Wonder how artist Rob Donnelly created the fabulous cover illustration depicting a chef dad and his daughter playing around in the kitchen? We asked Donnelly to share a description and some photographs of his process.
Said Donnelly:
I originally started working in clay and paper to get away from the computer a little. But as I do more illustrations this way, it turns out that the time spent on the computer and the time spent sculpting is divided pretty equally.
I start with ink sketches. From there, I begin to sculpt different sections using paper and water-based clay. I sometimes sculpt over a large printout of the initial sketch. I then photograph the sculpture many times so I can piece together and color the different elements in Photoshop. The original sculptures are pretty fragile and are only there to serve the final illustration. Once a project is complete, I remove the paper, add water to the dry clay, and turn the sculpture back into moldable clay for the next illustration.
This article was originally published in Seven Days’ monthly parenting magazine, Kids VT.
This article appears in The Dad Issue 2018.
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