Editorial Illustration Process: Springfield Daily Citizen

I was honored when the Springfield Daily Citizen reached out to ask me to do editorial illustrations for a 4 part series on Domestic Violence in Springfield, MO. My first job with them was earlier this year when I illustrated a story they did on working from home. In this blog, I'll take you behind the scenes of my editorial illustration process for this Springfield Daily Citizen job. 
 
​For the first illustration, they wanted to subject featured and wanted to be able to have a version with the title of the series "Living in Fear" and without, as well as a version they could use as the logo for the series. 

Below are my first two mock-up sketches for the concept based on their requests, and above is the final version in full color. Some time after creating this illustration, I nearly spat out my water as I was driving home from a doctor's appointment and saw my illustration on a billboard! Pretty cool--unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of it. 

The second illustration in this series was intended to illustrate the things most women in domestic violence situations feel make it harder for them to leave: kids and pets. In this illustration, we see our main character in a dark whole or pit with their cherished loved ones, the kids and the pets, surrounding them--money and keys also appearing signifying the opportunity (or lack thereof) to flee. The sketch of the main character appears more feminine presenting, but the newspaper requested a more gender neutral character for this one, as men, women, and non-binary individuals may all be the victim of domestic violence.  

The third illustration in this series was to depict the ways the justice system in America is often bent towards the perpetrator and against the victim, thereby re-victimizing and further traumatizing the victim. For this, we see a court scene with the scales of justice leaning in favor towards the perpetrator, while the victim takes the stand. 

In the final illustration in this series, the newspaper requested we see all the people who are in the victim's corner, helping them to safety, to heal, to get justice, and shine a light on what has been happening in the shadows and behind closed doors. Each of the people surrounding our main character here are actual, real local people in Springfield, MO who work to help victims of domestic abuse. 

Check out the incredible reporting done for this series Living in Fear by the Springfield Daily Citizen. 

If you are looking for editorial illustrations to help bring your story to live, or custom illustrations to give as a gift, don't hesitate to reach out!

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