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The Illustrator's Process

By Hulan Chadraa

Published on April 2, 2025

Hi all! I am the Chief Illustrator for Starspun Lit, and I’m grateful for my role in helping bring these stories to life. Through this role, I’ve learned a lot from this adventure. From organization to practicing digital art, I’ve come to learn so much, and I’m excited to share what I’ve learned with all of you.

I’m sure all of you expected this, but the first step is to read the story closely. It’s important that I follow the author’s intent because my art is meant to accompany the story, not override it. So, I immerse myself in the author’s world, rereading parts as necessary to make sure that I understand the story. This helps me envision their world, almost like a movie. I don’t just see words in front of me, but whole scenes with bright color and action. From here, it’s easy to get ahead of myself and draw everything I see, but I need to reign myself in. I review which plot points are most important and then proceed with them onto the next step.

Once I have decided on which scenes to draft, I make simple, loose sketches for the story cover and story body images. The fun part is that I get to experiment with the composition of the scene, and I don’t need to be that detailed here—it can even be stick figures! The main purpose of this is to send them over with a quick blurb about the scene to Ramya, the Editor-in-Chief. She looks over my drafts and ensures that I stay on track with the story, making sure I include key plot points and events. Once we agree on the drafts then I can get to the long awaited drawing.

This step is probably what you will find most exciting, and it’s certainly my favorite! Once I transfer my sketch onto a blank page, I begin to refine my drafts. First, I get to play around with the designs of characters since I have creative freedom. From there, I utilize my digital art tools to get the finer details out and add in final touches. Once I’m done with the drawing, I send it over to Ramya for review. She does one last quality check before we send it out to the authors and to you all.

After making some last minute changes to the drawings, Ramya sends them over to the authors. Oftentime, we get responses from the authors, and their appreciation of my work makes my day. This is probably the most rewarding part of the job, seeing my impact on others. Their heartfelt messages show me how important my work is and encourage me to work even harder for the next issue. So to my fellow readers, I encourage you to pick up a pencil, pen—whichever medium you prefer—and start drawing now because of the positive impact you can have on your community.

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