Today I submitted some illustration samples to a company that is updating their textbooks. I had so much fun with this project. They requested two images: an image of students at their school for the social studies textbook, and a diagram of a heart for a science textbook.

The first task was actually easier for me, since they had less restrictions on it and it seemingly open ended. This is a colored pencil drawing of students in an African school. I wanted it to look soft, so I drew in tiny circles and also had my paper on a textured surface. Then I digitally edited the border to have a soft edge. Education is a privilege that American students take for granted. I wanted to show that these students were working hard, and add a dreamlike quality to the image since school will help these children achieve their dreams in life.

(c) 2014 Amanda Balough

For the next task I had to review some anatomy and first created my own drawing of the heart with colored pencil and acrylic paint highlights. Here it is in progress.

(c) 2014 Amanda Balough

I thought this wasn’t bold enough for a textbook, so I continued to layer on color to saturate the red and blue. Here is the final hand-drawn sample.

(c) 2014 Amanda Balough

I had planned to add the lines and labels digitally once it was in the computer, but as I went to do this, I noticed the view I chose did not clearly show the 4 chambers as requested. So I went back to what they sent and decided to digitally adjust their existing image instead, which I think is what I should have done in the first place. It can be difficult to know which tools to use to complete a project when we have so many available to us. I don’t own the original image, so I can’t share the before view. Here is my final digital image though, complete with labels and blood flow arrows.

(c) 2014 Amanda Balough

I have submitted these drawings and now wait for a response to see if they will be included the textbook or not, or if they want any adjustments, or possibly want me to create any other images. I had so much fun working on these, and never got bored with such a challenging assignment. I hope to hear back from them soon, and really hope they choose me to join their illustration team.