Studio Brief 2 - Your Initial Brief (Photoshop)

Studio Brief 2 - Your Initial Brief (Photoshop)

Opacity

Getting rid of line and focusing on shape has made me think carefully about how I fill in an area of space. I looked into using the paintbrush to leave marks that overlapped and built up new colours through turning the opacity down. I really like that the background can still be seen through the layers of paint, there is a nice contrast between the brush strokes and blunt edges of the hand. Working like this is similar to just cutting and sticking paper, it feels natural to work in this way and I definitely prefer it to focusing on line.

Studio Brief 2 - Your Initial Brief (Photoshop)

Studio Brief 2 - Your Initial Brief (Photoshop)

I have been trying to digitally reinterpret my illustrations from the the first brief through the use of layers and introduction of colour. I am pleased with this weeks outcome because I was able to take the time to finalise one idea and take in the process fully. I think at the moment I am most interested in collage and how I can transfer that into digital formats. I think working in this way gives my drawings a more 'finished' appearance when compared to analog methods which are more tactile and textural. I think my main problem is the loss of texture and depth that can't be recreated digitally, but only through using multiple types of media and paper. I can see that Photoshop will benefit me in being able to try things out much quicker than I could before, it creates new alternatives and the chance to change elements multiple times. 

Studio Brief 1 - Your Initial Brief - Final Outcome

Resolving an Idea

Trying to incorporate 'A' and 'H' within the image has been quite difficult, I focused heavily on the visuals of my initial sketches. Through playing around with collage I found ways to highlight and contrast areas of the image with different tones of black newsprint. The letter forms can now exist within the body of the hamster, making up the face and teeth. I am still unsure if this solution is too subtle but I really wanted to emphasize the imagery and focus less on being restricted within the letter forms.

Final Outcome

Peer Feedback

The feedback I received has been really helpful in making me think more about thumbnails and the importance to be clear in how I organise my work. Someone suggested that I look into digital collages and try to get the same effects using Photoshop, this is something I definitely would like to try out during the induction sessions with Adobe software. Somebody also mentioned that the requirement for the illustration to be black white actually helped my work in communicating sadness, this is something I was completely oblivious to whilst creating it. Looking around the room at the other pieces of work has made me want to examine the way in which I place imagery onto a page, I feel like my compositional skills need developing. It seemed logical to place the image right in the center of the paper, but I now know that I need to properly consider the consequences of doing this and how I can actually consider composition to create dynamic work. 

Overall I am pleased with my final outcome, I wanted it to communicate the sadness on a personal level with the audience. I don't usually work in this way or with that intention in mind, but I think having a clear focus of what I wanted to communicate forced me to be creative in my methods of working.

Studio Brief 1 - Your Initial Brief - Dead Hamster

Developing a final outcome

After a group crit I have realised that I have not fully explored my ideas to their full potential. I thought it would be best to focus on my strongest concept and to rethink my approach towards it. I have looked further into what we associate with death and what it means for the people left behind, and have concluded that I need to communicate sadness and loss more clearly within the finished piece.

 I have been experimenting with line work that flows into one organic shape, I want it to appear as though the dead animal and the person are connected in one solid form. Whilst making these initial drawings I have been trying to visualize a clear message that states the rodent is dead, there needs to be a line bisecting the torso or something signify this. The person's tears could guide the audiences eyes towards this?

What is Drawing? & Drawing From Reference

'If you have mastered the craft of drawing, you are headed in the direction of making good pictures' Albert Dorne

Today we bought in four images and are required to produce at least three observational drawings of each of them for next week. Observational drawing is definitely something I need more practice at, not just to become better at drawing but also to expand my knowledge of the world around me, building up a bank of information from which I can work from intuitively. I need to look at more books and visit the actual sources of the subject matter in order to gain a true understanding of how things work. 

Portrait of a 1920's pilot

Contours of the face - light and shadow - using charcoal as my medium has helped me to revise and correct line work that I found needed to be changed the longer I studied the pilot's face. Observing how light falls on the face has shown me the way that the muscles in the cheeks for example 'link up' and form the placement for the eyes and corners of the mouth - even the slightest change in position affects the overall expression and mood

Mummified human head cross-section

Outlining basic shapes and contours within the skull - light/dark, areas of shade

Old defunct submarine

I tried to focus on the areas of light and shadow cast on the submarine, using ink and charcoal to create bigger more confident lines of dark. I found that having less control over something like ink resulted in me having to be more experimental in the types of marks I made and how I put it down onto the paper. For example I was able to smudge it across the bottom of the submarine where a shadow has been cast.

Full figure image of a salt farm worker

Stan's Cycles Shrewsbury