What Does It Mean To Be Human

Hi, I’m Rio Etzioni, an aspiring illustrator with a passion for creating meaningful visual stories. For this course project, I chose to develop an illustration inspired by a real-world brief to make it feel like a professional commission rather than just a personal exercise. I recreated the illustration for the BBC Earth article “What Does It Mean to Be Human?”, reimagined in my own artistic style to align with the course theme.

I recreated the illustration for the BBC Earth article “What does it mean to be human?” with my style. https://www.bbcearth.com/news/what-does-it-mean-to-be-human

I worked entirely in digital media. I used a Wacom tablet as my primary drawing tool, alongside Adobe Illustrator for building clean vector foundations and Photoshop for adding depth, textures, and finishing details. This digital workflow allowed me to experiment flexibly, refine compositions with precision, and bring out the bold contrasts and symbolic elements that define the final piece.

The process began with analyzing the article’s core themes, followed by reimagining the composition through initial sketches. I then refined the piece digitally, using bold contrasts, monochrome tones, and symbolic elements to amplify its emotional depth. The final illustration reflects the essence of the article while preserving a distinct artistic voice. To showcase the development, I created a GIF that traces the work from thumbnail sketches to the finished piece.