flying week

Where has this week gone? When I was on the bus, the other day, I realised that I have started to look at people and things in general differently.  I also used to walk and look at the pavement or something, dreaming . Now I pay attention to people and their shapes, what they wear, colours, the way they walk, the shapes of things and how the light changes them.
I have done some work in my sketchbook: nude poses from a book for artists who cant go to life drawing.  In the first one I used charcoal. It was too big for the paper really, and I had to smooth it and use chalks to correct the light areas. The second one was in solid graphite pencil-like stick. I concentrated on the negative shapes. I had to stop before it was finished but I'm pleased with my progress.

I have also worked on more images about global warming.  I did not finish also had a go at  turning  them in a children story. My favourite is the bear and the skinny family of famished penguins. For the one with the scientist, I looked at cartoons of scientists and adapted one so he holds ice-cream and changed his head so he looks a bit like Einstein. I think it needs re-working, that scientist is not mine yet!

17.10.2010 computer trouble week

This is my first illustration for exercise one: getting the gist of it
. After selecting words in an editorial of the New Scientist, my illustration subject was going to be about global warming. We hear scientists' views and the public's ones too, but not the animals.


This week I wasted an awful amount of time finding how to use a scan from my all in one HP scanner/printer, and resize it for printing the size I want. This is essential for when I will send scans of sketchbook to tutor, or when I do a small sketch and want to print it big. (Quentin Blake works on a light box, with a sketch under his paper, I wanted to be able to do that-  and I needed the size of the sketch I made to be bigger, even if it was on many pages).
I also had made a drawing 100% bigger than I wanted for the finished product, so I could have details.

Anthony Browme

In the end, what helped was mostly fellow users of about.com painting. They directed me to the graphic software side of the site and someone called crayboat helped me. He advised me to get a picture editing software capable of overriding the printing software of the printer. My tutor also helped. I went for photoshop elements - free for a month.  Other free systems could do the job too, I'll just have to work it out. This is how I spent the best part of my week.  I also investigated the illustrations of Anthony Browne,   Oliver Jeffers, and Ralph Steadman.

Oliver Jeffers

Ralph Steadman - Animal Farm

I also looked at a book from the library about an international survey of illustration for children books from 1979 (the year of the child). It is called Graphis (4th international survey of children's book illustration) Ed. Walter Herdeg, Graphis press (Zurich), 1979.

This book is mostly in black and white. I liked the Russian Bilibin's illustration - pre-revolution most of all. A large part of the illustrations looked so dated, I guess because of the changes in technology either for making images or printing (or both).  I guess this is the only book on illustration I can get through the library. The other 2 I have reserved will probably never arrived.  (Typical I dare say). Bought a book on coloured pencil techniques. More on this next week. My sketches have been far and few in between this week because of the printing problem that took all my time and attention. Apart from polar bears sketched from the internet.

Bilibin (1876-1942) Watch the decorated frames! Also did Sceneries for Opera

Reflections on children books images

I stumbled on One more book illustrated by Axel Scheffler. and found a demonstration of him talking and painting a gruffalo http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/video/2009/jun/10/gruffalo-axel-scheffler

Ah ah! now I know how he does it! quick quick, let's order inks and pencils!  I couldn't wait and had itchy fingers. Practised by doing something for my daughter:

Now I'm plagued with computer problems. I have to find out how to print something to the size I want (not a size pre-selected by the computer). I have asked just about anybody I know, and so far no luck!

10.10.10

. practised with the bamboo pens for pen and ink. Also read more online about the technique with dip pens. I am now planning to buy a few different nibs to experiment with.
. my attempt to do a picture in the style of Quentin Blake revealed new challenges: 1. I learnt that I had to simplify the image, from the first one I painted in pen and ink. Then I blew the image up and used paper over a light box (not mine). This brought up new problems: the image needs to be more interesting because of what the characters are doing, they are 'just' sitting and this is not good enough for young readers. I've worked in my sketchbook on new poses.
. started on the next exercise (getting the gist), and since I only buy the new scientist, picked an editorial from this. Now I have to do an illustration on global warming... major head scratch!

1.10.10

• went to library, ordered books on illustration and K. Hale (from other libraries)
• practise on sketch book making cartoonish characters 
• time management: need to sort out family/housework/work/study time
• drew timetable until assessment 1
• having difficulties with navigating OCA site and loggin on to this blog (mucho problemo)

28/9/10

• started to work on drawing in style of Quentin Blake
• I'll have to work BIGGER - found that with K. Hale's exercise too
• change faces/bodies make style looser
• check out how he colours with paints
• have ordered bamboo pens to try and draw like him