pigs head

I've tried moving onto a different scene with this new process. I'm depicting the scene where one of the boys - Simon - stumbles across a clearing in the jungle and finds the pigs head on a stick surrounded by flies. In the story he then has a hallucination where the head turns into the 'Lord of the Flies' and talks to him, warning the boys from themselves. I want to show the peaceful clearing which is defiled by this gruesome pigs head. 

I like this a lot more than the fire scene I did, but it's still not quite right. I think it works well in both formats. It needs to be framed on the page, when the drawing reaches the edges of the page it feels like there is no depth to the image and looks unfinished. I think if I had composed it into an oval shape on the page it would look better - need to remember to do that next time. 

I've sketched out all the illustrations I will be doing - I'm pretty sure I'll do them using this process of making the whole image as one. I just need to do some more tests and make sure I plan where everything will go. It helps a lot to do these test images as it points out to me exactly where I need to improve. 

front cover - will use the same drawing I did initially in my sketchbook, but more developed. Will be a full colour illustration

pg1 - Simon coming across the speared pigs head

pg2 - boys bringing the rest of the group a pig to eat for the first time

pg1 - boys dancing around the fire, Simon dead in the corner after they have killed him thinking he was the beast

pg2 - the boys split into two tribes, one have turned to savages, one are holding on to civilisation and intelligence, trying to get home

fire scene

So I have gone back to creating the illustrations by hand, which takes much longer and more frustrating when I get something wrong:

I feel better about these, as the figures are stuck on they have a slight shadow, adding depth. I'm not sure about the gray watercolour trail; it was okay until I added the blue lines which made it too complicated, but I couldn't change it back. It also means the figures by the fire aren't very clear. This was just a test, but I think I might carry on in this way - but considering the composition more. 

The figures are even less clear in grayscale and I think the fire would look better if the flames were more separated. I think doing it in grayscale may work though, if I consider the layout more, I think the colour version has a bit too much going on with the multiple colours - it should either be a limited colour palette or monochrome. 

fire studies

I'm still a bit stuck with my process, I haven't made anything yet that has turned out just as I wanted it. I did a few tests for fire:

The last one is the most realistic but thats not what I want, I want it to look rough, cave man style - energetic. But I can't seem to get it. I think the first one is the most like that - with the messy paint strokes. I also tried it in grayscale as I am considering doing the inside illustrations in monochrome:

They work quite well, they aren't as striking but it is recognisable as fire - they have good textures. 

I tried re-creating the fire scene again:

I think the fire in colour works really well and is very bold, but with the grayscale it's harder to tell all the elements apart. I also think the figures look really flat. I'm getting quite frustrated with photoshop as everything comes out looking flat with no depth, I might go back to making the scenes mostly by hand and see if that moves things forward. 

bookmark development

I did like the idea of having bits coming our of the bookmark, but need them to be less tearable than my earlier designs, I saw these bookmarks:

I like how there is a whole scene going on below the bit sticking out of the book, it creates more of a narrative. So I have tried to develop my designs more like that:

This way the bookmarks are much less flimsy, and I plan to possibly have the school tie hanging from the bottom. I quite like these compositions - although I think there would need to be more of a limited colour palette. 

bookmarks

Some ideas for bookmarks:

These would have the top bit coming out of the book, I like that idea but I would need to develop the bottom of it more as the motifs don't naturally fit into that long shape.

These would be quite simple, with just a repeated pattern of motifs in two colours, but they would love bold and striking. I also planned to have a tie at the end similar looking to a striped school tie. This design would be a lot cleaner/neater and easier to make. 

I've cleaned up the idea a bit here:

I want the red to be redder, but still textured and not as bright as my watercolour drawing. I am still unsure of how I will draw/make the motifs but they will be much stronger than this. 

I also made a quick repeated pattern for a carrier bag design which I might use:

This is very rough but I like the basic idea. I like the scribbly black with brown texture - it has a caveman and raw feel about it. 

grayscale

I tried converting my illustrations into grayscale:

I don't think they work that well, you can't really see whats going on. This would look more effective if the illustrations were much simpler, more like my sketchbook ones - they would look more caveman-like. But I was focusing my layout on that of the Folio Society's which do hardback books with full colour illustrations, so I might just stick to that. I am considering lessening my illustrations from 9 to 4/5 as they aren't the main part of the project, it I about how I apply them and I don't think I have enough time to do that many. 

group tutorial

I was feeling a bit stuck as I want sure if my latest illustrations were the style I wanted to go forward with, there is still something not right about them. We had a group tutorial and I said how I wasn't too sure about my drawings, but that I did really like my earlier skecthbook work:

There is something about them which has a rawness I really like which is so relevant to the feel of the book, but I don't think  have been able to re-create that. These drawings were not focused on quotes they were just skecthes in relation to the book. So Eleanor suggested I go back to just drawing in relation to the book rather than quotes, and maybe try and involve some of the recognisable motifs like glasses or the pigs head. She also got me to think about the inside illustrations as often in paperback book the illustrations are in black and white so I should try out mine in the same. 

map

I need to think more about the application of my illustration, I have been focusing a lot on my actual images but the other products I make are just as important. I was thinking about making a fold out map that would come with the book on purchase, here is a very rough design of the layout:

 It will be in a similar style as my illustrations with pencil scribbles and a mixture of materials using watercolour and collage. I also want to design bookmarks and a carrier bag pattern which relates to the book. 

more development

I then tried re-doing the fire scene I had mapped out before with this new style:

I quite like how this works together, I think the colours are good, the scribbles give it quite a caveman style. I'm not sure if the fire really fits - it might be better to have done that in watercolour maybe, as it looks too different to the rest of the image. I do like my figures, they have a bit more character in them:

I think I could play with them a bit more, add some small indications that they used to be schoolboys, or adding war paint to their face to symbolise the turn to savagery.

development

I wasn't too keen on my test outcome for the jungle scene, I think it just looked too flat. I liked how the layering of the plants crated new shapes and textures but I felt there was no depth to it. I feel a bit stuck at the moment because I haven't yet decided on a process of working and I can't really get started on all my other products until I do.

I tried depicting the scene again, this time mixing in pencil scribbles, watercolour, plant textures and creating more of a frame:

I do like this a lot better, I feel it has a much more handmade feel to it from the pencil - it is a lot rougher which is what I wanted. I need to make the figures much clearer but I think this is more in the direction I want to go. 

OUIL503 end of module evaluation

This module has been a difficult one because of the huge differences in briefs involved. I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, before we started I was dreading the idea of having to enter competitions as I hadn’t done so before and I didn’t like the thought of having to do really quick briefs with not much research or development involved, but I am really happy with some of the work I managed to create. It was a challenge because it pushed me to take on briefs I would never have considered – like ‘Propercorn’. That was an especially hard brief to get in to because I have never applied my work to commercial situations before, or done such in depth analysis of who the audience is, but it has definitely taught me to take more time to consider all these other elements before creating the work.

Working collaboratively was also something I was dreading slightly as I’ve never done it before and I am so used to just getting on with my own work, but it worked out really well. Me and Emanuel were a good team, we had equal roles within the collaboration, both kept to our responsibilities and I feel like our differences in our process of working complimented each other while also pushed us both to doing better work. After this positive experience it has made me much more open to working with other practitioners. 

My submission for ‘FilmDoo’ was one of my favourite submissions, because I had so much fun making it, as well as it being one of my favourite films. Creating a film poster was also something I had never considered doing before but I really enjoyed it, and I feel like it communicates my new direction, or style, that I seem to be developing. I was also happy with my submission for ‘Penguin Books’; it was probably the most relevant brief to my interest within illustration, but it was also the first time I managed to turn out a brief so quickly – I managed it in a couple of days, which I am proud of. Again I loved the process of that brief, the combination of digital and handmade textures is something I’m really enjoying and this module has allowed me to apply it to such a wide range of projects.

The ‘Secret 7’ brief was a fun project; it was so open that it allowed me to really experiment with loads of different processes. I actually managed to get 3 of my designs through which was really encouraging and definitely made me more confident about the work I have been creating. It was exciting going to see it exhibited at Somerset House amongst so many great album cover designs, it has made me much more eager to enter competitions, with a much more positive attitude. Also, seeing all the work in context gave it more of a purpose, as before it was just 5 random designs, so I now know to think more about where I want my work to be seen while I’m making it.

Although I am pleased with a lot of my outcomes, I feel like the concept behind a few of them have been quite weak e.g. ‘Propercorn’. I quite liked the final designs I had but I feel like they were rushed because I was running out of time and hadn’t come up with anything better. It was the project I enjoyed the least, mainly because I dragged it out for so long instead of just finishing it, but also because I spent so long figuring out what the brief was asking for and didn’t spend much time deciding on the final design. I feel like I did answer the brief by creating designs, which could be viewed in places relevant to the audience, but when I compare the designs to the fun, handcrafted pack designs I think my designs fall short a bit. I think my ‘Penguin Books’ submission had a similar problem, although I loved making it and think it aesthetically looks good, I feel like I couldn’t bring out any major themes within the book because I hadn’t read it before and just based the image on my vague knowledge of the setting.

This module has been so different to all the others, especially as I won’t be submitting my sketchbook I’ve been working in, I find it odd that all it really comes down to with the competitions is the final piece and not any of the research or development work, which is were a lot of my strengths are. So it definitely becomes a challenge to make sure the end product is up to standards to make complete sense without any of the background information. Although there have been some bits I’ve found hard – mainly at the beginning, I got in to it and was enjoying it by the end. I will be making more of an effort to enter competitions and get my work out there, but I have taken a lot of skills from this module to apply to my practise such as, consideration of audiences, context and whether my work will work when put into certain situations and also applying my illustration style to much more commercial briefs which don’t necessarily relate to illustration.  

project report

collaborative boards

individual practice boards

other brief boards for studio brief 1

final poster (filmdoo)

My final design for the film 'The Life Aquatic with Steve Zizzou'

I'm really happy with this design, I feel like it is very relevant to the film and I have managed to get the colour scheme right. I was worried it might end up looking a bit flat, but I think the texture on the top of the sea, the added white splashes and fish underneath definitely add depth to the image. I was a bit unsure about the type but I actually think it works well and has come out looking quite professional. Working to fit the film poster format was also interesting as I initially didn't think about all the text I would need, but I think I managed to fit it in while also not making the design too convoluted. 

development (filmdoo)

To start the poster off, I made all the individual bits in photoshop from scanned in textures I had

After I had made all the bits, putting it all together wasn't too difficult, but I had some trouble getting the sea texture; I didn't want to use the same texture I had used for the boat and divers because it would look too flat and similar, so I tried out a few different textures.

The last one is the one I went for, I really like the painted texture on the top with splashes of white, it looks like waves, also the darkness under the boat adds depth. 

I made the type from the yellow texture I had, although the textural element of it didn't come out as clear as I wanted

 

final designs (tigerprint)

My final designs submitted to Tigerprint

I'm pleased with the designs, I think they match the summery, botanical style 'summer 2016' trends I researched in to. They are lively, colourful designs which I think will translate well onto gift wraps and carrier bags, which is what it is aimed at for Marks and Spencers. I kept to what they asked in the brief - for quite a messy exhibition of experimentation with lots of mark making and different materials, which is what I have done. 

initial ideas (filmdoo)

Some quick, initial ideas I've had for films such as the graduate, in Brugge, the birds, juno, a scanner darkly, close encounters of the third kind, life aquatic and fargo.

I'm still drawn to doing a poster for life aquatic, it is one of my favourite films and just has such a good style to it with great colours which i think will be fun to play with

I watched the film again to get some ideas and one bit which stuck was when the crew jump off the boat in their brightly coloured scuba gear, it is only a quick bit but that image really stuck with me so I might try and re-create that

heres some more developed ideas into what I could do with it:

I tried making a scuba diver out of some of the textures I've made for 505, I think it kind of works, the colours aren't quite right but I think the general idea of it might.

ideas (tigerprint)

I made some textures to work from:

The brief asks for lots of experimentation with colour, mark making and materials, which is what I have done - I've used charcoal, watercolour, ink, paint, pencil, oil pastel, which I feel has given me quite a range of textures to work with.

Some initial composition ideas I've had:

The brief says it wants summery colours but also some experimentation into monochrome, and that research into the 'spring sumer 2016' trends is a good idea:

Theres lots of natural colours and imagery - like botanical gardens, so I will try and include that into my mark making.