The Artistic Process: Amy A. Rudberg's Illustration Technique

I'm working on illustrations for a new book about animals and their special powers. For this series, I usually come up with an idea and then do some research on images and decide on composite drawings. I use a pencil to draw the illustration on watercolor paper and then ink the drawing. After the drawing is complete, I staple the watercolor paper to a board for support, stapling at 1" intervals all around the perimeter. I apply watercolors and gouache (a highly pigmented watercolor) with small brushes. When I'm done with the painting, I re-ink the illustration, remove the staples, and store the painting in an acid-free box.

The following is a step-by-step painting from drawing to final re-inking, which took 11 hours to complete.

Materials for this project:
- Derwent 2B pencil
- Faber-Castelli PITT artist brush pen
- Pigma Micron 05 pen
- Gel pens, black and silver
- Maskque pen
- Pencil eraser and mask eraser
- No. 6, 1/4" flat shader brush
- 3 mm / 1/8" flat brush
- 00 round brush
- Winsor-Newton watercolors and gouache
- Arches 12" x 16", 140-lb cold press watercolor paper

Follow the Leader

Draw and ink the figures and horizon line.


Put a mask over the figures to work on the background.
The mask will cover what you don't want to paint.


Add specks on the beach with black and silver
gel pens. Paint the ocean with Pthalo Blue
gouache and dry with hair dryer.


Paint the ocean with Cerulean Blue gouache
and dry.


With a spray bottle filled with water,
spray away the paint in the ocean, and dry.


Paint dark waves with Primary Blue gouache
and dry. The white is the paper showing through.


Paint the beach with Light Gray, dry, and
then paint with Titanium White watercolor.


Dry the beach with textured paper towel
and then paint sparingly with Perylene
Maroon and Primary Blue gouache, and dry.


Spray out paint on the beach and then
add specks with black gel pen, and dry.


Paint waves on the shore with
Titanium White watercolor, and dry.


Completed beach and ocean.


Paint shadows using Tint watercolor.


Remove the mask on the figures with an eraser.


Paint the crab using Winsor Yellow, Cadmium
Yellow, Golden Yellow, Cadmium Orange, and
Cadmium Red watercolors; Cadmium Orange
gouache; and Tint watercolor for shadows.
Dry between each color.


Paint the robots with Perylene Maroon, Cadmium
Orange, and Yellow Ochre gouache; Tint
watercolor; and highlight with silver gel pen.
Dry between each color.


Re-inked crab


Re-inked Robot 1


Re-inked Robot 2


Re-inked Robot 3


Finished painting

Photo Credit: All photos by Amy A. Rudberg, unless otherwise indicated.