Reflections on the Module Overall, I have really enjoyed the module. I have enjoyed experimenting with different types of illustration which I have never tried before; and have loved having to actually think about what my images are saying and the message they are sending rather than just drawing pictures for no particular purpose (although I have still done a LOT of that). I am reasonably happy with the work I have produced throughout the module, and I have discovered new methods of craft and production which I am really enjoying.
I think my downfall for the module was not having the confidence to try anything too extravagant and fun, I feel I have stayed within my comfort zone throughout, rarely delving into anything too new. I think this is probably down to it being the first module and feeling safer doing something I know will go well rather than trying to push boundaries and experiment.
Overall I didn't enjoy this brief as much as I thought I would, but I think the main contributing factor to this was my choice of book in the first place. I think a book with more of an idea rather than an objective focus would have been much easier and more fun to illustrate, and I think I could definitely have done more with the design.
I did consider changing the book right at the start of the brief, however I though it best to try and challenge myself with something which required a lot more thinking; plus, as a practising illustrator, I wouldn't be able to pick and choose which brief or subject I work on, so I need to get used to challenging myself more with materials and ideas rather than staying in my comfort zone.
I am happy with the materials I used in this brief, I have never really painted or used brushes before, and it was a nice change to be able to use something more fluid than fineliner. I would have liked to work with a bit more colour, however, with the subject of my book, it would have been inappropriate to use colour on a cover of a book which only focusses on b&w. Hopefully the next brief will allow me the freedom to use more colour.
After spending time developing the look and style of the design. I decided on what I wanted the final cover to look like, I decided to go for 2 tones for the ribs, one faint and one bold, to give the cover more depth, which I think works well. As the design is really simple, it gives the illustration on the front a bit more depth.
I am quite happy with the final outcome. I think the simplicity really works and I like the design of the cover with the title spanning the front and spine, just something a bit different.
I did wonder through the process if the design would look too simpe, but I think it does work, the skeleton creates some interest and the title is really eye-catching.
Struggles of the Final Outcome I think I maybe focussed on the design a bit too much in the cover. Considering more how I thought the design should look rather than what actual content should be on it.
I think the main reason for this is that I was doing all the planning and designing on a flat piece of paper, when in fact the book is a 3d object, so corners and depth should definitely have been taken into more consideration.
I think the cover could look a bit too simple, I tried to get the cover to reflect the content of the book as much as possible; and in doing that I created a fitting design, but one which may be seen as being too simple.
The first thing I decided to develop was the actual composition of the image, I layed out the template of the covers again and played with some different positions of the snake to see if I could find a more interesting one.
Out of all of the replanned images, I think the original one is the best, I feel it will be the best to show off the movement in the snake, rather than straight patterned lines, or anything too simple. It also allows for space for the title which is helpful. I will use this positioning as a general guideline for the final image, and draw the final position directly onto the final cover to make sure I make best use of the space available.
Once I had sorted the composition, I went on to try to develop the way in which I would produce the image. Inkeeping with the B&W theme of the book, I decided to try out using ink to draw the spines. firstly trying out ink pen (which was too rigid and wasn't easy to get a decent flow out of), then trying printing methods (cut lino into a shape and pressed, this looked okay, but again looked too rigid and uniform for the image). I then went onto masking tape onto paper and painting over it, I liked this effect but once again it was way too rigid.
The last thing I tried was ink with a brush, which seemed to work perfectly, I could get the movement of my arm onto the page which was exactly what I was looking for.
Once I had decided on ink and brush, I started to make simple mockups of the snake, to see what the ink would look like in practise. I like how it looks; even when I make small mistakes I think it makes the image feel even more fluid. After playing around for a good few pages I though I would look a bit thin for a cover of a book.
I watered down some ink and used it to paint out the ribs in the background. I really love how it looks, it creates much more depth to the image and makes it look fuller, I will definitely look to use this in the final image.
After playing around with different weights of brush and different textures. I really liked the way a drier brush looked for the darker lines, and a wet brush for the paler lines. I think this made a really nice contrast and the dryer brush gave the lines a lot more texture and made them much more interesting. I will use this on the final image.
I then tried to work on the skull of the snake, which was a pain in the arse. I need to develop a way to make the skull fit in with the ribs, whilst still looking solid and like a skull. Stand by for update.
Update: I have decided no not use a skull on the cover, reasons being firstly, I can't get the skull to work with the look of the spine I am trying to achieve. With the spine looking really fluid, a clunky skull sat on top just isnt working. secondly, with the aim of the cover to be quite simple, I think another feature definitely detracts from the overall aesthetic of the cover. So instead I will look to use two tails on both the back and the front cover, to keep a simple and patterned look to it.
The title design for the cover was a relatively simple decision, I loved the design on the rough I produced, so I really wanted to use it on the final design, I will alter the dimensions slightly but overall it should look the same. I am planning on writing the author and photographers names on the cover and spine, above and below the title of the book.
Struggles of Development
Aside from the skull, I am struggling to create a simple image; I am a bit of a perfectionist, it has been discussed with Matt and I know it is something I need to move away from, and I am enjoying making rougher and simpler images, which is great because it is beginning to allow me to play around a bit more with my sketchbook with different way of making images. I still have a way to go but it's definitely improving.
Once I felt I had gathered enough visual information, both compositionally and through the actual content. I drew up 5 roughs, trying to make them as diverse as possible. I kept the roughs quite vague, something I have found quite helpful when it comes to the crits, because I have an idea in my head of exactly what I want the image to look like, I think keeping the roughs really vague helps other people in the crit create their own picture of what they think the image SHOULD look like. So hopefully by sharing this information with me, I can take advantage of the different suggestions, rather than creating a detailed and finished image which could restrict other peoples thinking of the potential (this may well be cheating but I do find it helpful). I tried to keep the actual design in mind when creating the roughs, rather than just the illustration, and thankfully got some pretty good feedback on them. The general consensus of the crit was the snake idea was the one to go for (this was also my favourite). I think the reason it works is because it will be the easiest to portray movement, and the simplicity is quite appealing and relates to the actual content of the book.
I also like the design of the title, using both the front and spine to contain just one title, so the title almost folds and flows with the book, again trying to create an image of movement.
I will use the feedback from the crit to develop this idea, probably look at the production of the image first and then look at the actual craft of the cover.
After processing my initial thoughts of the brief, I started to draw up some quick pictures of what I thought my cover should include. Although I did make a few drawings, I quickly got fed up of drawing things that already exist, as in, drawing a skeleton for the sake of it. I was focussing on the form of the skeleton, rather than the actual craft, a mistake I feel I made during the previous brief.
Rather than drawing simple vignettes of skeletons that I could reference anyway, I went on to focus on the actual design. I found it really useful to actually plan out the rough scale of the book and draw within those boundaries, that way I could already get an idea of what type of image could work.
I continued to use the template of the book cover to work out where I would want the images and where I wanted text and information.
Struggles The main thing I am still struggling with with this brief is actually illustrating, I feel like I should be illustrating an idea, and almost feel like I'm cheating or going half-arsed by just illustrating something which is already there.
Answer: The idea of the book is to make the evolutionary traits of the skeletons more apparent and interesting by creating movement in them. This is something I think i should be illustrating, the idea of movement.
From this, I think I need to look more at HOW I'm drawing, rather than WHAT. The form could be incredibly simple, something like a snake, but the way in which I illustrate the snake need to portray movement and action. (Try loose brush strokes).
After the mental torment which has been visual language, and after battling with my usual tendancies to 'finish' every single picture, I am strating to really get used to (and enjoy) just messing around with inks. Rather than using fineliners, which look nice but do get quite boring, I decide dto try potted ink and an ink pen. The lines are much more interesting and fluid, even smudging them and making mistakes is much more fun than the ultimate control of a fineliner.
Although I'm not drawing anything in particular (apart from the ink pot and speaker below), I'm really enjoying pending time playing with the ink. Possibly my new favourite material to use.
The book uses literally no colour at all inside it, so there would be no use in creating a cover filled with colour, so I think b&w is the way forward for this brief (with possibly some colour in the title).
The pictures inside are incredibly simple, a skeleton on a black background, I think the cover should be the same, as this is the best way to represent the content. Although the cover may look simple, hopefully not boring, there would be no point in creating a really extravagant and complex illustrated cover when the actual content of the book is the complete opposite.
Looking through the internet and the college Library, I have found some great examples of how this can be achieved.
The example covers use little to no cover, and are again focused on the actual design rather than the image.
Simplicity is definitely the way to go for this cover.
My Chosen Book (and its difficulties) For our next brief in the Visual Skills module, we were asked to take out a book from the library at random, any book as long as it didn't involve illustration. As I was unaware of what the brief would be about at the time, I based my choice on what interested me the most. The book I selected was a non-fiction book titled 'Evolution in Action'. The book explains different evolutionary branches of species, and specialised evolutionary traits with photographs on most pages of animal skeletons 'in action'.
I found the title of the book to be quite misleading, I thought the book would be descriptions of the different evolutions with the main focus being on them specifically. However, the main focus of the book seems to be the photographs, with them taking up a majority of the book. I think this will make it particularly difficult to illustrate a cover for as, in my opinion, the best way to advertise and describe what the book is about is by using one of the photographs inside (which it already does). So I need to find a way of illustrating what the book actually does and make it look appealing.
Because of the difficulty in thinking of a way to illustrate the books cover, I did contemplate changing my choice of book completely. However on reflection, whilst working as a professional illustrator, I would not be able to simply pick and choose which briefs I do, and some will be more difficult than others. So although the book will be difficult to illustrate, I decided to go through with it and see if I can work out a decent design. The best way is to learn from mistakes, and I am wanting to challenge myself. Reflection of the Brief To me, the brief is giving us a task which is as much about the actual design of the cover as it is about the actual illustrations on there. I need to focus my efforts into creating an attractive cover for a book, as well as attractive illustrations that are in it. We have been tasked with creating 5 full scale roughs for the book; this will give me a great opportunity to play with the actual design of the cover.
After finally deciding on which colour schemes I preferred, I played around with the overall composition of the images, which you will see on one has changed quite a lot. I finished off the images by clearing up any final blemishes and printing the image to make sure it looked good to print.
I really struggled with leaving the images alone, I seem to have an issue with sometimes overdoing an image and not being able to leave it when it looks good enough. This is something I have discussed with Matt and will look to work on this in the future.
