In this illustration, I reimagined the concept of a neighborhood. My goal was to capture the chaos, and the individuality of each household. By isolating the homes on an "island" I was able to bring forth a unique scenario and personality in each home.

I was on train from Boston to Providence passing towns, houses, and rural areas. I imagined a strange image of homes sitting on small hills in a field of grass. I found the image interesting and sketched it in my notebook. After more thought I was able to attach a concept to the imagery, and solidify the piece. I chose to create this project on Procreate. I wanted to make a highly detailed piece, and Procreate's flexibility was the best way to achieve my goals.

I used Procreate on an Ipad to create this piece. I began with a sketch, and then drew the line-work for the image with a brush replicating a pen. Once the line-work was completed, I added color under the layer if line art. After the color was added, I placed various highlights of color over the line-work to make individual details pop.

People enjoyed the overall detail of piece. They liked looking for various things hidden in the illustration, and believed it was a fun concept. This piece has inspired me to make more illustrations in a similar style (emphasis on detail with comedic elements). The piece taught me to consider each detail, as well as the overall illustration. Every element must stick out, yet cannot be competing. I am still working on mastering this challenge.

John Rego

John Rego is a freelance illustrator and painter living in Jersey City, NJ. His work is inspired by the absurdities of the human and natural world. Primarily working in acrylics, his artwork references pop-surrealism, daily observations, and 19th Century scientific illustration. He is a goose enthusiast and can eat two pounds of grapes in one sitting. John Rego has experience in editorial, fine art painting, package design, and narrative illustration.

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