“I love the challenge of being an illustrator. It’s the process that is different from gallery art. Illustration involves parameters that are imposed by your client. You have to find a way to put your identity into the project. The challenge is to make it look like yours with all the dos and don’ts that come along with assigned illustrations. Good illustration art and good gallery art are just that… "good art." Fine artists set their own parameters. They paint what they want, when they want. There’s no reason to strive for anything but the best.”

Jack Unruh’s illustrations are conceptual, interpretive storytelling used in advertising, editorial and corporate design. His work has a linear feel with a strong design sense.

Jack said he had two styles:
What is Real, “where one is reflecting upon an image and developing it”
What is Not Real, “which is something you find within your imagination and draw it out”

Tools of His Trade

Unruh used Windsor & Newton watercolors, Kolosky sable brushes and Crescent cold-press illustration board. He worked in pen and ink using Gillott pen points with waterproof india ink.

Jack’s Technique, Step-by-Step

Balancing positive and negative space in his unique style of artistic documentary.
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Jack’s technique for drawing “a real sinister figure."
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An Illustration Began with a Sketch

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