THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS
7 week project to explore our chosen subject
I began by drawing creatures on the islands that I found from references
LINE + MARK
Had Lucinda Rogers' work in mind when I did this - focusing on line, how darker, thicker lines in certain places add more depth to the crab, make it heavier and more substantial.
Enjoy doing these loose drawings, one in charcoal works because it is quite simple but the attention to detail on the head adds texture
Able to be very playful with this project, looking at tone and line. By shading the background and leaving the lizard fairly plain it brings it forward making it much more bold. This also happens with the contrast of the pencil shading and the pen shading. The loose style adds character to the lizard I think, and though I am drawing from reference, by drawing the same lizard multiple times I feel I have started to produce my own take on this lizard, taking it away completely from the original photograph.
Tried doing a more detailed study, focusing on the pattern in the birds feathers, and contrasting it with the large, bulbous white space of the birds throat pouch. But after doing a series of very loose, experimental studies I feel that this doesn't have the same charm as the others, although I like how the detail has come out and it was a good exploration of the patterns I feel its rather dull and hasn't got very much to it.
DRAWING FROM REFERENCE
We were given the task of finding four photographs, and then drawing from them using different tools and materials.
Portrait of a face
Full figure image of someone doing something
Something engineered, man-made or structural
Something natural or organic
Here are some of my drawings that I think worked well
I really enjoyed making this one, pattern is something that intrigues me, I find it exciting trying to create different textures using varying shapes and marks. This piece took longer than others because I got really into exploring all the detail on the lizard but I think the fine liner mixed with the slight washes of ink adds that bit of depth which was needed to make it a more fully formed piece.
I liked playing around with ink in these pieces, though it is the same image repeated, by slight differences in the way I use the ink they become completely different pieces and not just copies from a reference. In the first image I think the looseness of the ink makes the image more focused on the movement of the diver, the limbs are slightly elongated to give the idea of motion. Whereas in the second piece the focus is more on the diver itself, the shape of the figure is emphasized by the dark background.
Because a lot of the sketches we have been doing for our ideas haven't been done while confined to a format of any kind, and have instead been free form on the page, we did an exercise to help give an idea of the space we will be working with and how we can use it to our advantage.
We cut up paper into landscape format and came up with four ways to
convey one visual element we have been using in our ideas in different
ways:
I used the visual element of an iphone charger, and tried to simplify it as much as possible, to give the idea of being connected without using too much information.
We then tried using different perspectives, focusing in on certain bits or enlarging to see what works best. Though they are only quick ideas, I quite like the look of the bold brush pen on white when doing such simple line work, it creates a bold way of working.
Then we turned the paper to portrait to see if that made a difference to our ideas. At first I found it more difficult after having been working just with landcape but then I found I was able to work better with perspectives in this format. It was a useful exercise in learning how to work within formats, which I haven't been very used to in previous work, but I understand it is an important part of illustration because briefs often have formats that strictly need to be stuck to.
We went away and came up with as many ideas as we could for the three pieces the brief required. Halfway through the time we were given for this brief we had a concept critique, where we got into groups and recieved feedback on our ideas. It was an effective system where two people thoroughly looked through someones work and gave written feedback, then we had group discussions on everyones work and so recieved a lot of constuctive criticism to work with.
I recieved some really useful feedback, my group gave me a lot of constructive ideas to help develop concepts I already have to fully formed pieces, as well as more research to look into. My group felt that these were some of my strongest ideas:
The image of the couple with wires coming out of their head is looking at the idea that we are constantly connected to our smartphones, how we are always checking and always partly have our mind on them in some way or another - as if we are literally plugged in. In the one above this I was trying to look at how continous use of our smartphones makes us have less and less interesting converstaion in reality, which I tried to show with an elipsis above the couples head as if the conversation has run out, but I don't think it is as effective as the one below it. I do like the figures I have drawn for it though, it was only a quick sketch but I think the body language and the long features give quite a morbid tone of voice, giving a sense of a rather cold and boring situation that these two people are in due to their smartphones.
The one my group liked on this page is the four symbols, three of them are religious but the fourth is an iphone. I was trying to show how people have routines with their smartphones which they follow religiously, and often find themselves lost without them which are common traits in religion. I think this is quite a simple but effective image, because it is instantly clear what it is relating to, without being too convuluted.
This is my self evaluation of the ideas I have come up with so far, and my action plan for the time remaining until the brief is due in:
We were given an article that we had to respond to and create 3 illustrations; one at 200mmx200mm, one at 105mmx200mm and one at 290mmx105mm. My article was 'Ditch the Smartphone to optimise your bandwidth'
http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/10/ideas-bank/ditch-the-smartphone-to-optimise-your-bandwidth
What stood out to me in the article was the idea that by using smartphones it means that part of our mind is always thinking back to emails we need to send or check, possible notifications we could have recieved or maybe just a humourous photo we want to share. Smartphones are so addictive because of all the information they can provide and the apparent order they can add to our lives with their calenders and other organisational applications; that we become so reliant on them for organising our lives or even providing decent conversation. I think the article is suggesting that this obsession makes us more boring as people, the constant access to social networking sites actually makes us less social, and the continous organising of our lives makes us focus less on what we actually need to do, therefore making us less productive. I agree with this article, it is an interesting look on how reliant we are on smartphones, how we actually feel lost without them; I want to try and convey this idea in the article in my pieces, the addictiveness of the smartphone and the consequences to those hooked on using them.
We did an exercise in groups, to help gather words to do with our article from other people's perspective, which helped gain a wider understanding of the article and other possible concepts I could involve in my pieces. I came up with three words that I felt summed up the article: reliant, connected, overload. Also we found images from the internet that linked in well with the articles so to aid with thinking of initial ideas:
To introduce us to using photoshop we were given the brief to use our 5 A5 ideas from studio brief 1, and develop and edit them in photoshop. We have been introduced to using levels, adding textures and colour to enhance certain areas or completely change them to create an entirely different type image.
I'm not particularly experienced with photoshop, and only used it slightly during my foundation so what we were told in our photoshop workshops was relatively new to me. This was my first attempt at editing this drawing, it was very experimental, just playing around with different textures and colours. I don't think what I have used for this one works particularly well, the colours don't compliment each other; it all clashes, but I was just using this as an opportunity to test out different styles.
I experimented on the same image again, and I am more pleased with this result. I used darker, more shadowy colours and textures that work well together, which I think make it rather intriguing and I think relate more to the concept of a frantic, messy artist at work which I was trying to convey through this piece. I also using different textures to create a difference between the floor and the wall - making it more of a rounded piece. I am still finding it difficult to understand layer masks and levels though.
Although we are meant to be working with the five ideas we had for studio brief 1, I wanted to have a go at editing one of my drawings from the visual language brief, because I think this image will work well with colour. I didn't try out any textures with this one, I just wanted to try out the different brushes, using multiply and overlay, and seeing how the colours can blend and work together. Though this was just a quick practice, I quite like how it has turned out; I particularly like the arm of the lizard, the blues have been blended nicely to create shadow effectively.
Just before the session ended, I tried out using layer masks on the actual pen work using textures. I initially just wanted the fire to be behind the pen work, as a background but only for sections, but I couldn't work it out and ended up with this instead. Though I will ask how to do that, I quite like how this has turned out, it is a texture that works well with this subject matter.
For my final I decided to go with the idea of splattering watered down ink onto the canvas the figure is painting. I was worried that my idea wouldn't translate very well when enlarging the scale but I think it has worked well, though the body is bigger; the arms are still long enough to communicate the idea of frantic movements.
Unfortunately | was ill on the day of the critique so could not recieve any feedback. I feel that this piece does convy the idea of an artistic, eccentric figure who is painting, although I think it would have worked better if the figure was smaller, so that it appears more dwaved by him frantic arms. Also, I should have used better stock, as the paper warped slightly when I spalttered the ink which makes it look unprofessional.
We were given the task of filling out a questionnaire about ourselves which drew out answers which hopefully gave an idea of our personality. From that we were paired up and interviewed our partner about their answers to build up an idea of their personality which we would then have to translate into an image which contained their initials. To help with this we came up with 10 words that we felt related to our partner which would be easier to create images from. But to get to our final image, a process of quick sketching and brainstorming is needed in order to come up with a well formed idea.
So we got a sheet of A2 and folded it so 64 squares are created and were given an hour to come up with 64 different ideas that communicate an idea of our partner's personality:
My first attempt at this task wasn't very successful as I found it difficult to quickly come up with a varying succession of ideas, and I would spend too long on my sketches when they are only meant to be an outline of a concept. So I didn't mamage to fill out the whole page and I wasn't pleased with the ideas that I did come up with.
The words I came up with to describe my partner were spontaneous, creative, tattoos, individual, bearded, whiskey, animals, dogs, erratic, ambitious. I did the task again but this time I included his initials 'K', 'W' into my drawings:
This went a lot better, I was coming up with ideas a lot quicker, my drawing style was loose and experimental, I also found the concepts themselves were less obvious that my first two sheets. Having the structure of the 64 boxes per sheet helped initally as a target that I was motivated to reach, but as the drawings went on they became less contained in the boxes and I was more focused on developing certain ideas rather than the quantity of my ideas.
Once we finished the two sheets we picked out our 5 favourite ideas that we felt best communicated what the brief requires:
This sketch relates to my partner because he has two italian greyhounds, as well as other dogs and has a number of animal orientated tattoos, I wanted the image to not revolve completely around the letter - so the bones in the shape of a 'W' makes it relate more with the dog aspect of the image.
I wanted to communicate the concept of my partner being creative in this sketch, the way the figure has many arms all working away on this letter is meant to communicate quite a frantic, fast moving mind and creative impulses.
This is also trying to communicate this idea of creativity, with the lightbulb being a typical symbol of a bright, smart idea, by having the lightbulb exploding it is like there is an excess of creative, ingenius ideas - an explosion of creativity.
With this one I wanted to get across the idea of my partners ambitious, determined nature as well as the creaive aspect, with this figure surrounded by scrunched up pages of work it suggests he is constantly trying to improve, to make each piece perfect.
My partner is very interested in music, especially listening to it loud so by having a speaker fited into the letter I feel it communicated this interest.
After choosing these 5 images we got into groups and had a discussion about each of our pieces so that we can get relevant and critical feedback so that we can develop our ideas. After presenting and explaining each of my ideas, my group decided that even though my image with the 'K' as a speaker conveys the meaning the clearest, it is too neat and not as interesting; it was the image with the figure working with multiple arms that was favourited. This was because it has a certain charm to it with the quite naive line work, but this method also conveys the idea of working frantically; being spontaneous. My group suggested that I use watered down ink and splatter it on the page so to give an idea of creativity, with paint flying everywhere. They thought the materials I had used for this sketch work well already, and to keep using ink or a similar material and to continue using a mixture of thick and thin lines as it creates an effective contrast.
Having this informal critique half way through the project was helpful as it enabled us to properly reflect on everything we have done so far and see if we are going in the right direction. We also found that we have all come across similar issues with our work, such as; managing to make our pieces subtle, so we are not just working around letters but rather creating images that incorporate letters. Also keeping it simple, because it is easy to make the piece too convoluted and busy.
During out second week, our brief carried on from our summer work. We had to take one of our ideas, or possibly one we saw from other people's work, and then really focus in on that subject and come up with ten different types of that particular thing.
We used A1 sheets for all our ideas, I loked at doing different types of structures like cranes or water towers, or maybe going into food and doing different types of pasta shapes. Or taking a more comical route and looking at the different places my cat likes to sleep. During the powerpoint brief Matt showed us, he put in some work by Nigel Peake which I was really intrigued by.
Nigel Peake - Maps v Guide to Fields 2008
He did a lot of work where he has zoomed in on parts of a map and has made them look like completely seperate designs which I really like. I wanted to do a similar thing and have my drawings maybe not look completely like what they are. My two top ideas were between either doing a series of different toppings on toast, or looking at different walls which are old or covered in posters ect - where I can really look at texture and detail.
I decided to go with the toast idea, because I thought that could be quite interesting, trying to make each meal look more like a pattern rather than jam on toast. It became a lot more difficult than I thought it would, as I was making my toppings look too realistic, or doing them in too much detail when I felt it was more effective to do them quite simply.
I also had trouble finding the medium that would work the best, as the original drawing I had done on my ideas page of spaghetti hoops on toast was quite small, and the drawings I would need to do on this poster have to be quite big meaning I might have to use a larger sized nib on my pen to create the same effect. However none of the drawings I was doing had the same naivity and simplicity that I liked so much in my original drawing. So I tried experimenting with ink and colour but the drawings were just becoming too much like actual depictions of toppings on toast rather than the pattern approach I wanted. But I became a lot more loose with my sketches and thought more outside the box with my designs and managed to achieve the style I wanted.
Standing back from this poster I think the drawings work really well, because it isn't instantly clear what each drawing is, as they seem more like patterns with the sections of intense detail contrasting with the areas of white, with the occasional thicker black line, it does become more similar to a blueprint of toppings on toast. Although with a couple of drawings - like the beans on toast, I think I used too much detail and it would have been more effective if I had used a plainer plate as it becomes a bit convuluted. I could have pushed this idea further, maybe if I had used more exotic, strange toppings although I quite like making such a mundane subject matter actually quite interesting to observe. But I probably could have experimented more with ways of looking at the toppings, thought outside the box more.I also feel I need to get more into the routine of working and improving on work I have done in the studio once I have come home, as I don't feel I am doing as much as could have done on this project so will focus more on that aspect of working for next week.
I really enjoyed looking around at everyone elses work because of how different it always is, there are so many different ideas and ways of working when given a brief that would seemingly produce quite similar work. There was a lot of technically impressive work with mediums I'm not that confident with - like collage, but am now motivated to try out in future projects.
Over the summer we were given a project in which we had to do a series of 10 drawings that responded to 10 different questions about our summer. We also had to keep a sketchbook to document all our test drawings and experimentation while carrying out the task. It was a really useful project to have, as having not done much drawing since finishing my foundation I had been quite out of practice. These were the starting points we were set to draw:
Something that tasted good - I drew some pistachio nuts, I ate a lot of them when I was trying to carry out this project.
Something you heard - I drew this once I had moved into my new halls, and outside my window all I can see is trees, and whenever the wind blows I can hear it so loud in my room.
Something you wore - I went travelling around Thailand, and bought a new bag which I wore constantly while away.
Somewhere you found yourself - there is a bridge going over railway tracks in my local park back in london, and it is my favourite view, I find it so calming to just stand and watch all the trains, and I love the structure of train tracks - the way they shoot off into the distance.
Something thsat made you happy - my two younger brothers have been away for the whole summer, so I have been missing them a lot but my dad sent my a photo of one of them laughing which cheered me up.
Something you'd rather not have done - when I was in Thailand, I thought it would be a goo idea to hire out a moped having not riden one before, and ended up driving into a ditch and so not being able to walk for a few days.
Something beautiful - I have always been intrigued my industrial structures, I find them so striking. And in my local area there is a lot of building work going on so a lot of cranes which I love to draw.
Something scary - again when I was in Thailand, we went to a tiger sanctuary where the tigers are all trained so we were able to actually touch them, which was of course terrifying.
We were meant to do 10 drawings but I only managed to do 8, because I ran out of time and I also had trouble thinking of an idea for 'something you have discovered' and 'something you have been thinking about'.
In my sketchbook I used a variety of different mediums like pen, ink, watercolour, charcoal. I felt it enabled to really explore how best to depict each concept. A few of my final drawings are actually sections of bigger drawings in the sketchbook - like the mopeds, pistachos and train tracks where I also played around with repeated patterns and layering which I really enjoyed. I decided on just using black ink and fineliner pens for my final images, because I feel they work best together and it is what I am most confident using. I got positive feedback from the crit, saying that my use of wash and line was effective, as was the difference in bold and fine, detailed lines. Also that alhough it is a limited medium, the drawings are all very diverse.
Only a few days into our first week of the illustartion course we were goven our first brief - 'the most stupid brief ever'. Which consisted of creating an image for a garment that would make someone smile, so it could be funny, or charming possibly. We had a day to start brainstorming ideas, I found it quite difficult to come up with a range of different concepts, especially as the brief is so broad it was hard to know what to focus in on. But I eveuntually settled on the idea of having the majority of the vest taken up with the bottom half of an animal, my original design was a duck but I found a penguin to be more effective. I think it worked because of the simplicity of the design, as it only has a few colours and not much detail so it becomes rather bold and it also meant the design translated quite well onto the vest. Although I did find it difficult to paint onto the vest as I have not done t-shirt design before, but I was pleased with the outcome.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
