Illustrated Pun Fun: Interview with Procreate Artist Claire Makes Things
I had a chance to virtually get together with Claire, an illustrator and lettering artist based in Spain, She’s behind the brand Claire Makes Things, and specializes in drawing puns for greeting cards, creates chalkboards and more, and she just published an awesome new Skillshare class on this very topic. Intrigued, I thought we could chat about puns, illustration, and creative processes. This particular art form can be done in watercolors or digitally, therefore I’m super excited to try it out in both mediums. Are you in? Here’s what Claire had to say:
Hi Claire! I’m curious, what started your love of puns?
I have always loved puns, but I started illustrating puns a lot more during the pandemic. I love creating and illustrating food and drinks, which is something I already do for clients (I make chalkboards, both physical and digital, for cocktail bars, restaurants, bakeries, and more). While I was looking around for inspiration and fun ways to show off menu-items, I realised puns are kind of the way to go.
They’re short and memorable, which meant they fit nicely into an illustration together with the dish or cocktail itself. Especially when your art serves a specific purpose (get those people walking by to get a cocktail!), it needs to be fun and catchy. I found a way to make these illustrations work with puns, and people loved it. I’ve also had requests to turn existing personal projects with puns into projects for clients, which I loved. Puns have the power to turn an ordinary greeting into a memorable moment.
What Have Illustrated Puns Done for Your Personal Growth?
I love how puns are an easy way to practice lettering and illustration simultaneously. As someone who struggles at times with lettering long sentences and quotes, I love how short and fun puns are to draw. As an illustrator, showing that you can turn text into an easily understood visual, is also really important.
Puns are a great way to show a potential client that you know how to visually communicate ideas. I think simply learning to combine illustration with lettering effectively is a huge plus when working with puns. I’ve had to learn how to communicate ideas in the most effective way possible (they have to be understood by people immediately), and that has pushed me to improve my lettering skills immensely.
It has also given me a way to speak to my audience and find community online through art and illustration. It can be hard to communicate with others and find your people, especially through visuals alone. Just a bit of text and humour has made it so much easier to show myself. I also felt like other people might be able to use this as a way to practise their lettering skills too, so it’s something I want to share and help others with. Plus the response I got from sharing my pun creations online was positive. Often, people identify with it or understand it and that sparks a conversation. Illustrating puns also means never running out of inspiration. Using that pun as a starting point to come up with ideas of showing that visually, has been a great way to overcome the ‘blank canvas syndrome’. Now, even when I come up with other unrelated ideas, I’ll find a way to integrate puns, because it feels natural.
Are There Any Artists Who Inspire Your Work? How Have They Influenced Your Style or Approach to Pun Illustrations?
I love Lauren Hom’s lettering work, which inspired me to try lettering of my own. Plus, she uses puns all the time. Especially the way she uses different types of materials (food. Honestly, mostly food, and I love it) like bread, soup and cookies to showcase her lettering is magnificent and so creative. Even though I love using my iPad for illustrating, I think there’s something quite magical about working by hand, and with a variety of different materials, because there are limitations to what you can do with them and requires you to think creatively.
Another favourite of mine is illustration and design from the 1950s and 60s, which was often whimsical and playful. This era was a vibrant and influential period for illustration. I love looking at mid-century advertising, children’s book illustrations from that time, magazine illustrations, retrofuturistic tv shows, comics and more, which was a time of lots of playful, whimsical and childlike illustrations, with bold shapes, lots of texture and limited colour palettes. A few excellent artists from that time; Miroslav Šašek, Maurice Noble, Ted Schaap, and Bernice Meyers.
Are There Any Specific Techniques or Artistic Styles That You Find Particularly Effective in Conveying Puns?
Puns are already basically never serious, so conveying those in a very playful manner just makes sense. Since what I love to do with illustration is spark people’s nostalgia and playfulness, taking inspiration from this time period and style makes a lot of sense to me. Working by hand, or printing (especially on a smaller size like greeting cards) require you to keep things rather simple because you’re limited to your medium. This is something illustrators in that era had to deal with as well (since techniques were limited and printing was expensive). This resulted in those simpler, flatter shapes and bold use of texture and lines.
Can You Share a Bit About Your Creative Process? How Do You Come Up With Pun Ideas and Translate Them Into Visual Representations?
I usually start with a list of ideas and think about where I want something to end up. Often, this would be a greeting card, or perhaps a project for a client. Sometimes, I’ll just have a look at national holidays coming up, and pick an interesting day that I could connect a pun to (this way, I could use that day to post my artwork on social media and gain a bit of extra attention!). I like to focus mostly on drinks and food, but there are plenty of other options. What you decide to use as a starting point, and how you decide to include ideas in your art are part of your style.
I’ll then think of different ways to make the pun visual, by making thumbnail sketches. I’ll think of how to convey the double meaning of the pun, or maybe turn something into a funny character. The more I do this process, the easier it becomes. Learning how to turn words into graphics takes skill, and using puns to practice that skill is a great way to learn that. I’ll try the letters out a few times, to make sure it is legible and everything is clear. I usually finish up my illustrations in Procreate, but I sometimes decide to make things by hand in the form of chalkboards, signage in paint, or with other materials.
Do You Have Any Advice for Aspiring Illustrators Who Are Interested in Exploring the World of Puns in Their Artwork?
Keep it simple! Your creations don’t need to be perfect. When you are coming up with ideas and are thinking about how to visualize them, remember that your illustration doesn’t need to be complicated. Just make sure it’s legible. The beauty of puns that they’re silly and they’re easy to understand. I have found that the simplest, roughest sketches I’ve made in the past of puns, made the most impact (and have turned into client projects too).
Instead of perfecting that one illustration, put that energy into creating a small collection of puns, for example. I’m a big fan of working in series of 3 or 5, because this allows me to work with the same brief or theme multiple times. Committing to your creative process is just as valuable as creating a final piece, and shows that you’re able to rework one concept multiple times. Making three versions of the same idea, or a series of three shows your thinking skills and your ability to recreate a concept in different ways.
Related blog post: Why Creating Illustrations in a Series Will Give You an Advantage
How to Make an Illustration Series: A Step-by-Step Guide
Lastly, What Do You Hope People Take Away From Your Pun Illustrations? What Kind of Impact Do You Want to Make With Your Work?
I like bold lettering, shapes and colour, but simplicity most of all. I hope that people can see how easy it is to create illustrations and that it doesn’t have to be about having the perfect digital process with lots of layers. It can be as simple as using a pencil and a sketchbook. If you can find a way to show your unique style and communicate that, you’re doing a tea-rrific job!
In my latest Skillshare class, Drawing Puns in Procreate: Short & Sweet Lettering on Skillshare we'll combine the charm of puns with the versatility of Procreate to create unique illustrations, that can be turned into a gift, greeting card, or simply to be shared on social media. So, if you're ready to combine your love for puns with your passion for illustration & lettering, join me in this exciting Procreate class. Let's create greeting cards that will not only brighten someone's day but also showcase your talent as a pun-loving artist. Get ready to spread joy and espresso yourself!
Thanks Claire! It was so insightful learning about what you do and how you’ve developed this ingenious method of witty artwork. I’ve had a chance to look at your resources and they are awesome! The guide makes it so easy to create a pun and I can’t wait to try out your brushes to make my very own puns. :-)
Want to learn more about Claire and what she does? Click the links below to discover more of her world!
Find Claire here: Blog, Newsletter, Instagram