Our assignment for the final project in Digital Illustration was to create an illustration based on three random words we were given; my words were "parched, group, haunt". 

My first thoughts immediately associated the illustration with a desert environment, a group traveling through this desert, and encountering a spirit which has been subtly haunting and following them. At first, I thought to make the group hostile to the spirit, but scrapped that almost immediately. Throwing some ideas back and forth with my partner, we developed a story instead that revolved around the spirit of a 'boozehound'; a spirit that died of thirst and seeks out something alcoholic to quench itself (the irony being that alcohol makes you dehydrated!). So the story here is that the spirit is drawn to this group's drinks, but not necessarily in a malevolent way. 

My process began with a few concepts similar to this one: 

Before deciding on the first sketch seen at the beginning of the post. I laid colors underneath it and referenced several pictures of the desert at night, and began painting it, finishing the illustration seen above. 

As for what I've learned, the class has taught me several fun skills to utilize in Illustrator (which I've used in other drawings), but has also reminded me of important fundamentals in painting and drawing; color coordination, harmony in the layout of my pieces, to attempt several concept sketches before going into a piece, and more. The opportunity to share my art and get opinions from my peers has also been invaluable, and reminded me to keep other's viewpoints and varying aesthetic pleasures in mind.