The Castle The King Built

Tom Froese

17 images

Tom created the stunning artwork for the newly realised children’s book, The Castle The King Built.

Written by Rebecca Colby, Published by Nosy Crow.

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Tom Froese

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More work from Tom Froese

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Selected Projects
Adirondack Life Magazine
Tom created this series of illustrations for the latest issue of Adirondack Life Magazine!
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Selected Projects
Avant Garde Health
Tom was commissioned to create these charming character illustration for Avant Garde Health, pioneering a revolutionary appro
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Selected Projects
Waitrose Magazine
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Selected Projects
Reader's Digest Canada
Tom was commissioned by Reader's Digest Canada to create this cover and feature illustrations, exploring the touching stories
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Selected Projects
The Graduate Hotels I Promise Village x LeBron James
Tom has teamed up with The Graduate Hotels for the I Promise Village with LeBron James Family Foundation!
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This is not how I illustrate. This is how I draw from reference photos. Not the same thing. One of the biggest discoveries in my effort towards having a consistent illustration style is that how you draw naturally from observation is not necessarily the same as how you compose your illustrations. In my @skillshare class, #drawingtowardillustration, I show how I separate these two drawing modes in my process.
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First I gather up reference images from the internet (or wherever) and spend some time drawing these. I have no goals of coming up with ideas yet. My only goal is to commit some raw information to memory so I can drawn from heart later on. After spending some time in Observation mode, I set my references aside and start drawing from heart. This is Ideational mode. Here my goal is not to reproduce the realism or naturalism of my O-mode drawings, but simply to build ideas on the page in my more stylized, symbolic way.
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The O-mode drawings were only meant to give my imagination a boost. The really hard work is always translating raw visual information into ideas. I-mode illustration is the process of using my acquired visual language of stylistic elements and motifs to symbolically and expressively convey an idea.
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This definitely sounds like an earful when I write it down. What’s the point of all this? If I can draw well enough from observation, why not let that be my style? In ones word: control. In two, consistency. I cannot control what external references I will have to work with, but I can control how I express ideas with my invented visual language.
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It’s risky posting these, especially since my esteemed client (hi!) might see these and ask if I can use these as part of the final art. It’s a fair request but not what I offer as my product. I provide a point of view in my work, not just drawings. My POV comes out through my style. And that’s why I don’t illustrate how I draw.
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#drawing #illustration #sketches #wine #italy

Learn exactly how I illustrate in Photoshop!

I’m so excited to launch my first @Skillshare class of 2021! This was originally hosted as a live event over zoom, and the folks at Skillshare produced it into a permanent class on the platform. If you missed the live event, this is your chance to catch up!

This is a special class for me, as it goes into exactly how I work in Photoshop to create printmaking inspired illustrations. If you want to see how the sausage is made, this is it! I’ve held nothing back!

Here’s what you’ll learn:

* How I use Photoshop as a powerful illustration tool
* Which digital brushes I use
* How I use iPad as a graphics tablet for my Mac
* How I work with minimal colour palettes
* How I create hand lettering
* Why I use Photoshop vs. other options out there

Q: Can I use Procreate, etc. instead?
A: Yes, you can follow along in your own app, but this class is specifically about using Photoshop, so you may find some tips won’t translate exactly. But you will still learn a lot about how I think during the process, so please follow along!

From the class description:

“Tom Froese is known for creating illustrations that incorporate some of the best things about analog printmaking into his digital work. In this class—recorded using Zoom and featuring participation from the Skillshare community—he’ll share the exact process he uses to achieve his signature flat and textured illustrations.

“Throughout the class, you’ll get to follow along as he takes a piece from sketch to final illustration. As you work, you’ll get a deep dive into how to use Photoshop as a powerful illustration tool, including skills like using digital brushes to create texture and add details, using the Pen Tool to define bold and curvy shapes, using layers and clipping masks to your advantage, and more.

“Great for beginners and more experienced illustrators alike, you’ll walk away with some insights into how a professional illustrator works, and hopefully some new skills and techniques in Photoshop to incorporate into your own work.”

See you in class!

#illustration #photoshopclass #printmaking #thestyleclassillustration

Chopping wood, getting it done. A picture from The Castle The King Built by Rebecca Colby, published by @nosycrow.
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Paperback now out in the UK! See publisher’s site or Amazon UK for deets!
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#carpenters #medieval #castles #illustration #thecastlethekingbuilt #rebeccacolby #nosycrow #lumberjacks #millers

Talk about 2021 goals. For some reason I had it in my mind that I could write an entire book manuscript by the end of the year. Part of my thinks this is actually still possible. But now that I’ve started actually taking steps to do this, the hugeness of this task seems to loom more intimidatingly.
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Over the weekend I started reading THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO GETTING YOUR BOOK PUBLISHED, published by @workmanpub, and let’s just say I’m super charged up and excited to get going! It’s been amazing to have a guide, written by experts in the industry, to paint a realistic picture of what’s involved in writing and publishing a book.
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The other side of this story is that the commitment I just signed up for really became apparent. Writing a book is not something to do casually. I think I have been kind of assuming this would be easy, kind of like scooping up some content from here and my classes and organizing it into book format. But now I realize I need to do a lot of the research to start. Of course, I should know this already, given it’s what I practice and preach for illustration! I never just start an illustration, not without spending time building up my ideas through research.
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So here is me just taking a bit of action on my initial research: writing! To make this more real, I started a writing blog over on @medium. You can find it in my bio link.
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Why am I writing this post here also? To invite you, my friends and students, to be a part of the process. One of the most important drivers of creative success in my life has been the awareness, real or imagined, that I was creating for an audience. That what I was making or saying mattered to at least a handful of others. And it is in that spirit that I now begin this quest.
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How can you be involved? Honestly, right now, please just exist. I can't write a book without an audience. I believe - I know-you are out there.
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So what is my big book idea? I’ll be working that out over on Medium, and sometimes here as well. As always, I value your feedback and encouragements in the comments. How about starting with this prompt: what kind of book do you imagine me writing?
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#writing #illustrationbooks #illustration

Northern lights in the Adirondacks. Part of my series for @adirondacklifemagazine. This was the hardest piece for me to do in the series. Using my limited toolkit (brushes and colour palette), how could I evoke the sense of these magical dancing lights in the IG by sky? Using @retrosupply’s Godfather of Grain and The Kitchen Sink texture brushes turned out to be perfect for the job. I had to play around with things a bit but I got there. The trick was in having the hard edges to make a sort of ribbon like effect. That’s where the Pen Tool came in handy. One more reason I believe Photoshop is still the most powerful illustration tool out there. Am I right or am I right?
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#photoshop #northernlights #adirondacks #astronomy #auroraborealis #observatory #whitefacemountain

Excited to share this Opener illustration for @adirondacklifemagazine! This is part of a series I did for their March/April 2021 issue. For anyone who’s taken my latest class, #thestyleclassillustration on @skillshare, you might recognize some stylistic elements that I developed in my demo project.
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This happens all the time: in the process of making a class, I develop my own style and techniques, which I then use in real world work. In other words, I prove to myself that the very ideas I am trying to teach work! This is particularly true of THE STYLE CLASS, which is built on the premise that by committing to trying a specific technique over and again in a series of illustrations, you can really work out your style. You learn so much about what works and what doesn’t, how a constrained set of style elements can be adapted to different ideas in creative, unexpected ways.
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When I received this assignment, I knew right away I wanted to use the same style as my class project. I shared my project images with the AD to give home a sense of my vision, and he was on board.
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You can do a lot with so little. For this series I used maybe 6 brushes and 6 colours. By using only a few stylistic building blocks, it is a bit challenging to come with ideas that work well, but much easier to make a set that is cohesive. Once you work things out in one or two images, however, the rest almost work themselves out.
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Almost 😅.
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How has The Style Class been working for you? What have your learned about your own style or art?
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#illustration #trail #hiking #adirondacks #outdoors #pinpin #editorialillustration