ASS3 - Project 2 - Hierarchy in the Image

Reading An Image

List the content of the picture – breaking the image into its constituent parts

Dragon sleeping

Cave

Treasure being guarded

Armour

Two children

Answer the following questions: 

What the image is about. What is it saying? 

This illustration is about a dragon who is guarding lots of treasure. The armour indicates a lot of knights who have attempted to steal it. There are two children at the entrance of the cave with a fire torch. This suggests that they were investigating and have found where all the knights have disappeared too.

Work out the narrative and identify the story. 

I think the narrative would be something like:

The two children crept in where the loud snoring noises were coming from and discovered a mighty dragon. He was bright read and guarded treasure. They were really frightened but discovered that this is who they had been searching for all along ..... the answer to why all the knights had disappeared from the castle.

Describe the palette and tonal range which has been used. Note if the colours are hot or cold, whether the elements are detailed or textural, and where these approaches are used. 

The dragon is red. this suggest to me heat and more like he is a fire breathing dragon. This is also confirms my theory by the fire torch there is a red orange glow from it reflecting on the wall of the cave to show heat. The dragon has a texture of smooth and scaly to show his skin.

The rest of the cave is blue/grey to show cold and dampness, a typical cave. texture of the ceiling of the cave is bumpy and the mud looks as though its flowing downward to show dampness in the cave.

The ground texture is very bumpy and the armour is a green/grey to show there steel attributes.

Is there any connection between hot colour and the importance of the element in telling the story?

Yes because it reflects a typical dragon that breathes fir. The Knights have been killed this is indicated by the armour near the front of the cave. 

Begin to identify the hierarchy within the image. Which are the most important elements in terms of carrying the narrative or conveying the ideas and how have these been treated? 

In Importance order:

The two children entering the cave discovering the dragon

The dragon protecting the treasure sleeping

The treasure

The armour

The Cave

   By looking at the image and my importance list my top two the children and the dragon have the brightest colour which is the red (red dragon and red fire torch reflecting on cave) this makes the view automatically drawn to these areas of the illustration the next boldest colour is yellow the treasure which is my 3rd in my order and then the armour and then the cave. It makes the viewer look at the image how you want them to see it and what part of it you what them to look at fist. The illustration tells the story in its self helped with the text. Its is good to keep in mind when doing illustrations to identify what you want as the most important part and make it stand out in your illustration. 

ASS3- Project 1 - Composition and View Point

Illustration Visual Space

For this exercise I have chosen the 3 following silhouettes, I just wanted to keep it simple to understand the task more.

     I am now going to print all different sizes and cut them out and see what images I can created when they are together. I have now made some images I had fun with and will scan them in to thew PC.....

Above I did a collage to show the size of the items shrink the further away they get.

     Above I have put the items in a straight line and the horizon line above. I think this creates a scene where the castle is in a low valley area

      Above - I have put the young boy walking out of the castle to try and get a normal composition. I feel my boy is far to big as need to be shrunk further here. 

    Here above I have done an horizontal line and this shows a steep hill with the castle on and the boy running down. I added the tree to the left larger to grasp that the boy and castle are in the background.

     For the next few I had the most fun with, when I got my creativity flowing. I decided to merge some of the items together:

     Above the boy is kicking him self as though hes a football and I just decided to put the tree on his head. I think the tree on his head makes him looked balanced somewhat. I put the horizon like at the bottom to represent a grassy field that the boy is running about on. 

      Above I decided to used the castle on the boys head as a crown. Now he is the king of the castle. I really like how I come up with ideas when I play around with items. 

       Finally above I wanted to use the tree and I can up with Pinocchio . The boy had told a few lies. it it a really good play with the tree on his nose and I think my idea came out well.

After testing the above out I decided to give a landscape another go....

I did a path leading to the castle and the boy coming in to the picture on the right at an angle. I think this gives good sense of movement as though the boy is running towards the castle.

How does your sense of the image and its meaning change when the figure is smaller than the other elements? 

Yes it changes every time if the box is bigger then the castle he is seen in the illustration to be a giant. I t he is in proportion of the castle he is of normal size and if hes smaller the world around him is giant. It changes the main element on the illustration depending on the size of its surroundings.

If the elements are at differing angles to each other and at an angle to the frame, what dynamic is suggested? 

It represents movement in a illustration. The horizon lines at an angle stat a hill climb or a sharp fall. 

If the items are at an angle it suggests that item moving such as the boy if he is tilts slightly it gives you a sense that he is actually running.  

 If all the elements are completely horizontal and vertical in relation to the frame what dynamic is suggested? 

if all things in an illustration are horizontal it gives a sense of order and balance with in the illustration. I t gives a strong scene.

What is your opinion about this image and what sensation does it communicate? 

This type of illustration suggests a balance sometimes symmetry. it is calm and relaxing and produces a strong image. 

Which is your favourite composition? Explain why you feel it is most successful?

I have two the first one is the last one I did with the pathway to the castle. I like how the boy looks as though were just about to watch him run to the castle. I like how I duplicated the trees to make a small forest and how I put the castle white and in the centre to create my main focal point.

I also liked my little experiments I did with the crown on the boys head and Pinocchio. It just made me realise to play around and use my imagination to create some thing quite fun. 

Some good examples on the internet I found:

Update on my illustrations

   Whilst I finished assignment 2, I did some more 3D Illustrations. I did these using paper and cutting various shapes out to create animals. I used double sticky tabs to create layers and to help create textures. With the birds I used feathers to make the illustrations more interesting and cool to look at.

Above - Love birds

Above - Pink Hedgehog

Above Owl Hoot Hoot

I am really enjoying creating these and think my style shows well here,

     I was lucky enough to show them to a guy who runs the DDA Art Gallery in Walsall and my three illustrations are currently in there for the public to see. I was so excited and happy that people could view my work. So I got to watch this space and see what comes from it.

     Here below is another 3D style I did of a panda. I tried to come up with a quicker way to do reprints in case any body wanted one so I sketched out my idea first then did the shapes to make the 3D areas and then printed it out on to blue paper. I then added white areas with a Posca pen. So now I have my template ready. I am going to try and do this with others as I go along.

Some other work I have recently done below with Posca pens and just having some fun experimenting.

I now have a Instagram and a website:

http://www.gemmaleesillustration.co.uk/