You already impose several limitations on your work

 

NYT Spot Illustrations on p. 3

NYT has spot illustrations on p. 3.  Each one is part of a month-long series by an artist.  This article details how the editors pick artists.

The illustrations don’t pair with articles, so aside from fixed size limitations, the only stipulation is that each “spot,” or small, free-floating illustration, features a newspaper in some way. Sometimes wholesome, often witty and whimsical and occasionally wacky (in the best kind of way), the spots inject personality into the page. Usually, the artist brings in a theme —  vegetables reading the paper, characters made of thumbprints — that ties the monthlong series together. No matter the concept, the spots offer special moments of surprise and delight for our readers.

Jason Polan

For much of the first year of the new pages, the artist Jason Polan provided the illustrations. His distinctive, intuitive line drawings included slice-of-life scenes and more silly spots, like a newspaper obscured by a quadruple-decker hamburger. Mr. Polan, who died at 37 in 2020, set the tone for what was possible with the space.

Bahij Jaroudi

Bahij Jaroudi, who did last month’s spot illustrations, used fine and frantic line work to create a series of humorous characters. So this month, I wanted to feature an artist whose style was darker and bolder.

In the "First Draft section on page 3" there is a feature of this month's illustrator, Sophy Hollington

This month’s spot illustrator is Sophy Hollington, an artist from Brighton, England. After sketching her ideas on an iPad, Sophy creates her illustrations through a relief printmaking process called linocut. She carves her scenes in linoleum blocks, then applies a coat of ink to the block. Next, she presses a sheet of paper on the block, transferring the image to the page. I asked Sophy to shed light on her process. Our edited email exchange follows.

How long does it take you to complete a single spot illustration?

To carve one spot illustration in this series took about 20 minutes. Printing and scanning takes about 30 minutes, including getting out and putting away all the required gear. Editing takes about 5 minutes.

Why is it important to you to work this way, as opposed to achieving something similar digitally?

It’s something I’m always reckoning with to be honest … as it is a limiting and time-consuming process that feels more so as digital technology progresses. However, whenever I’ve tried other media, I find I’m not able to recreate the beautiful irregularity that this kind of printmaking creates. I think the limitations of using a medium like this also force my brain to work that much harder to figure out how to represent certain objects and portray scenes or narratives in a way that feel clear and concise. Put simply, it has completely shaped the visual language I use, and I get a huge sense of satisfaction from using an analog medium. I love that all of my work exists in the real world as both a carved object and a print.

What was the inspiration for your series?

I wanted to take the paper out of the domestic, everyday setting and in to another, slightly spooky and archaic world that also felt familiar and humorous.

You already impose several limitations on your work. Was incorporating the newspaper a welcome addition? Was there anything you found challenging about it?

I felt quite intimidated at the prospect of carving so many newspapers, which are honestly one of my least favorite things to represent in lino (fiddly, foldy, small lines etc.). Saying that, it got a lot easier as I progressed, and I really enjoyed the challenge of trying to find more unusual ways for the paper to be interacting with the illustration. Given that the rest of the spot could be about anything at all, it actually felt like one of the more liberating commissions I’ve ever worked on.