Illustrator GMB Chomichuk Brings La Corriveau to Life
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When GMB Chomichuk receives a creative brief, he immediately sketches to "capture the shape language" that comes to him first. This is one of his drawings of Marie-Josephte Corriveau for "Macabre Discovery" (December 2018-January 2019), an article about the witch of Quebec folklore.GMB Chomichuk -
Illustrator GMB Chomichuk creates thumbnail sketches to visualize the composition of the final piece.GMB Chomichuk -
After GMB Chomichuk received the creative brief, the article, and sample artwork for the assignment, he created initial sketches.GMB Chomichuk -
James Gillespie, art director for Canada's History, sent reference images to illustrator GMB Chomichuk, including this iron cage, or gibbet, that contained the body of Marie-Josephte Corriveau.Public Domain -
GMB Chomichuk sent a couple roughs, meaning preliminary stages of the artwork, to James Gillespie who then offered feedback.GMB Chomichuk -
Art director James Gillespie labels the image with numbers and provides the artist with a list of bullet points offering suggestions for edits.GMB Chomichuk -
GMB Chomichuk made some changes to his piece after Canada's History art director and editor-in-chief offered edits. -
Once the illustration was finalized, GMB Chomichuk added colour and sent Canada's History a few options.GMB Chomichuk -
James Gillespie wanted a more "demonic" look to the image, so he asked GMB Chomichuk to add warm reds and oranges, rather than cool blues.GMB Chomichuk -
After the image was approved, GMB Chomichuk added finishing touches, like blurring elements in some places and pulling the focus in others to add depth. This is the final product that appears in "Macabre Discovery" (December 2018-January 2019).GMB Chomichuk
A lot of work goes into collecting and creating the art on the pages of Canada’s History magazine, like brainstorming ideas, finding a suitable artist for original artwork, and working with the artist to produce the final product.
GMB Chomichuk illustrated the feature image for “Macabre Discovery” (December 2018-January 2019), a story by André Pelchat focused on La Corriveau, the witch of Quebec folklore. Chomichuk worked with James Gillespie, art director for Canada’s History, to create the final product.
Flip through the gallery to see the various stages of Chomichuk’s art, and listen to the podcast to hear how Chomichuk took the creative brief Gillespie gave him and turned it into the final product in the magazine.
Chomichuk is the host of Super Pulp Science Podcast and created the artwork for Apocrypha: The Legend of Babymetal, a graphic novel about the Japanese pop metal band.
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