www.cbcshop.ca or look for it in stores!

The latest mailer from Leanne Kroll – Technical Illustrator is an info graphic  illustration that reflects how musicians inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation have died.

Inspired by a recent trip to Cleveland and a tour around the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, this illustration reflects the various ways that musicians have died.

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Mailer Piece

Beginning as the string of an electric guitar and utilizing a continuous line effect to each illustration, individual timelines are created that depict the year of musicians’ birth and death.

The Day the Music Died

Drug Overdose

Heart Failure

Airplane & Car Accident

Shot to Death

Cancer

Brain Failure

Alcohol

If you wish to receive a copy of this latest technical illustration mailer, please leave a comment to this post with your mailing address and Leanne will send one out to you!

Keep your eyes open for a new illustration promotional mailer that Leanne Kroll is sending out shortly!

The summer mailer was inspired by a recent visit she took to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

Check back on this blog for postings of the final mailer or send her a quick email (lkroll@hotmail.com) with your contact information if you would like a final piece sent to you!

I have received numerous emails in the last couple of months from individuals around the world asking questions about my technical illustrations and how I work.  Sometimes it is hard to find time to respond to these emails, however I do feel it is important to educate those who are trying to break into the industry.

This post combines all questions that have been asked of me by these individuals and I hope that by answering them, that a little insight is gained into why I enjoy technical illustration.

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HOW DID YOU GET INTO TECHNICAL ILLUSTRATION?

I actually began drawing later in my high school years and after that, I was doing a lot of painting – more for fun than anything.  I decided I wanted to get a degree in Illustration and potentially pursue this passion as a full time career.  I enrolled in the Bachelor of Applied Arts Degree at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

In that program I specialized in the Technical & Scientific Illustration stream.  I chose technical illustration because I like dealing with numbers, learning how things are put together and work, and I’m challenged by detailed elements.

As a competitive individual, I am always finding myself challenged by illustrating something more difficult than the previous piece.  I appreciate the finer details in all artwork that I see now!

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TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU MARKET YOURSELF? DO YOU FIND THAT CLIENTS COME TO YOU (Via word of mouth, website searches, etc.)?

I NEVER stop marketing myself.  There are numerous ways to market oneself including:

• Networking (ie. through events at art shows, gallery openings, online networking sites, staying in-touch with colleagues, etc.)
• Sending out promotional mailers, eyecatching pieces, email newsletters, etc.
  
• Having a large online presence so I am accessible via website searches if someone has never heard of me
• Constantly updating my portfolio by creating new pieces when I have a little “down-time”
  
• Keeping my website fresh and up-to-date (as you’ll see, I recently re-launched www.leannekroll.com.)

New Website

Ideally, you have to find what works best for you and persist, persist, persist!!  You also need to expect marketing to cost money and understand it is a long term investment that will pay off in the future if you spend it wisely.

Sitting around never gets anybody anywhere – work rarely finds you – you need to go out and seek it!

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DO CLIENTS OCCASIONALLY REQUEST ILLUSTRATIONS THAT ARE TECHNICALLY IMPOSSIBLE, OR TOO DIFFICULT TO COMPLETE?

No technical illustration is impossible, as long as you have accurate reference material.  Part of my background training is learning how to deal with difficult requests and having the ability to break the illustration down into smaller pieces that do not seem as daunting.  Every single project has the same process for me which is:

1. Research – learning about the subject matter and understanding how it fully works before starting.

2. Rough sketches – to tackle the initial thought process, potential viewpoints, layout, etc.

3. Line drawing – a refined drawing whether digitally or traditionally that is the basis for the final colour illustration.

4. Colour roughs – working out colour options that allow the illustration to communicate as best as possible to its target audience.

5. Final composite – adding all the little details that allow the final illustration to “shine”

Of course all of these steps are dependent upon how much time I get from a client to get the work done.

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WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST CHALLENGING PIECE OF WORK THAT YOU HAVE COMPLETED?

There is not necessarily a particular piece I have completed that stands out as my most challenging.

The most challenging piece of work is not necessarily in regards to content, but when there is a minimal timeframe to get the final piece completed.  It is challenging as an illustrator to just stop working on something.  We always want to make it better.  When you are confined by time, something else needs to lack and sometimes that is final quality.

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WHAT IS YOUR DESIGN PROCESS? (i.e.. for an exploded diagram, would the client send you the images of the deconstructed object for you to illustrate, or would you need the actual physical object in order for you to get the projections correct?)

My design process as was listed above is: 1. Research; 2. Rough sketches; 3. Line drawings; 4. Colour roughs; 5 Final composite.

Exploded View of Febreeze Scent Stories

For an exploded diagram, or any illustration for that matter, it all depends on what the client is able to provide me as far as reference.

If they are a local client, I can usually get my hands on the physical object or photograph it myself for additional reference after viewing it on-site.

If the client is a long-distance client, then I tend more to get photographic reference unless they have a local vendor.  Part of my experience is also researching online for existing photographs of different viewpoints/angles of an object and creating a unique viewpoint for my client.

Either way, there is always a learning process about the item/process I am illustrating which makes the job more interesting!

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WHICH SOFTWARE DO YOU FIND YOURSELF USING THE MOST?

I use the Adobe Creative Suite the most for software.  Personally, I don’t find it necessary to learn additional programs such as IsoDraw or Corel Technical Suite at this point for technical illustration.  However, the more software programs you know, the better, of course.

Ultimately, it is about which software you feel comfortable working in that is the deciding factor, unless a client requests a certain document type.  Both Illustrator and Photoshop allow me to produce the results that I desire for each project.

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DO YOU USE A GRAPHICS TABLET?

Yes I definitely do.  I could not work without it! Nowadays, investing in a Wacom drawing tablet has almost become a necessity to speed up the overall amount of time spent on an illustration.

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DO YOU THINK IT IS POSSIBLE FOR SOMEONE TO HAVE STUDIED GRAPHIC DESIGN TO CROSS DISCIPLINES, OR DO YOU THINK IT WOULD REQUIRE FURTHER EDUCATION IN TECHNICAL ILLUSTRATION IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO PRACTICE IN IT?

I think that depends on the person and the style of work in they’re portfolio.  (For example, you cannot apply for a technical illustration job with only a graphic design portfolio).  Of course, being educated in the discipline is always an asset.

It should be mentioned that freelancing is more of a business than it is about the illustrations.  So taking additional courses in running your own business is always an asset as well.  You must have marketing skills, drive and motivation to get things done on your own time.  Like anything, the more experience you have, the better you look to new potential clients.

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HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO DO STUFF LIKE THAT DIRT BIKE OR CUT AWAY ILLUSTRATION IN ILLUSTRATOR?  Are you using advance plug-ins like CAD or something else?

This answer may require more of a tutorial to get into exact details about how I created the dirtbike or cutaway illustration.  I will try to put a tutorial together in the near future.

Phantom View of Honda Dirtbike

No, I do not use any advance plug-ins like CAD tools.  I start with alot of reference photos and I start drawing out a sketch that puts the larger components into their space (ie. wheels, frame, seat, handle bars, exhaust pipe, etc., all in relation to each other.)

Then, once the overall placement of large items is finalized, I move further into more detailed elements until the basic line drawing is close enough to completion to move into the digital realm.  The digital line drawing is then completed in Adobe Illustrator with the line tool.

The final digital line drawing is then brought into Adobe Photoshop as shapes that are then filled with the brush tool.  I use the burn and dodge tools to create the highlights and shadows.  All painting is done with a Wacom tablet.

In the end, it is the original sketch and digital linework that are the most time comsuming.  They need to be 100% finalized before painting can begin.  Painting is the fun and rather “easy” part!

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Thank you to those who spent the time inquiring about my technical illustrations.  I hope my answers helped give you a better understanding into this field of illustration.

-Leanne Kroll, Technical Illustrator

Leanne Kroll has been working hard lately re-designing her website with exciting new projects that she has recently completed.

The website is NOW ONLINE and completely re-vamped, featuring recent new artwork.

Please take some time to browse her indepth portfolio at www.leannekroll.com!

New Splash Page

If you have any comments or questions in regards to this blog, or the new portfolio website at www.leannekroll.com, please feel free to contact Leanne directly via the About section on the website or this blog.

Thank you for taking some time to view the art at www.leannekroll.com!

Leanne is currently available for freelance projects.

As a Technical Illustrator, one style of illustration that I work on is called Information Graphics.  Typically, these include anything such as graphs, charts and maps.  They are utilized to visually assist complex literature and allow a reader to decipher through the use of visuals, a better understanding of a subject.

The Toronto Star, a local major newspaper where I reside, has a Map of the Week feature where they research certain items and post them into a map.  Last week’s Map of the Week feature was on parking tickets issued in the City of Toronto in 2008 and they indicated only areas where 1,000 or more tickets were issued.  As a trend, they realized that the top 10 locations with the most parking tickets were usually near large institutions such as hospitals or universities and colleges.

I was rather fascinated with all of the research and information as they had documented it, but I felt that the map could have been pushed in a more visually interesting direction.  So, I have interpreted my version of the parking ticket map of the week, focusing on locations in the downtown core of Toronto.

Rather than focusing on documenting the exact address location of the infractions, I used a colour coded system to represent the quantity of tickets issued with the use of symbols that represent stacked parking tickets.  This allows the viewer to visually recognize a larger quantity versus a smaller quantity of tickets.

On the first level of viewing the map, one gets an overall idea of how many parking tickets overall were written in downtown Toronto in one year.  If the viewer wants to delve deeper, as they zoom into the map, street locations, as well as exact quantities in each location is revealed.

Living in Canada is sometimes a challenge to the testament of one’s emotions and only those who have lived here can truly know what I mean. It is with this idea that my recent personal project is a foray into the sentiments of being Canadian in February.

Although I have been kept busy this New Year with freelance projects, I felt it imperative to expand my illustration “bubble” and push myself to be more creative, with a side personal project. Sometimes the hardest decision we make as an Illustrator is “what to draw?” Inspiration can seem challenging and it is that which propelled my latest idea.

February Sentiments

You see, being Canadian in February is challenging to the soul. Short days, cold weather, bleak skies, snow on the ground and if it has melted, brown ground below… It is hard to keep oneself motivated in times like these. And thus, I felt compelled to examine my emotions and day-to-day feelings for the month of February 2009. It actually seemed perfect… February had exactly 4 weeks or 28 days. I wanted to do something creative for every single day of the month that would reflect on how my day went or how I was feeling that day.

I decided upon a quick, conceptual painting which would be depicted through the use of colours, strokes, detail (or lack of), etc. to represent the emotion felt that day. I spent approximately 15 minutes each day, although depending on the mood, less or more time on others. I challenged myself to stay away from forming anything concrete such as a recognizable object or image. The following are thumbnails of all 28 days in the study:

Thumbnails

All 28 days of abstract, conceptual paintings were then composed in a layered image to represent the four weeks of the month.

Week ONE Composite

Week TWO Composite

A reflection of Week Two’s composite: I must have been more restless or stressed this week – the overall concentration of this abstract representation is a hurried, busy effect compared to Week One’s composite which has more details that are recognizable.

Week THREE Composite

Week FOUR Composite

Some might ask, what was the point of this? In a way, it was a challenge to think on another level creatively than I usually do each day. But quite simply, it challenged myself to reflect individually on each day as it unfolded. And in turn, I have grown creatively as a technical illustrator.

“I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection.” -Leonardo da Vinci

Recently, I have completed three new technical illustrations for Hybridcars.com which are live for viewing.

The illustrations include various technologies depicting how hybrids work; the differences between combustion in the cylinder of a standard vehicle engine and that of a diesel engine; and how stop-start engine hybrids work.

The purpose of the hybrid illustration was to assist consumers in their understanding of how the technology works at various stages of driving. Understanding when various components are in use gives a better understanding of how a hybrid vehicle works.

Hybrid Illustration

Similar to the hybrid illustration, the technical illustration showing stop-start technology also was designed to show the technology at use in various stages of driving. Through the simple use of arrows, this information is depicted.

Stop-Start Technology

Different than the hybrid and start-stop technical illustrations, the illustration regarding diesel technology required a more “zoomed in” view of how the engine in particular works.

Diesel Illustration

This illustration focuses mainly on the piston at work within the cylinder of an engine and the results when combustion happens.

If you would like to learn more about these vehicle technologies, the HybridCars.com website is an up-to-date website with vast amounts of information on these and other vehicle types.

If you are a client wondering how to get a competitive quote for illustration services, please see the Tech Talk section.

Recently added is information on what is required in order for Leanne Kroll to put a quote together.  Please also refer to www.leannekroll.com for a viewing of featured portfolio pieces.