End of module evaluation OUIL403 Visual Skills

• I have worked on developing my characters and the specific drawings of them  want to do by using reference so that they are anatomically correct. This skill has helped me as I developed it through the briefs in my final one I think it went best as you could see the big difference between my first draft and my informed drawing.
• During this module I have tried different methods to image making; mono printing, collage, working with brusho and other inks and experimenting with different thickness's of pens. I think that they have informed my conceptual development process as I now have a variety of processes to choose from when I'm thumb-nailing ideas and can decide which is most appropriate as I know a range of different effects I can get using the method and also things that don't work well in certain media's like fine detail with mono-printing. 
• Strengths: 
• Drawing development process. To capitalise on this I will keep drawing things and try to use reference material where needed. Also I will keep adjusting my designs until I have an appropriate image that is aesthetically pleasing. I will also try to break larger designs down into single elements so that I can concentrate on one small part at a time to construct in the best way. 
• Experimentation with media: To capitalise on this I will keep attending workshops wherever  can to improve my knowledge of methods. I want to become familiar with each process so that I can confidently decided whether or not a media is appropriate to the brief and message so that I don't waste time on any ideas that are simply not going to work. 
• Weaknesses:
• Blogging. I have only blogged my briefs after completion so I have forgotten a lot of the thought process when I come round to writing them up. To address this I am going to try and blog every day or two, just short blogs to go over what I'd done that day, the decisions and thought process so that I can document the whole process more thoroughly which will help me to see where things have gone wrong or to identify and weaknesses in my process.
• Colour management. In my work I love to play with colour and tend to go over the top and make my pieces too loud and obtrusive or just far too crowded. To combat that I have tried to set myself a colour limitation so that I don't use too much. But I feel in this module I didn't consider the meaning of the colours or the effects they would have on the final aesthetic but rather using colours I like or jumping too quickly to a palette without considering it. To combat this in planning i will not just pick a colour based on how it looks but also try to judge if there is an appropriate colour that could add more meaning to the pieces.

Action Plan:

• Know the strengths/weaknesses of the media I use
• Reference drawings so they are anatomically correct.
• Consider colour more thoroughly.
• Blog throughout process.
• Develop each element to its best.
• Continue thumb-nailing ideas and coming up with a wide range.
• DRAW DRAW DRAW!

The monsters of mental illness

Toby Allen's series 'real monsters'

I like what the illustrator has done here taking a subject that is very sensitive but not enough people deal with it and in his way he has created images that not only educate the masses in a more light hearted way than say a medical leaflet/poster, but he has also created a characters to represent the illnesses transforming them from abstract ideas of emotion into physical things which make them alot easier to grasp and understand. Also the combination of the text explaining the illnesses but in a way where it is the direct result of these creatures rather than an illness making it easier to digest. It explains symptoms in a sweeping glance with a small explanation of his monsters personalities and actions.
I really like these images because they take a sensitive topic and blow it out there for people to see, trying to eradicate the taboo of mental illnesses and make it into common knowledge and something we talk about.

Geeky Icons get the sugar skull treatment

Jonathon Koshi's series 'Get Your Sugar'

Not only has Koshi vamped up the image of these geek icons making them awesome and punk looking with his sugar skull theme he's embossed the paper before inking so that the ink lies up on the raised surface heightening the contrast between the black and white areas. Making these images look edgy and sleek.

What is Illustration? Task 2

1 Narrative - Sequential Imagery

I chose this image because it uses sequential imagery and although its not what you'd conventionally consider illustration it uses image to carry out a purpose so it fits the criteria.

I chose this image because the purpose was a little more unusual than the others; a biography. concisely explaining where he comes from and his main life points up until now.

I chose this one from a comic I bought at a fair; The man who loved breasts by Robert Goodin, because i liked how the second art had burst out from the panel and the faces were overlaid to create a sense of movement and awe.

I chose this image because just through a simple set of action shots it tells a lovely story. It shows only the most basic plot points to show the story moving on but just enough for the reader to understand the story.

I chose this image because i like the way the borders are removed in the middle panels to create a sense of continual movement and a flow to the narrative.

2 Humour

This selection of images is what makes up the first page of the graphic novel I am currently reading; The book of Leviathan by Peter Blegvad. I chose this for the humour section as I have been greatly enjoying the obscure and sometimes a little crazy humour in it. The odd humour matches its style of character; the ghost cat and a faceless baby.

I chose this one because i love the sweet childlike humour of it and the humour fits it audience really well.

I chose this image because you can see the designer has set themselves a goal and then just had as much fun with it as possible and the final results are very humorous. 

These are from Johnny Ryan's book 'war + Penis'. I chose these because Johnny Ryan shows the downright dirty side of humour, toilets, bottoms and genitals.

I have chosen Jon Boam's larping because there is a very simple visual humour of the body parts belonging to all the others but being mix and matched in this image. This shows a subtler humour than some of my other examples.

3. Conceptual Development

This is from Chris Ware's sketchpad and I chose it as one of my examples as the style here is so different from his usual work but he does life drawing to learn.

I chose to use this extract from Gemma Correll's sketchpad as it shows good natured play with her character filling the page and exhausting different poses and ideas.

I chose this example as it shows sketches for a toy prototype showing a different direction in which illustration an be used.

I have chosen this page from Mikkel Sommer's sketch pad because it shows neater and more concise sketches and clearly someone who has drawn faces thousands of time over. It also shows drawing from observation which is a valuable skill within the practice of illustration.

I chose this double spread from Rob Hunters sketch pad as it shows examples of thumb-nailing and exhaustion of ideas as he fills all the space.

4. Attention to Detail/Skill/Complexity

I chose this wood carving of a moth because it showed great detail and intricacy but also an unusual media and method of making.

I chose this editorial piece by Kelsey Heinrichs because there is a lot of detail in it but it brings the piece to life as it shows the abundant nature around.

I chose this piece by Nat Hunter because it displays a piece that has very little detail and yet shows just as vibrant an image. Th line is very simple and doesn't vary in thickness but the simple use of colour to differ between separate object makes them stand out from the background.

I chose this piece by Olivier Kugler because there is quite a bit of detail in the lie work depicting the scenery but the colour has a lot less detail and some parts are just filled with a wash but this makes there a main focus point tot he image as the eyes are drawn to the more coloured part.

This image is by Joe Mclaren for 'The Ride Journal' there is little detail in the illustration itself but because it is overlaid on a detailed map it balances out the overall look of it; making it very aesthetically pleasing.

5. Colour

I picked this image by Nigel Peake that was made for a print company because it has a very simple use of colour and it is specifically made to be produced through print which links to the purpose which is to advertise the print company.

I chose this image by Jonathan Edwards called exhale as I like how all the colour used is different tones/shades of the same colour. It gives the piece a really calm sense to it which matches the sense of the actual image. Which makes it very congruent. 

Karolin schnoor - Pomegranate. I chose this piece because I like how the colours are used I block from to define the shape rather than filling spaces pre-defined by line work.

I chose Professor Astro cat because it uses bright contrasting colours, this makes it very eye catching and that draws in it's specific audience.

Robert Hunter - Map of Days

I chose this one because not only is the colour used t fill big block spaces it also defines them. some times using the negative space and letting it continuously flow into lines from the background without break.