Spreads - 1/2 & 11/12

Page 1/2

I wanted to concentrate on atmosphere in the finished page spreads. This was the first one I experimented with, in order to set the tone for the rest of the imagery.

Page 11/12

I may or may not use this as one of my submission pages, as I continue with roughing scenes I think I might want to complete some more dynamic scenes! Purely because the composition is more interesting, I like this better than the original rough. You have to look further into the image to see the figures of Dorothy, Toto and the scarecrow on the path towards the tin man.

Tin Man - simple

Roughs 1-6 In Progress

Page 3/4

The cyclone is perhaps one of the most iconic parts of the Wizard of Oz story, and I liked the idea of having things looking like they were spinning around in the air, being pulled in by the cyclone.

Page 5/6

I really enjoyed playing around with angles for this one. I wanted to include Dorothy and the witch's feet. After going through a few different ideas I decided this was my favourite. It's also quite unusual for me to do a bird's eye view image.

Page 7/8

Again, I have been looking at different compositions and more interesting ways of illustrating different moments of the story for all the images. I wanted the focus of this one to be of the shoes, again another iconic part of the story. Also, after researching the original story I learned that the shoes are actually silver, so I think I need an image which clearly resembles this.

Page 9/10

I think I might re-do this image. I'm not too sure about the overall composition, it's a bit predictable. However, I'm happy with the characterisation of the scarecrow.

Page 11/12

I wanted the focus of this image to be of the yellow brick road. Although again, I like the angle, but want to change the composition slightly so it's more interesting.

Editorial 2 - GIF

I had a great time making this image. I like the scattered nature of putting all the objects in the frame. Right from the start I knew I wanted to make this into a GIF, so I made everything the whole size which enabled me to then move things around more easily! Working with the theme of collecting things, I used a lot of my own personal things I collect as inspiration - most of which are sentimental things such as hand written letters, little notes, photographs and tickets.

GIF

For some reason I always feel a sense of freedom when only working with objects and not people. I also think that this means a viewer is able to put themselves into the context of the image, rather than relating to a given figure. I tried to give more of a generalised representation of the people included in the photos for this reason.

More Paintings

I painted some more elements for other images I may develop into complete spreads. These include; the discovery of the tin man - the yellow brick road, the woods and the tin man, the cowardly lion - mane textures and the cyclone - mostly textures and some details.

Here are some more textures to add in to the sky. I think it definitely adds more depth and also gives me a break from working digitally when painting in my sketchbook This has become a part of my process now and one of my favourite parts of a project.

National Portrait Gallery - Research

@nationalportraitgallery

Josephine Butler


Josephine Butler was born on 13 April 1828 in Northumberland. Her father John Grey was a strong advocate of social reform and a campaigner against the slave trade. His cousin was Earl Grey, British prime minister between 1830 and 1834.

Maye Dilke


The daughter of Liberal MP Thomas Eustace Smith, Dilke trained to be a teacher in France. From 1878 she was an active member of the National Society for Women’s Suffrage, and later, treasurer for the Central National Society for Women’s Suffrage. She published Women’s Suffrage (1885) and worked in London local government, particularly in education, campaigning for its free provision. In 1888, she travelled to Washington to attend the International Council of Women. 

Dame Ellen Terry


Ellen Terry, in full Alice Ellen Terry, (born February 27, 1847, Coventry, Warwickshire, England—died July 21, 1928, Small Hythe, Kent), English actress who became one of the most popular stage performers in both Great Britain and North America. For 24 years (1878–1902) she worked as the leading lady of Sir Henry Irving in one of the most famous partnerships in the theatre. In the 1890s she began her famous “paper courtship” with George Bernard Shaw, one of the most brilliant correspondences in the history of English letter writing.

Group Crit

Yesterday, we talked through the on-going projects I have so far. Mostly we discussed what each of us could include in the show. I know I want to put some double page spreads of work up, but the problem with doing book proposals is that I don't have a finished outcome. I might continue working on one of my publishing briefs up until the show so I can make a finished picture book but I'm not sure if that is going to be too much work and not very feasible. This is something I will think about after hand in.

Character - 3. Pioneer of Computing

Ada Lovelace

Continuing the theme of influential women, I designed this character based on Ada Lovelace who was a pioneer of computing. It was interesting for me to look at someone who I was not aware of - I want to continue to do this with future characters within this project.

I feel like I am developing my style a bit more and more aware of what works for each brief. Colour is also something I am actually enjoying considering which is a surprise to me. For so long I always used black and white, or one colour but recently I am realising the importance it can have when describing a theme.

Pages 11/12 Development

Initial Rough - Changes

I find it a lot easier to describe lighting in black and white. Starting off with digital roughs I painted and drew elements in over the top, as the image developed my initial concept changed slightly to include more depth - by adding in hills and sky in the background.

Too muddy

My idea to start with was to make the image quite dark and spooky, but as I progressed it just looked a bit too muddy which wouldn't work very well for a children's book. I still wanted to describe tone but in a more aesthetically pleasing way.

After adding in some figures I decided to create the scene without them for a while, I wasn't so sure about the placement of characters at this point.

Lighting has become a really integral part of the way I view scenes. As shown here, the consideration of light and shade can completely transform an image. This is something I will continue to explore and experiment with.

Editorial 2 Roughs

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/finance/personal-economy/11182739/why-do-we-collect-things.html

Working with the themes of collections and nostalgia after reading this article in the telegraph, I started thinking about the items that I keep. I thought this topic would be perfect for a GIF. I only attempt animating my work when I can think of a simple but effective idea.

Ada Lovelace Roughs and Development

After researching into different women throughout history on the English Heritage website, I came across Ada Lovelace. I was drawn to her story as she helped to invent the first computer programme, which I automatically associate and presume to be created by a man. I thought it was interesting to link the feminine clothing she wore into the image, as well as highlight her intellect and idea generation using the scroll.

Waterstones - Children's books

I had a quick trip to Waterstones in town to have a look at some picture books. I find it helpful to see what is already out there and where my work could fit in a publishing setting.

The books I took an interest in the most were titled 'The Night Box' by Louise Greig and Ashling Lindsay, 'The Grotlyn' by Benji Davis, 'The Great Paper Caper' by Oliver Jeffers, and 'The Curious Case of the Missing Mammoth' by Ellie Hattie and Karl James Mountford.
The thing that appealed to me the most about these books was the sense of adventure and scenes depicted over a double page spread. In 'The Grotlyn' I also really admired the use of muted colours. This is something I have noticed about my own practice. I tend to shy away from brighter colours initially, and then build up to them once I have created the imagery - this could be to do with building tones, but I think I just prefer using these colours.

Page 1/2 Development

Digital Test of composition

Before I scanned in any painted elements I decided to test a composition I was thinking about for the first double page spread.

Painted elements mixed with the digital

Here I started to add in some painted trees and textures, as well as changing the composition slightly. I find that I always end up changing things as I go along in the later stages of completing imagery.

Progress - page 1/2 - Notes

Want to create more depth, relevant to the weather - maybe include leaves (some closer to the foreground)

Sort out the sky! - Add more clouds

Paintings

Before working on any final imagery, I wanted to paint out some textures and things I could use within the imagery to mix with digital techniques. I prefer the aesthetic of digital imagery when it is mixed with analog media - I think it adds more character.

It's really important to me that my work demonstrates an appropriate tone and atmosphere, especially when depicting a scene. Adding in the textures and overlapping patterns is one way in which I plan to do this.

English Heritage - Research

Women who made History

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk

Ada Lovelace

(1815 - 1852)

Ada, Countess of Lovelace, was a mathematician and computing pioneer. She has been called the world’s first computer programmer because of her work on the analytical engine developed by Charles Babbage, arguably the inventor of the computer.

Dido Elizabeth Belle

(1761 - 1804)

A mixed-race woman, Dido Belle was raised as part of an aristocratic family in Georgian Britain at the height of the transatlantic slave trade.

Emmeline Pankhurst

(1858 - 1928)

Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel led the militant campaign for women’s right to vote in the early 20th century. During the First World War, they both lived at 50 Clarendon Road in Holland Park, where Emmeline also cared for her adopted ‘war babies’.

Margaret Brotherton

(1320 - 1399)

Margaret Brotherton was a wealthy and influential noblewoman, whose business acumen, as well as a series of untimely deaths, made her one of the richest women in England.

Sister Nivedita

(1867 - 1911)

Sister Nivedita is one of the most influential female figures in Indian history. In addition to campaigning for Indian independence, she worked tirelessly in education reform and joined Swami Vivekananda in promoting the Hindu philosophical movement Vedanta in London. Nivedita is commemorated with a blue plaque at 21A High Street in Wimbledon, where she and Vivekananda stayed with her mother and sister in 1899.

I WON!!

I am so happy! I didn't expect to win at all, especially as I gave myself a day to complete the project. It's very exciting to me that my design will be on an actual published book, this is the first time I have had my work properly published! I also won a week's placement at Transworld publishing which is part of Penguin Random House - so I have the opportunity to get some actual experience in the creative industries!

Initial Roughs

I worked out which sections I would illustrate for each double page and whilst doing this I jotted down some initial ideas for what I could include in each image. At the moment I'm not sure whether to include single pages as well as double page spreads or just keep them all as scenes.

Final Foiled Print

Final Print

I had to figure out a way of foiling the print without using the heat press, as I haven't had an induction yet and I'm a bit pushed for time! I printed 3 finals, one for testing and 2 for foiling.

I came up with my own way of setting the foil by using my hair straighteners - gently pressing them over a piece of kitchen roll to set the glue. I had a lot of fun doing this, it was quite therapeutic, and I can tell I am going to be tempted to foil everything!

Wizard of Oz - Short story version

Wizard of Oz – Shorter Version - one into two double pages spreads (to make 12)

1. Long ago, there lived a girl named Dorothy. She lived on a farm in a place called Kansas with her aunt and uncle, as well as her little dog Toto.

One day, Dorothy was playing with Toto outside, when all of a sudden a storm rolled across the sky. The wind howled and the thunder rumbled as Dorothy began to look for her aunt and uncle, but she could not find them.

2. As a cyclone made its way closer to Dorothy's house, she ran inside and locked herself and Toto in her bedroom. The house spun and rose into the sky, hurtling around in the clouds. Eventually, as the wind stopped the house dropped to the ground with a great crash. It was calm. Dorothy knew she wasn't in Kansas any more. As she opened the door she became overwhelmed with the marvellous beauty surrounding her. She also noticed a row of very small houses and a road made of yellow bricks.

3. Whilst admiring this new land, a woman wearing brilliant white appeared in front of Dorothy, introducing herself as the witch of the north. It was obvious from the kindness she showed towards Dorothy that she was a good witch. Dorothy was shocked to discover that she was now in the land of Oz and her house had landed on the wicked witch of the east and killed her! The witch of the north explained that because Dorothy had saved them from the wicked witch, she was now the owner of her magic silver shoes. However, Dorothy had no interest in taking them. She just wanted to get back to her aunt and uncle.

4. Seeing Dorothy's despair, the good witch told her to follow the yellow brick road which would lead her to the Emerald City and the wizard who could send her home. With encouragement from the munchkins who inhabited the land of Oz, Dorothy and Toto made there way along the road. After walking for some time, they came across a rather solemn looking scarecrow, who admitted that more than anything in the world, he wished to have a brain. 'Maybe the wizard of Oz could help you too!' declared Dorothy, and he joined them on the road to the Emerald City.

5. Along the path and into the woods, they heard a clanking noise. As they walked it became louder and louder. After a while, they discovered a rusty tin man, standing amidst some tall trees and unable to move. At once, Dorothy ran to fetch an oil can. After putting a little oil on his mouth, the tin man began to explain that his tears made him rust. He was sad because he had no heart. A little later, Dorothy had oiled all of his joints and explained their quest to find the wizard of Oz. Along the path they continued.

6. Further into the forest, they heard someone whimpering. Cowering behind a particularly large tree trunk, they found a lion curled up in a ball. He explained that being known as the king of beasts among the other animals was a lot of pressure and he just needed some courage. He too followed Dorothy on the yellow brick road towards the Emerald City.

7. As they carried on with their journey, they had no idea that the wicked witch of the west had been watching them. With the intention of getting her sister's silver shoes back, she observed Dorothy's journey through her crystal ball. Summoning her flying monkeys, she ordered them to capture Dorothy. Meanwhile, the four friends entered a enchanted poppy field. Whoever stayed in this area for too long became very sleepy, and Dorothy and Toto fell asleep. The others strived to help them across the field.

8. On the other side of the field, they found themselves next to a wide blue river, seeing the green glow of the Emerald City ahead. The water was choppy and they weren't quite sure how they were going to cross it. The scarecrow had an idea, he was made of straw and wood, so he would float. With great difficulty they made it across on the scarecrow's back. Finally, they approached gates to the city! Suddenly, as they headed to the palace, the wicked witch's monkeys surrounded them.

9. Capturing them, the monkeys took Dorothy, Toto, the cowardly lion, the tin man and

the scarecrow to stand before the wicked witch. She told them of her desire to take her sister's silver shoes and fought with Dorothy to get hold of them. Picking up a nearby bucket of water, Dorothy threw it over the wicked witch, who immediately started to melt!

10. They made their way back to the palace to see the wizard of Oz and he thanked them for ridding the land of both the wicked witch of the east and the wicked witch of the west. 'As a reward, I shall grant you any wish', he said. The scarecrow got his brain, the tin man got his heart and the lion got his courage. However, he told Dorothy that he could not help her get home. The power had been with her all along, and all she needed to do was click the heels of her silver shoes three times to go to any place she desired.

11. It was time for Dorothy and Toto to say goodbye to their new friends. Dorothy clicked her heels three times and immediately she was back in Kansas with her aunt and uncle. She was happy to be home safely but would never forget the adventure she had with her friends.

Character - 2. Tudor

Elizabeth I

I wanted to explore a Tudor figure and probably the most influential for her time was Elizabeth I, she also had a very recognisable look that I wanted to explore. Mixing modern themes with historical is something I have been thinking about exploring for a while. This was my first attempt at doing this.

Final Book Cover and Binding Design

Final Cover

Overall I am happy with the final outcome. It is very different to what I usually do, and I chose to stay away from actual imagery and motifs. The entire composition was made up of shapes and type. In my original sketchbook roughs there were some ideas I came up with that could have been really interesting with more development, but I didn't really have the time to do this.

Binding Design

Thankfully, adding the bleed to the design was very easy because my design was so simple. I had forgotten to do this initially but it worked out okay!

Final Spreads

4x Double page spreads

After doing the original character design for Momo I decided to change the colour of him, I wanted to add a mouth to describe his expression a bit better so the darker colour wouldn't really work. If I were to make these images again, I would make the pages a bit more varied from one another. The grey is the main colour across most of the images, which now looking at them all together, is a bit much. I am happy with the way my practice developed to include more experimental and playful characters.