In Maria Corte’s work, the softer surfaces of her hand-drawn pencil areas are set off nicely by her more angular, geometric shapes and layouts.
As well as the sharp objects in her illustrations, we also like the extreme posing of her figures, twisted into impossible shapes. She was nice enough to tell us about her process in detail, taking us through the stages of her projects and how she communicates with clients.
Once I get the assignment with the requirements and ideas of the client, I start sketching on a small scale, focusing on finding the main idea which will uphold the illustration. Once the concept is clearly defined, I start developing the drawing in a more elaborate way, bearing always in mind the distribution and the balance among the elements featured on it.
Using the tracing table as an essential tool, I start redrawing, defining the lines and volumes of the illustration. Then, I go straight into shading in and hand coloring the sketches with color pencils, taking into account different chromatic and compositive possibilites.
I usually build on the latter stages of my work using digital techniques. I first draw the outlines that have been previously defined on a sheet of paper in order to lay them later with hand-made textures, which enable me to grant a unique value to each assignment.
I believe that it’s very important to send the sketch to the client before the illustration is well under way, so I can comply with any changes they might consider appropriate and I can get as close as possible to a more satisfying result. Once it’s been approved, I start working on the final art, paying plenty of attention to the neatness and clarity of the drawing.
I use the colors in channels following a methodology that highly resembles screen-printing, allowing me an optimum adjustment when it comes to printing. The illustration slowly begins taking shape until the image itself reveals when it’s done.
© Maria Corte, 2012
