Research for illustrations

Daniel Lieske: I'm really astonished how much stuff hides in your head that just comes out when you give it a canvas to break into....

Jake Parker: ...I think the key to that there is the first part of your answer when you said you enjoy geography & botany and those types of things. You have to fill your head with that stuff.

You have to make deposits in order to make withdrawals, right? 

I get students talking to me and they're like, "How do you know how to draw machines so well? I don't know how to do machines." 

And I'm like, "I've looked at a ton of machines. I have a huge machine folder on my harddrive, right, and it's become second nature to me, now, because all that's in my head. 

And the other thing too is, I grew up with a subscription to National Geographic, right. And that is probably one of the best magazines an artist could get. 

In this podcast

Obviously you research the things that interest you - which is why it's not machines with me :-). But I could illustrate a fairly accurate fashion show of ancient Middle Eastern / Egyptian outfits from about 2000BC to 100AD (with some annoying gaps, unfortunately).