ASS3 - Final - A Poster

A Poster for a Music Event

    For this final assignment, I have to produce a poster for an event. I have collected a few advertisements to see how people advertise shows and music events:

      I see there's a wide variety of different styles and this depends on the type of event that is being advertised I'm now going to do some brainstorming and work out what type of poster I want to do.

   As you can see above I brainstormed and decided that I wanted to do a jazz poster. I like that it is very bold and recently I watched the film La La Land, where a man has a big passion for jazz music and I appreciated his love of it.

     I am now going to do some sketches of some ideas that I could use to create a poster:

     I like the neon Style as it reminds me of a shop flashing sign to advertise what is there. I am now going to attempt some paper examples to see what I can come up with.

Here above I created a Jazz poster by using paper, I used purple and fluorescent blues, yellows and Pink's, to create the sign. However, I feel that this group of colours especially the purple does not represent what I was trying to portray.

I'm now going to try again but this time with a black background and a different style:

    As you can see above, I tried to do the fluorescent sign, but I'm still not happy with it. I cut out the shapes of the structures and stuck it onto the black paper with the jazz writing, but I do not like it. It is not my usual standard of work. 

      I think I actually do need to do some further research into jazz music, so what I'm going to do next is search on Google for interesting images and illustrations, which I admire that are within the jazz theme.

   Here above are the images I collected. I really like the idea of perhaps using a silhouette in the poster and using other layers of paper to create colours.

I am now going to attempt to do a mood board, with the colours I feel that represent jazz music.

 I have decided to do my mood board in a saxophone shape to make it more interesting and to go with the theme.

   Hear above is my mood board I created using different bits of paper and materials that I could find around the home, that represents the colours and textures of jazz music.

    I feel happy and confident now that I can create some further illustrations that represent jazz better. I'm going to have a go at trying silhouettes for the idea that I like earlier

    As you can see above I created some illustrations. I really really like silhouette ideas and I think my aim is to do a silhouette using a whole A3 sheet of black paper and cutting it out with a knife. I really like the piano and the instruments on top, but I don't feel this would work for the type of poster I want. 

    My favorite one on here is the man playing the saxophone in front of the drum kit, I think it suits jazz music very well and it's a good representation of the theme. I am now going to redo this idea in my sketchbook so I can get a better idea of the silhouette and colours I'm going to use.

    So here we have my final illustration it is going to be made out of A3 black paper the arms may be a struggle as the one hand is separate from the rest but I think I will connect it and overlap the saxophone on to the top using yellow paper. I really like my composition and feel this will stand out on the poster.

   I am now going to begin creating my idea. I have got some tracing paper and I am going to trace over my image so I can transfer it onto black paper to cut it out.

     I am now going to get my tracing paper and stick it to the black paper and the knife board so that it doesn't move about while I'm cutting out the paper with my knife.

     As you can see above, I have cut out my silhouette. I'm really happy with it. However, I had one incident:

     As some areas were really thin, I accidentally cut off this piece but as it is a good break. I can secretly glue this together so nobody will notice. I found a pen knife to be really fun to use and I feel that my silhouette is true to my sketches.

    For the background, I decided that the Archway looked a bit too bold and I wanted it in the background. If I did it in the black silhouette it would look like it would be on the same level and would not look right. So I've decided to get an A3 sheet of yellow paper for my background and pencil in an Archway on there. Then use black freehand lines to create a sense of Archway which I am hoping will give my illustration a focal point on to the jazz man.

     As you can see above the background was a great idea using natural expressive Strokes. They work well to create an Archway. With the silhouette on top, it makes it pop out of the page. I am now going to add certain items in such as the drum the saxophone the man's collar and cuff off his shirt.

   The saxophone and drum are now in place, I really like the colour and it makes my image stand out even more.

 I have just added in the Colour of the collar and the cuff of the shirt. Again these little touches of detail work really well in my illustration.

    Now that I have done all I can do with the paper, I'm going take a photo and I've decided that I'm going to put it into Photoshop to edit it on there. Also to add words and maybe a frame around my illustration.

   As you can see above, I've started editing it in Photoshop. I have put a yellow, red and black borders around the image and I think it looks really great.  I am now going to play around with the font some more to get the right style. I have looked at a few poster ideas and feel that the jazz night title needs to be bold the Venue can be a bit smaller but it will still be on there with the location.

The final Jazz Poster

Here below is my final image:

     I am really thrilled about this illustration. I've worked hard on it and I feel it has come out really well. I really like the idea of using the silhouette and this works well as I'm using my own voice to portray a poster. I have a passion for using paper different ways and this is another option I have discovered that I can use in my work.

      I think the font goes really well. I edited the drum and the Jazz man's saxophone in Photoshop as I wasn't too keen on the detail I put on the saxophone with a pen. I have then filled it in yellow and used in orange outer glow on them. I feel this makes the image pop even more.

   I also used a bit of a shadow around the corners of the illustration. I think this gives it a dark expression when you're in a smoky jazz club watching a band. My mood, my expression, and the colours all join together to create a sense of a jazz style. 

My poster stands out, as it is vibrant and catches the viewers eye.

    Overall I have really enjoyed this assignment and enjoyed learning different ways and different things that you have to think of when creating work. Such as mock-ups, colours, the meanings and messages behind an illustration and what makes an image stand out. Also,  I have learned how to make the viewer focus on something important in an image. It has been really enjoyable and I'm looking forward to the next assignment.

ASS3 - Project 7 - Creating Mock Ups

Making a Mock Up

After reading what this exercise entailed I was really excited to give it a go. My ambition is to become a Children Illustrator so this gives me a little opportunity to pretend I am and that this is for a customer.

The task is to make to mock-up a book cover. I have to choose a book title that appeals to me from the books I have here at home. Examine the design of the cover to identify what the brief would be for the illustration and establish the function I want my image to perform.

I had had a look for my books and have decided to do a cover for Alice in wonderland.

Here is a picture of the book I have:

I have read the back of the book and here are the key points:

• Rabbit down a whole
• A grinning cat
• A queen

I have decided that I want the book cover to show the Rabbit and Alice as it is at the beginning of the story and It is the main start to her adventure.


I am now going to do some sketching and see if I can come up with a good idea:

 I really like the idea I have come up with, with the viewer in the hole, the rabbit jumping in and Alic looking into the hole to follow the rabbit. It is a good visual for the story and will be a good illustration for the book cover. 

I am going to draw it again on a bigger scale:

   Here is my finished sketch. Looking at it I am not happy with the Title being at the bottom of the book. I think is should be in the middle of the illustration so I may move the rabbit down a bit to be able to have room for the text.

   Now I know what illustration I want to do. I wanted to see if there was a way to create an interesting layer.
   Looking at the illustration I have decided I and going to put a hole in the cover of the book for where the entrance to the hole is and on the inner page on the book, I will draw Alice looking into the hole. I feel this will give the idea depth and make it fun for children to look at.

    Here above is my front cover I have cut the hole out for Alice to be on the inner page. I have decided to used a brown recycled card for the cover. I wanted to show that it is muddy in there and have a soil texture.

    I have decided that I am going to put the title in the middle. As the hole is like the inside of a cylinder I wanted to emphasize this so with the title I am going to make it flow in a curve shape along the wall of the hole to make my illustration location look more rounded.

For the font, I have chosen a fairytale style Here is a bit of practicing I have just done:

I am now going to attempt to create the scene of my book cover:

    Here is the start of my book cover above. I used watercolor pencils and a graphic pen to create the volume in the hole. I did lines and the flow of the watercolor pencils in a curve motions to grasp the idea of a hole which I think looks good. I think the style was a great idea. it is going to suit the book well.

I am now going to try to draw Alice.

 

    Here is my Alice, I think she looks ok but I may change her later depending on what the main area of the final book cover looks like.

I am now going to continue and report back once finished. I will comment what issues I have along the way and how I will resolve them.

Here is my mock up design:

    I had so much fun doing this. As you can see I redid my Alice again. I felt the style of the original of her did not work well with the style of the cover, once I had finished it. I think the rabbit looks great and I have captured him looking like he is in a rush. I decided that my muddy background wants a bit plain once I put the rabbit on, so I added some worms and weeds which were a great idea and made the hole have more character. I feel the only issue is that I do not like Alice's hands they are too big and look funny on their own. I have had a thought about this and I am going to attempt them again but this time I'm going to add her arms to make it look more clear that Alice is leaning in.

    Here is now my final book cover. I am really happy with it and I was right to change the hands it now looks more together and you get more of a sense she is about to follow the white rabbit.

    I had a lot of fun in this and realized there is a lot to think about when creating a book cover, such as colors composition and how to make it attractive for children. I enjoyed this task. 

Trash Hero Competition

   Here above is a character I created for Trash Hero Charity. They help clean up the environment and learn children how to deal with litter and recycling. They advertised a competition to create a character for a children's book, for kids to read to help them understand how to clean up rubbish. I didn't win but I got the runners-up prize and I will be getting advertised on their website with a link to my website. So that is still positive.

Messing around With Paper

      Within the last year, I've discovered that I absolutely love playing around with paper and seeing what I can create. Here below is a few I have picked out of what I have done, to show my experimenting.

    Above- I scrunched up an A3 piece of paper as much as I could and then drew a fish using posca pens, oil pastels, and other markers. I think the crinkled paper gives a unique effect which is original and different I really like it and had fun doing it and being expressive.

     Above- These three illustrations I did I just sat in my living room and ripped up bits of paper naturally and then used the shapes of the ripped up papers to create illustrations. On some pieces I used a fine liner to add detail. I really like them I also like the crinkled background to the seahorse. I also like the rabbit one a lot as I like how I used the fine liner to create a few patterns on the background piece of paper. There's just something great about paper and I feel I can really experiment with it and want to discover more ways how to use it. It would be good to create all my illustrations out of recycled paper and it would show I'm a green illustrator and that is something important to me. 

Above - Ok I know I'm not usually allowed to copy characters etc but I just love Disney and to celebrate the new Beauty and the beast film I wanted to create a piece of artwork to put in a frame and hang up in my home. 

I decided to use paper to create a 3d rose and then ripped up pink sugar paper to draw the outlines of beauty and the beast on to it. I think it is very different and great for my house :) This also gave me ideas that the backgrounds paper in some of my art could have been ripped up also as it creates a cool different effect to my art.

Some Other Illustrations

Below - A cute sloth I did this using pro markers and colour pencils I like his fur and how I created his texture. I really like this illustration it's bright and happy.

Above - A fat fly stuck in a little spiders web. I think this is a funny illustration and I hope it has made a few people smile on Instagram.