A Day in the Life Week 2

Resolved Images

1

2

3

Image 1

After resolving image 2 I repeated the process of drawing elements on different pieces of paper. I found that I was repeating drawings of the same thing, this was so I had options as to what position would be suitable.

Image 2

I found that whilst designing the second image it was going to be a lot easier to draw each character separately and then scan them in on the computer. This way I could move them around on Photoshop and try out different layouts as I wasn't completely happy with the readability of my rough from last week.

Image 3

The biggest challenge with this image was how I was going to draw the net without it distracting from the sea creatures. I tried using levels on Photoshop to give the creatures depth and variety. The net became a subtle addition rather than taking away from the imagery.

Influences

http://tinyredart.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/petra-brown.html

I looked at different ways people had characterised their animals and how I could achieve this in a sophisticated way without looking too child-like and cartoony. Adding texture with pencils helped me achieve this. Petra Brown's work has a similar feel to what I wanted to bring out in my own characters. 

Evaluation

The biggest lesson I learnt from this brief was the importance of roughing initial designs. I found that the roughs that worked also produced great images and communicated what I wanted them to. The second image could have worked better if I had tried out a few more designs and layouts. The process of scanning images in separately and then using Photoshop was a different way of working than I am used to. I definitely want to explore digital work in the next project as it is something I am very interested in but is new to me. Although I think working practically will always be my first love when it comes to drawing and exploration, I think that a finalised digital image has a professional quality to it and is generally very effective.

Although I am happy with my overall designs, I don't think the second image quite worked. I think this stems from not being happy with the rough in the first place therefore I didn't really know how to move forward in the time I had left. I like the image but I am not convinced by its communication of the intended idea I wanted to convey. The characters almost looks confrontational rather than being happily reunited. I definitely think I need to work more on ideas as my strengths are in the craft of an image rather than in a concept. However, I feel motivated to learn from this and develop these skills in the next brief. Being aware of my strengths and weaknesses will keep me in tune with what I need to focus on most in a project. Sometimes less is more!

A Day in the Life Week 1

 Brief

To present 3 Illustrations to accompany a given article.

Week One - Nine Roughs

The biggest challenges I faced when producing my initial ideas were..

• How was I going to communicate my intended idea for each image effectively?
• What colour scheme could I use that will work for all three final designs?
• How can I produce something that is aesthetically pleasing whilst bearing in mind the tone of the article.
• Working within the frames given.

Looking at other practitioners work helped me with compositions and the balance of the image as a whole. Rebecca Chew's work is simple yet effective, I liked the relation of the images to each other and the colour scheme used. Similarly, Josh Cochran's editorial images have a slick and finished feel to them. This inspired me to try and add digital elements to my own work.

 

http://trendland.com/art-direction-by-rebecca-chew/

http://pencilfactory.tumblr.com

Feedback session

After getting feedback from lots of different people within the course it was evident that without text the message I wanted to get across with the first image would not be clear enough. I wanted it to demonstrate the reunion of certain animals as explained in the article. This is something I will have to work on for next week.

The other ideas seemed to work well and it was obvious to everyone I spoke to what I was trying to get across.

Why is colour so difficult to work with?

Setting the tone and atmosphere of a piece can be quickly determined by the colour scheme. I had a quick experiment with colour this week. This always makes me a bit nervous as I feel one of my weaknesses as an Illustrator is choosing colours that will work well together. I was thinking about using a monochrome colour scheme but decided to try something I am not used to. I want to look more into which colours are effective for certain projects and how they relate to one another.

I eventually settled on a Blue/Green/Grey and a pop of Yellow for my colour scheme. I feel that this will tie in well across the three final images and fits nicely with the themes of hope for the future of the natural environment. 

Line

Task - Draw a chosen image 20 times using only line work.

Using Quink for the first time was great! I really enjoyed the fluidity of the mark making and tones I experimented with.

Drawing the Circus performer was enjoyable to start with but after the first few drawings I ran out of ideas of what media to use to make them different. Blind drawing was a lot of fun and I actually really like how playful the outcome was, it suggests his movement and stance in a way I was not able to communicate fully in previous drawings.

Line Presentation

 

I was inspired by Matt's Line Presentation which included work that was less refined. I always struggle with being completely free to draw as though no one will see the outcome, although I am starting to realise that this is very important in order to explore and produce effective visual research. I have seen a difference already in the way I approach a task/project and feel that I am gaining confidence.

 

Typology Poster Week 2

Final theme - A to Z of Animals with Careers

Final poster

• I re-wrote my A to Z lists of Careers and Animals in order to match them up.
• Thought of the actions each character could be doing - Humour aspect, very important for the success of the finished image.

Problems I encountered

• Tried out wash of ink and dip pen over the top, however on a smaller scale I could not get the features I wanted so I tried a red fine liner pen.
• The first fine liner pen I bought was too light to stand out over the ink so I had to buy a darker red. This worked well and I was able to had the same effect whilst still capturing the detail of the characters.
• I found it difficult to make it obvious what was happening in the scenario I had set as I didn't want to complicate things by added text within the poster due to the amount of detail already displayed.

Quick overview of final Storyline

• Escaped Xantus from the zoo, he hides in the stock room.
• Zoo keeper looking for him.
• Fire in the kitchen, setting fire alarm off - Chef, baker and Kitchen helper.
• Policeman investigating fire.
• Fireman putting out fire - Ambulance, nurse.
• Van driver and Taxi driver stuck in traffic - Lollipop lady.
• Electrician trying to turn alarm off.
• Office worker stuck in the Lift - Mechanic fixing it.
• Graphic designer, Quality control officer and IT technician in office - Waiter.
• Unemployed Umbrella bird mistaken for Xantus - questioned by Security guard, Accountant and Youth worker.
• Journalist turns up at reception about the missing bird.
• Housekeeper cleaning toilet.

Once I had the rough draft of my Poster I had a chat with Matt. He introduced me to Luke Pearson's work which I have since become a fan of. The way in which he relates each character to another is something I really wanted to achieve in my own work, I wanted it to be exciting and interesting for a viewer to look at.

http://eoleblog.com/2014/06/19/une-nouvelle-selection-daffiches-dessinees-pour-lete/

Rough draft of my final design.

I drew my final design in pencil first in order to get the scale and placement right.
I found the cars in front of the building the most difficult to get the correct size.

I had never used a light box before and at first found the process challenging and slightly frustrating. However, once I got used to the visibility I liked the fact that I could just paint straight onto a guideline without drawing with pencil first. 

What am I happy with?

• The composition of my final design. I'm happy with my decision to set a scene rather than in a grid format as it tells a story.
• I didn't want to use black and white however I am normally a bit weary of using colour. Therefore, using pinks and reds was a bit of a risk but one I think paid off.
• The title/font - Use of the light box really helped to look professional.

Things I would develop further if I could do this again

• I would do more research on the individual animals, the way they move and what they could be doing in relation to the career and the animals' behaviour.
• Experimented with more techniques an colours.
• Tried more of a variety of compositions before settling on a final design.

Typology Poster Week 1

Week 1 - Task

• Come up with 10 different themes for a Typology poster.
• List, research, visualise and develop full A-Z ideas for each theme.
• Include as many ideas for each letter as possible.
• Draw 26 drawings for each theme (260).

Favourite Themes

A-Z of an Animal Marching band.

• Match the first letter of an instrument to the first letter of the animal.
• Humorous and playful concept.
• The idea for my chosen theme 'Animals with Careers' stems from this, I find the notion of animals doing human activities very funny.

A-Z of Phobias

• Distorted images to look scarier to the viewer.
• Interesting concept.
• Although the idea of phobias is an attractive theme for me to research and spend time on, I wasn't sure whether the audience would have much of a reaction to it.

A-Z of Animals with Careers

• Personifying animals.
• Funny to a viewer.
• Chosen idea - I liked the concept and felt that I could have a lot of fun putting the animals in different scenarios people face in a workplace environment.
• I enjoy putting narrative and storyline into my work.

A-Z of Emotional Food

• Food with human expressions.
• I found it difficult to make the food look like the faces were their own rather than just putting a human face on a vegetable etc.
• Funny idea but not chosen as I wanted the poster to be set in a scene rather than a grid format.

Chosen theme - A to Z of Animals with Careers.

Challenges

• Coming up with 10 different themes was a lot more challenging than I initially thought it would be. I feel that I just put a few random ideas in there for the sake of it, I was more interested in completing the amount of drawing than the actual concepts behind them towards the end. This may have been a bit of a hindrance and a pointless exercise for the project as a whole.
• I thought my hand was going to drop off by the end of the week! I did eventually reach 260 drawings however I do think the notion of repetition and testing out drawing tools did help to develop my ideas to the point where I knew what I wanted to use for my final design.

Sketchbooks

Sketchbook pages - 4 pages of initial response

Sketchbooks Presentation

During the seminar I realised that I probably do spend too much time worrying about whether my work looks good and less about having the freedom to experiment with different drawing techniques. This is something I am going to make a concious effort with.

Task - Choose a topic to research and respond to for six weeks.

 

What interests you?

What resonates with you?

What are you an expert in?

What would you like to know more about?

I chose Fun Fairs and the Circus. As a big fan of theatrics the imagery of clowns, acrobatics, Cirque du Soleil and circus acts is what excites me about this theme.

Photoshop Skills

Week one

By adjusting levels, hue and the saturation of the image I was able to easily change the look of my originally black and white image. I really liked the way the saturation depicted the tonal areas in particular as a brighter colour. Most of the things we were taught this week I already knew, however it was great to get a recap of basic skills.

Week two

This week I experimented more with colour, using the Multiply feature and many different layers in order to create a variety of effects using the same image. Creating shadows and filling in the image was actually a lot easier than I anticipated. I learnt a lot from this session and have already found certain tips and tricks very useful in the rest of my work. 

Week three

 

I decided to try scanning in a different image this week, i found a figure easier to manipulate. 

I also scanned in my own textures including my own hand and my bag. It was great practice to get used to using masks in order to create textures within my image without ruining the original drawing.

 

Learning how to create my own custom paint brush was surprisingly easier than I expected and something I was very excited about. I used a custom paint brush of my Circus man's shoe and a Multiply layer to produce a pattern over his clothing.

Patterns made with custom brushes and duplicated images.

 

These sessions were extremely useful for me as although I am familiar with Photoshop I have never been taught how to use it properly. 
I have always guessed at what will work best when trying to add colour, create patterns etc. so the skills I have acquired will save me a lot of time in the future. - Multiply option is a life saver!