from a range of different sources. It can be from their life, other stories they like or things they have seen. Trung Le Nguyen, the creator of ‘The Magic Fish’ got inspiration from many different sources for his graphic novel. Although it is a fictional story, a lot of it is based on experiences he has had as well
as his upbringing. The art he
produced, as he put it, is ‘A lot of different kinds of visual nods to the things that I’m familiar with and the things that I love’

Graphic novels and comics can be either self-publishing or developed by a team of people. There is a range of illustrative jobs within this process, traditionally you’d have the writer, a penciler, an inker, a colourist and a letterer. Or this can all be done by one person. Since there is a lot involved in the job of illustrating for a comic or graphic novel, you need to be able to do more than just draw. Looking at a comic illustrator job description by glassdoor, the illustrator must possess a talent for visual communication and storytelling, able to express ideas and concepts clearly as well as the ability to explain concepts and support artistic choices, demonstrating an understanding of the topics that they are being asked to draw about and techniques such as storyboarding, layout and typography.

Every illustrator has their own distinct style so the materials they use really depend on how they prefer to draw. Although, you must be familiar with various digital software whether drawing digitally or traditionally. Having knowledge of Adobe software, like Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator and other digital art software like Procreate, Microsoft Paint and clip studio paint is crucial because they are useful for making edits and formatting art.

To aid the process of making illustrations for a graphic novel or comic, Illustrators can gain inspiration