Editorial Illustration for Popshot Magazine, The Earth Issue



Role: Editorial Illustrator

What: Full-page illustration for the story “Soil” by Lotte van der Krol

Where: Popshot Magazine, Earth Issue

How: Created an original illustration to accompany a fiction piece

Impact: Enhanced the narrative experience for readers, visually interpreting exploration of the cycle of life, death, and renewal in nature.

Popshot Magazine is a beautifully illustrated literary magazine that publishes short stories, flash fiction, and poetry from emerging writers around the world. 

Each quarterly issue centers on a specific theme. This one was dedicated to Earth.

Goals

The magazine commissioned me to create an illustration that would visually echo the story.
My goal was to bring the Earth Issue’s theme to life with a piece that would help readers connect more deeply with the writing.

Collaboration

For this project, I collaborated directly with the author, Lotte van der Krol. Her artistic point of view resonated with my own, and this shared perspective on the story’s themes made for a natural and thoughtful pairing. 

My Role

I created an original illustration in my signature style, designed to stand out in print and invite readers to spend more time on the page. 

Final Design

My illustration captured the circle of life in nature: a world beneath the surface where humans, animals, plants, and insects are all connected, equal, and inseparable. In the soil, no one is more important than another.

I used reds, browns, and oranges to almost literally ground the illustration in the earth, symbolizing stability and the raw simplicity of the natural world.

Results

The illustration was published in Popshot Magazine’s Earth Issue and received positive feedback from both the editorial team and the magazine’s audience.

This project reinforced my passion for editorial illustration as a way to deepen the narrative experience, and I truly enjoyed collaborating with a fellow creative.