Do Judge a Book by its Cover Week 1

I really wanted to start blogging earlier than I usually would this week. So much excitement already with this project! After my tutorial with Matt I was very keen to try out different ways of drawing characters. What a joy! I have always been concerned with drawing figures almost true to life. Now I am starting to realise that to communicate a certain idea this way of interpreting a face/figure etc is not necessarily needed and there are more playful ways to describe the same ideas more effectively. Technical drawing is not always appropriate for every brief.

I am having a lot of fun playing with different ways to describe a face. Drawing from reference and observing people in particular has given me a great foundation to now experiment with features.

Jon Klassen's characters demonstrate a naivety and simplicity that I struggle to produce. I think this stems from wanting my work to look technically proficient, therefore I am wary of using vectors and basic shapes to create images. Certain shapes are universally acknowledged which is why this way of working can produce the greatest forms of communication. Shape can be a very powerful thing.

http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/aug/28/jon-klassen-mac-barnett-sam-and-dave-dig-a-hole-trailer

http://jonklassen.tumblr.com/post/79417468681/got-to-do-the-jacket-for-kelly-barnhills-great

Sketchbook roughing and Initial Ideas

I had a quick test on Photoshop of how my initial ideas would pan out if  I were to progress them further. I was intrigued of how I could merge traditional methods with digital and how they would complement each other for the particular idea I wanted to convey.

Challenges

I found roughing a bit of a challenge this time round, I think a week was a bit too long as I gained momentum with this project quite quickly. This was most likely due to my tutorial which helped me gain an understanding on how best to move forward with the project.

By the time I drew out my roughs I had already tested materials and it was evident what I was going to try for a final design. Therefore, my rough designs are all pretty similar featuring the same two characters. This was due to the development that I had already done and what I had discovered.

My roughs all demonstrate my final concept of someone falling through a hole. This was most effective as the book I chose has a generalised theme, not a hole in particular but any notion of a hole. Therefore, it was best that I portray the idea of a generalised hole, not in a sock or an object because that would be too specific in context with the book.