ASS3 - Project 3 - Visual Properties

Exercise - Image Development

    For this task,I have go to take a picture or an image and using a frame, capture different areas of it. I then need to think of a name for each new images that I have created and illustrate the one I like best with the word I have chosen to create a finished poster.

I have looked a few images and decided on this one:

    This is a photo taken when I went to the Chinese Lantern Festival at Christmas. I enjoyed going around the event and looking at the glowing lights in the night, they produced some really good lanterns.

Here are my new images that I have discovered whilst using the frame:

Chosen word: Princess

    This image now focuses on one of the large swans. I don't think this makes a good image as its not dramatic enough for what I had in mind. I used the word Princess as I use to love a film called the Swan Princess where a princess got turned in to a beautiful swan and this remind me of that film.

Chosen word: Castle

      I have now captured a bit of the background, which was not a main focal point. Using the frame it has created a total different image and setting. From this image its more harder to understand what is  in the photo. My chosen word is castle because they look like castle roofs called Conical roofs.

Chosen word: Fantasy

    This top area of one of the swans, creates a good image and there is enough room at the top left to add my chosen word Fantasy. I chose fantasy as this could me a myth swan creature for a story. 

Chosen word: love

I do like this image I have captured. I like how the swans frame the image by being each side. The only downside is there is not an thing in the middle to focus on. Maybe I could put my word there? I have chosen the word Love because two swans pair up for their whole lives and I thought it was fitting for this image. 

Chosen word: Oriental

     This image I have created shows the less important swans, now in the lime light. I chose the word Oriental as it represents characteristics of Asia, which shows where the lantern festival came from.

Chosen Word:  Lumi

    I really like this photo it captures the swan really well. Now only one of the swans is a main focal point and it looks nice with the light up lilly on the water. It has a great composition.  I wanted a word that is to do with light. I remembered playing a game last year and there was little character lights you had to collect called Lumis. I found out that this is french for light and I really liked the word so I have decided to use the word Lumi for my poster to celebrate the Chinese lanterns.

I am now going to draw this and see what I can come up with:

     Above is my drawing I created. I had fun doing this. I used black paper and used pastel pencils to create my image. The pastels worked well on the black paper they came out bright and they were great to blend and smudge. I used a yellow and white pastels around my swan and blended them in using my finger. This creates a great sense that the swan lantern is glowing. I think it works really well and the pastels on black paper create a good luminosity effect for my theme.

My word Lumi

    I am now going to draw out my font style I think will use it my illustration.

   As you can see above this is my typography idea. It is a lantern in its self again with the glow around the word that I used around the swan. I think it works well and will go with my image.

Putting image and type together

   I am now going to use Photoshop to put them both together to make a poster:

   Here above is my final poster. It looks great and the image and the font work well together. In Photoshop, I had to extend the water so I cut out a part of the water and managed to paste it next to it to make the water look longer then I actually did it. It looks ok and you cannot really tell that i did it. 

   Overall, I am happy with my poster. I think I captured the light lantern really well and my poster is glowing. I think my font looks good next to m image and the word suits what I am trying to convey in my poster which is the lantern festival. 

Illustrator research

Kate Whittle

Katskivwhittlkov.com

   Kate is an Illustrator I met last year at one of the events I attended. She was really nice and gave me some pointers on how she has become successful.

Here is some of her work:

    I really like this idea on working on black paper she, like my last exercise used pastels to create this image. It works really well and the shells have come out well with leaving black areas around the shapes.

     These two above have been done in Photoshop and as you can see, she is not afraid to try different styles out to please different areas of illustrating.

    When I spoke to her I asked her what is her key to drawing. She told me to sketch every day. Here above is Kate sketching a cat on a table. as you can see its a rough sktetch. Constantly sketching helps to get proportions correct and improves your drawing. I am following Kate on Instagram and may see her again as an event this year. 

Martina Billi

http://www.martinabilli.com/

  Last year when I went to Madrid I went to the Natural History Museum and discovered this amazing artist. She is one of my favourites to date. Two reasons: because she loves animals and also she used inks to create her work and I really enjoy using them too and want to improve on my ink techniques.

Here as some of her works of art below:

     These two above were the ones I saw at the museum. the pictures don't do her work justice. The pieces are huge about 1.5 mtr square on thick squares of wood. The medium and surface she has used works amazing together. Love her work and style. There is so much detail involved when I was looking at them closely. I have just been on her website and I have also found these:

    I really like these images she has created. Mixing animal parts with humans, give a quirky illustration. abstract yet real understanding of what part is to who. I think her attitude and creativity in art is unique and I would like to get in contact with her some day to discuss her art and her thoughts. She is one that I will be keeping watch of. I want to also try to draw on wood.

Turcois Arte

http://turciosart.blogspot.co.uk/

Turcios is an artist I met in Madrid last year. I met him painting on the streets. He was a lovely guy, did not talk much English but for me his art told the story. See his work below:

I like this ideas with the fish wearing a mask to confuse the cat.

This crocodile looks like he loves his music

The artist is using his own enjoyment with in this illustration

A pig burger of course!

A duck pea pod, a very quirky idea which is fun to look at.

    I am sure you can see why I loved his work so much. He has a great idea of getting an animal and using objects such as food and put them together to create a surreal image. I admire his work and I am definitely going to give his style a try to see what I can create with animals. His work is colourful. He uses watercolours and pencils. I really like his ideas and again he is another on my watch lists. 

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/

ASS2 - Feedback From Tutor

Feedback From Tutor

      I had my tutor report back a few weeks ago but I have been to Malta for a week holiday which was nice to be surrounded in so much history and get a breath of fresh air from my busy year. I got to relax little and got mentally organised to know now what my next moves are in my rise within my art career.

    My tutors feedback was great and I really happy with it. I felt proud that my tutor has seen my illustrations all of a sudden become more of my own style due to getting out and about and meeting fellow artists.

Good Points

    My tutor liked my work in the painting and drawing exercise and felt I was really creative with expressing ideas with a simple object. She saw this again in my paint brush art I did.

Judy also pointed out how well I have been gathering images and items for research towards projects that I am doing.

    She asked me if the places I have been to have helped? I really think they have, I have met other artists and felt really inspired. I have come to realise not to be scared with my ideas there will always be someone who likes my work. I just need to be true to myself in my art and hopefully this will show my love of creating through my work. 

    Shes also liked my 3D bird illustration, which I think I had a bit of a breakthrough and I agree with her to test out when putting it in to Photoshop and also changing it in to black ant white, which is actually was something I enjoyed doing.

For my final assignment I got some great feedback. My research was good and she can see I had so much fun with creating the pumpkin illustration. I agree with her in regards to my pineapple illustration that it does not have the same 'Gemma' vibe to it. I wanted to try out watercolour paints and then edit it in Photoshop, but perhaps I should of tested on something else and just did two 3d illustrations.

I did to a 3D Pineapple at the end for a children's idea to just try and make up for the first pineapple attempt. Judy said to try it again and I will do when I have time and redo it for that assignment so I have a matching pair.

Things to think about

    I really like Judy's feed back because I really can see she as looked at my work and the things she has pointed out for room for improvement are so true to me to.

    The main one to me is my perspective drawing. I know myself this is some what of a weakness and never really sussed it out. I need to improve on my perspective. Especially if I want to do children's books etc as I will need to draw rooms and landscapes for my character to be within.  I am going to refresh on this within the next few weeks and keep practising to help me improve.

     My tutor also pointed out on my 1950 illustration about my image was not as good as it could of been. Being honest I was not all that keen with doing an illustration with in a room 1950 style. This may of been due to knowing my perspective skills are not that great. Also I was not too keen on the task. I enjoyed the research part but I think my heart was not in this one really it didn't excite my style to create some thing great. This is also some what true about the choosing content illustration but this time I enjoyed the theme. However I used Photoshop to experiment with drawing my person but I forgot to create a scene to set the mood. As It was my first go it took me a while with creating the person but hopefully with practise I will get better at using Photoshop. 

     She also pointed out to go further into spider diagrams and take it to another level which by her explanation I can understand. it does make sense and it will help to get more ideas.

     My umbrella illustration got some good feed back but yet again Judy is great and notices how I had to squeeze the end on my umbrella on to my page. Yes it was frustrating I didn't realise till I was half way through doing it so I ended up just carrying on with it. I will pre think about my composition on my paper before I apply it next time. 

   Finally mentioned that she would like to see more drawing in my sketch book which I will give a go to create more illustrations, even if they are quick ones to help me improve. 

Research

Judy mentioned that my black and white image of the viper fish should of just been black and white and not used tones of grey to get a good effect. She has directed me to look at Geoff Grandfield and  another OCA student, Karen Loz:

Geoff Grandfield

Images below from http://geoffgrandfield.co.uk/

I can see by looking at his work his black and white areas are very crisp and clear and make good dramatic scenes. I can see now that I should of kept it more simple and created a dramatic black and white illustration.

I had a look at Karens Loz attempt and I can see now how I should of attempted this task.  Her attempt is really good and she has thought about a scene which would work well (a nighttime sky). This is her link to see her attempt: https://karen-loz.com/2015/08/exercise-using-black-and-white/

  Judy has also gave me some useful books to help, even a perspective one! which I am going to get to help me.

Thanks for your feed back Judy! :)

Ready for Assignment 3

  Now after recapping and knowing which things to improve and what to carry on with I am now ready to move to the next assignments. I am looking forward to see where the next few weeks takes me.