Exercise: Client Visuals

Here I have picked a book cover. The book is ''Tears of the Giraffe'' by Alexander McCall Smith, ed. Abacus, London, 2000. The illustrator is Hannah Firmin.

This exercise is about distilling the image, until an only edited form remains, that still makes sense. Like getting to a 'visual' in a reverse process.

I was asked to make drawings 2.5 times larger than the printed size. In this case, it was 2 times larger, and to scale. (I don't work on very large sheets of paper, and this was the largest size I had to work with).

Here are 3 versions of 'visuals'

most complete version

Here everything has been simplified, but would still give an editor a reasonable idea of the subject and style of the illustration.

I think I am reaching the limit of what I could remove now, apart from some of the lines representing vegetation beneath the giraffe's feet. I don't know if it is too simple as a visual. I guess it depends how well the illustrator and the client know each other already...

 Because of the process, and use of large paper, I had to take pictures - rather than scanning - and once again, I am reminded that I must learn to take out the date stamp that my camera puts on everything!

Exercise: Viewpoint

I chose the theme of festival: christmas and made a set of objects accordingly.

I documented them with pictures, trying to experiment with different viewpoints:

The next step was to make thumbnail drawings, again exploring different angles and 'zooming in and out'. I also used different drawing materials, as I still need to decide which ones are my favourite.

 black conte squares

biro

rolling ball point pen

markers and coloured pencils

For the drawings, I made view finders out of cardboard.  Although I did find it easier as I went along, I couldn't get a variety of angles as I did with the camera.

I had placed all the objects on a table, so I could easily view them from below. 

I am glad that I used different drawing mediums. When I scanned them, I had to adjust the picture, and even then the image drawn in pencil (7b) doesn't reproduce very well. I was happily surprised by the overall effect given by the conte drawing. Its size was the longest of all these, and being condensed as viewed here, it looks better. These are some things I also have to think about!

I can't draw very fast and it would have been a strain on my back to attempt to draw from above more than I did, so I am pleased that I have these views available through pictures - they are some of my favourites. 

Here are the viewpoints that I like best for this theme:

 I like the diagonals created by the arms that seem to point towards the robin and xmas bobbles -  there is too much happening for a simple image, and the robin is at an angle that may make sense in a photograph, but may not in an art work.

I like this close-up on the robin, the other christmas creatures seem to cheer him. Colours are 'christmassy' , there is a clear focus. I have decided to work from this one. 

This drawing is proportionate to the photograph, I saw it as a visual for a Christmas card, which explains why I have added bobbles and the outline of a second tree in the background.  I fancy adding colours now.

Of the different formats used, I found that the circular and the photo formats seemed to work best. Changing viewpoints made me realise that there are always more options that I first though of. 

Views from above didn't particularly work this time, but I will not exclude trying it for other projects.Here I wanted the focus to be on soft toys, and because of their nature, they were not readily identifiable in views from the top or others like close ups. Should I have picked different objects, like another student did (Rob picked bottles)  in his learning blog, it could have worked. I must keep an open mind.

Above is the Christmas card I made from the line drawing. I posted it on About.com Painting, and here is the comment I received:

Marion Boddy-Evans, Painting Guide, says:

I think if every object had a black outline, the overall feel would change, perhaps becoming more rigid. I like the mixture, of the main characters having an outline and their props not. It helps pull the eye into the focal point.

The composition works well for me to, with parts cropped off so the scene continues in the viewer's mind. Rich, layered colors that keep you looking, with the white of the polar bear giving an area for the eye to rest as well as increasing the glow of the colors by contrast.

Diagrammatic illustration - Giving instructions

I looked at the internet for instructions on how to make a cup of tea. Here are some of my findings:

Making tea: anime girl
giving instructions, for primary schools
taking out tea bag with spoon

After receiving comments from my tutor, I decided to work from cartoony sketches in my sketchbook, as if I was telling how to make a cup of tea with a "Mother" character. 

I made the sketches in the wrong order, and sometimes added the text later, on the computer. My drawings got better, but on reflections the 'Mother' character doesn't always look the same. I also used different pens (felt tips fine liners or dip pens).

On reflection, I have learnt that it was good to follow my tutor's advice, especially the fact that I shouldn't forget that the process should be enjoyable. on occasions I got stuck, as my drawing of objects in different positions (like a pouring kettle or bottle of milk) was not too good. I resorted in using photocopying of my sketch of the object in the standing position, in different sizes, cutting and gluing. I found that so much fun, that I am sure I will use it again, exploring visual posibilities further...

I realised that I had considered the order in which the images will be 'read' by the viewer, but not how the elements would fit together. Ideally, I should have considered if there were going to be pages, and make them consistent. There may be a software available to help with this?


Following my previous 'making a cup of tea' illustration, I also wanted to make a simple one, on one page, without text. I used colour to enhance some of the features: