Finished Illustration 6

I wanted the last illustration to represent the life in the garden at the end of the book, a scenic image. The only reason really for me putting a swan in there was because I like the form of them and I wanted an excuse to draw one at some point in this project. The pureness of the swan and use of white also changes the tone of the image slightly, this one is much brighter than the others.

Writing

I drew over the quotes I wrote down in my sketchbook with the Photoshop brushes, this was so the aesthetic would match the rest of the book. Keeping the writing the same size was a bit tricky, for some reason the further I went along the bigger my hand writing got. I re-sized and changed some of the words to keep them consistent.

Finished Illustration 2 - 'And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles'

I think basing this image on the interior described throughout the book helped to set the tone of the book. Also, I like the simplicity of the composition and different details of the objects in the frame. Describing character through the portraits was also something I enjoyed. This added a more interesting aspect to the illustration, inviting a viewer to think about who these people could be.

Starting Illustration 6

I wanted to produce something that reflects the growth of nature as this is talked about a lot towards the end of the book. Because of this I started to think about exterior scenes I could create, I wanted to include a pond with foliage all around.

Going over the roughs from my sketchbook is something I am learning to work from whilst changing elements as I go along. For example, I improved the shape of the swan and at first I drew it kind of like a duck.

Illustration 2 - Wallpaper Pattern

This is the pattern I made to put in the background of the second illustration. Obviously, I will make it more subtle when I place it in the actual image, but doing it in these colours to start off with meant I could see what I was doing more clearly. I actually really enjoy making simple patterns, there is something very satisfying when something looks so symmetrical! Although I did miss out a couple of the motifs, which I will have to add in on the image.

Illustration 2 Development

I have most of the imagery down, but I think the background looks a bit plain. I might add in a subtle pattern to create more depth against the frames. I am happy with the overall composition, this one is much simpler than some of the others but I think it will be more interesting to look at on the whole if the pages vary slightly.

The Point of Creativity

http://illustratedladies.tumblr.com/search/thinking

Recently I have been thinking about the how I never feel completely satisfied with my work, there are always things I want to go back and change which means I never feel finished. Usually I quite like the excitement of playing around with different ideas, experimenting and arriving at something I want to develop more. But past that point I can get a bit frustrated, especially when I am running out of time (like now), because all the deadlines are so close together. I am enjoying this project a lot, I just wish I could feel more relaxed about finishing it!

End of Module Evaluation

Project Report

Collaborative Brief Design Boards

Substantial Brief Design Boards

Small Briefs Design Boards

Starting Illustration 2

To start with I just sketched the general shapes of where I could place the frames. Later on, I decided to add in shelves with other elements on them. Also, in my test image for illustration 2 I added in cobwebs which I liked a lot, it added a bit more detail.

Going back to the second illustration I felt that the composition I used in my initial digital test was far too complicated, particularly amongst other images that embody a certain amount of detail. Therefore, I stripped down the quote I used, basing my work upon 'the faces that stared at her', in relation to portraits hanging on the wall. I wanted to focus more on the actual portraits than anything else, I really enjoy working with decor and time period themes so this seemed to be the best way to move my project forward.

Finished Illustration 5 - 'the green veil has covered all the grey'

I am really happy with the way this one turned out. Conceptually, I think this design is the strongest and one I was very excited about completing. Hopefully it's not too busy, the composition I chose meant that I had to fit quite a lot in the frame. Separating the image into two sections - one for the interior, and one for the exterior, helped me to differentiate which colours to use.

Motifs - Globe

I am starting to think about the opposite pages within the book to the illustrations. At the moment, I think the layout will include the quote I am illustrating from and some kind of motif to go with it. This means I need to create at least 6 motifs and maybe one for the inside title page, I feel that I may be giving myself too much work but I'm enjoying this project so I'm just going to go with it. As well as creating motifs I might design some kind of simple border to go around the edge of the page, they will be a lot simpler than the finalised illustrations but something I feel will benefit the final book as a whole.

Starting Illustration 5

Roughing onto the screen

Starting this illustration I wasn't too sure about the roughs I drew out in my sketchbook. I liked the composition of the bed and the thought bubble but the characters had changed throughout the development stages on-screen. Because of this I roughed out the general shapes of the figure with the intention of adding in the detail after.

Facial Expressions

Colin is described as a bit of a hypochondriac in the book. He is not a very happy person, which is something I wanted to depict in this image. I did this primarily by thinking about his expression and making the blush a grey colour, instead of pink.  

Colour and Detail

I am enjoying adding detail especially to the bedding and interior decor found within the image. The idea around this design is based on Mary's thoughts and descriptions of the garden as she sits at Colin's bedside. I want to use a thought bubble coming from Mary to show this, hopefully the composition won't be too busy and I will be easily readable.

Finished Illustration 4 - 'Dickon, who was kneeling on the grass working hard'

By changing Dickon's sleeves I made him look a bit less like a girl, which I only noticed may be an issue, in comparison to Mary, after getting feedback from my Mum! This and changing the face slightly helped to differentiate him from other characters, I think because the only character I have really developed so far has been Mary, I subconsciously started drawing Dickon very similarly.

I wasn't sure whether or not to include the fox to start with, I didn't know whether it made the composition a bit too busy, however I am glad I stuck with it because I think the colour especially balances the image nicely with the red apples in the tree.

Illustration 4 Progress

Too busy?

Making the image quite full was intentional for this image as I want it to be full of life, however I think I may have got a bit carried away here, I think I need to make the foreground a bit more minimal and take away some of the dirt piles as it's a lot overall.

Fox or no fox?

I took away some of the saplings and I think it works better without them. Also mentioned in this scene is a baby fox playing around. I drew out a little fox but again it might be a bit too busy to include in the final image.

Dickon

I am much happier with the way this figure has turned out compared to what I started off with. I moved the bird to his shoulder instead of his hat because as he is now a bit taller there was a gap between the tree and Dickon. The plant is pulled up from the soil rather than Dickon having his hands in the mud, I think this makes it look like an action or movement rather than a stationary figure. I need to work on his face a bit more I think, he is too close to what Mary looks like.

Starting Illustration 4

I started the fourth illustration today, I am looking forward to this one as it contains the most foliage so far.

Mary will make an appearance in the background of the image so I don't need to concentrate on detail too much.

I like the colours and feel of the image so far. However, I need to change Dickon in some way, I think he looks a bit odd in this position, like a dog or something. I want to start with the figures in this image as they always take me the longest, I think maybe because when I look at an illustration I am drawn to the characters first - so I want mine to demonstrate what I love about each of them in the book.

Finished Illustration 3 - 'this is Miss Mary, Sir, she said'

Finally this image is completed! The chosen characterisation of Mary came into fruition whilst developing this illustration. This is the only image where Mary is looking at the viewer, including them in her uncertainty of the situation (having to meet Lord Craven). My decision to include Mrs Medlock was mostly due to wanting to include some victorian examples of a maid's dress. Looking at the fashion/clothing of an era is something I am very interested in.

Victorian Fashion

https://uk.pinterest.com/sw255328/victorian-era/

To refer to the fashions of the Victorian era, the time of which the book is set, I made a Pinterest board of different thing I found on-line. This includes Victorian illustrations and photography. It was particularly useful to look back at these when drawing out Mrs Medlock as the clothing of a servant is very distinctive. I kind of guessed what clothes Mary would be wearing, I had a pretty good picture in my mind of what she would look like.

Finished Illustration 1 - 'she saw a bird with a bright red breast sitting on the topmost branch'

This is my final illustration for the first scene I am working from. Overall I am happy with the way it turned out, although the small alterations and placement of detail took a long time, I feel as though I can continue with the other images a lot easier as I now have a planned out aesthetic to work towards. I'm glad I finally decided to have Mary looking up at the bird and I think the expression I went with is working in this image. Hopefully the detail of the faces won't take as long in the other images, I think I have a general idea of the tone I want to create in each one.

Changing Faces

Old Face

New Face

Illustration 1

Because I have been so unhappy with the face I created for the third image, I decided to go back and do some character development on the first one to make it easier to work from for the rest. I much prefer the overall aesthetic of the second image as I think it would appeal to both children and adults. Her expression is also a lot better, less sulky and more in wonderment of the garden.

Old Face - Adapted from Above

Eyes & Mouth are too big...

New Face

Illustration 3

The top two images are what I started experimenting with for the character of Mary, I thought there would be a lack of a connection with someone reading the book if I had used this way of drawing, it's far too naive. For this image, I think having Mary look directly at the viewer could help them to connect to what she is thinking, in this moment she is moody, not happy to be in the room with Lord Craven.

Last minute changes

At first when I changed the face on this one her eyes and mouth looked way too big, something I didn't notice until I zoomed out on the actual image (left). The right image is the same Mary but adapted, I think this one looks a lot better and her expression is more of what I was looking to achieve. I am finally happy with the outcome of this and hopefully after going through this long process it will make drawing the other figures in the book a lot easier.

Developing Faces

I drew out a variety of different faces initially as I didn't know how much detail I would want to put in the images overall. The realisation of wanting to put expression and experiment more with characterisation, which is something I usually shy away from, made me draw multiples and consider what Mary could look like.

Features
Finally! I am done with the faces in illustration 1 and 3, the finishing touches were making the features slightly darker so they were more readable amongst the rest of the imagery. I feel very relieved about this because I have been going round in circles trying to find a way of drawing the faces I was happy with.

HELP

I don't like Mary

I really don't like the simplicity of the face! I think it looks way too cartoony for what I am aiming to achieve within the image. I think I am spending longer on the face than the rest of the illustration but it is starting to really frustrate me! The only problem with changing the style of this slightly here means that I have to do the same for the first image. Although I would rather be happy with them all as a set so I might have to consider this, I feel like once I overcome this hurdle the rest of the images will be a lot easier to finish.

Changing Mary

Too flat!

The first Mary I drew from the roughs didn't seem to be working, she looked a bit too two-dimensional (maybe alongside the addition of Mrs Medlock) so I decided to create a character that faced the back of the frame towards the viewer. I like the new stance but not really the face of the new Mary. I will continue to work on this and hopefully I will end up with something I am happy with.

Illustration 3 - Wallpaper Pattern

I made a subtle wallpaper texture for the background of Illustration 3. Doing this on a separate document was a lot easier for me than trying to create a pattern straight on to the image.

Illustration 3 Progress

Mrs Medlock

I re-read the text again and I decided that I wanted to include Mrs Medlock, she is a central figure involved in the scene I am illustrating - I want this image to capture the moment when they first enter the room of Lord Craven. I didn't know if I would have the opportunity within the other images to include the Victorians servant dress so I included it here. Also, it is Mrs Medlock that says the quote I am drawing from 'This is Miss Mary, sir'.

Fire

Creating the fire took me a lot longer than expected! I didn't draw out a specific way I would tackle this in the roughing stages, and I thought it would be a lot easier than it turned out to be. I couldn't decide on the colours, not wanting to distract from the rest of the imagery I was going to put in, I didn't want it to be too vibrant. Eventually I realised that layering 3/4 colours was the best option, which is what I ended up with.

Starting Illustration 3

I started the actual imagery for the third illustration. So far I think it is going okay, I am happy to work from the roughs I have drawn out so far, although I am aware that I may change things as I go along. Already, there are things I am thinking about in regards to how I want the image to work as a whole, which I had not realised too much when drawing out the roughs.

Flowers Reference

Today I popped into the garden centre to get some inspiration and have a look at some of the variations of flowers I might include in the latter images of the book. I want to include as many different kinds of flowers as possible as, to me, the secret garden is one which is full of organised chaos - a mixture of different plants/flowers, almost overgrown with nature. I think the book cover will also be made up of this type of imagery.

Illustration 1 Development

Face & Features

Today I continued to work on the finer details in the first illustration. I am still deciding whether or not to include the details in the face or just use simple shapes to suggest a face, etc. If I do include detail it will be done with lighter colours, as shown above, I don't want this to become the main focus of the image. However, I think I might be able to put across the tone better by including expressions. For me, I am actually pretty happy with the way this one is turning out. I think Mary's expression fits with the way she is described at the beginning of the book, she is 'disagreeable', so I tried to make her look slightly unimpressed. 

Background

I also added a few little trees in the background and gave the robin an eye which I think adds more depth. Imagery that you can look into and find little extra details is what I like to create in my own work.