Within the dynamic world of student journalism, members of the Daily Wildcat‘s Comics Desk play a crucial role in quickly creating illustrations that add an eye-catching visual element to written pieces.
However, plans may change and illustrations created to accompany other articles can be left in publishing limbo. Until now, these amazing works created by various artists have been unseen by the general public. This gallery showcases some of the desk’s favorite works created for the fall 2023 and spring 2024 semesters, as well as an inside look into the creative processes of some of our graduating illustrators.
“It’s been a great pleasure of mine to be able to contribute to the Daily Wildcat for almost 2 years. Every illustration takes me in a new direction where I can explore new styles and themes. I love the challenge of conveying each article’s main idea. But my favorite part is being able to take a request and really run with it, putting in as many details as I can,” said artist Farrah Rodriguez. “For example, the skeleton mariachi piece was for the Day of the Dead Parade. The street they’re on is one that the Parade actually goes down. I always use a lot of references to make sure I get every detail just right and I think that effort really comes through in my pieces. I also love working with bright colors. My favorite piece is the one of Wilma and Wilbur in front of Old Main. It was quite a challenge to capture Old Main’s details while keeping a consistent style and color palette. I have so enjoyed this opportunity and I hope to continue creating editorial illustrations after graduation.”
“I like creating narrative or character-based works even for editorial assignments,” said artist Olivia Morey in relation to her Valentine’s Day article illustration. “Since I wasn’t able to read the actual negative opinions from the article, I went kind of generic for the story for the piece but I played around with dramatic stylization and saturated colors to make the piece more interesting.” Morey demonstrates how visual concepts can transform beyond the initial image request. “The writer asked for the girl to have a speech bubble over her head with a broken heart, but I switched it up by giving her a broken heart tattoo,” Morey said.
Editorial illustration is a cherished part of the Daily Wildcat‘s ongoing journalistic process. You can find more editorial illustrations like these throughout the summer and upcoming semester by staying tuned to new content from the Daily Wildcat.
