Hi to anyone who is reading this, I haven’t been on here for a while oops! I’d just thought I add a little blog to show what I have recently been doing.
When taking a trip to a market last Christmas I saw a stall called Wraptious. At this stall they were selling artwork on various items e.g. pillows, cards, coasters etc. I loved the look of the designs so I decided to check out their website and noticed they have a competition to design an image which is printed on a pillow. This competition is held twice a year which amazingly is free to enter and allows a maximum five entries. It is based on a popularity contest, the work that has the most likes or shares on Facebook or pillows purchased via their website wins. The winner will have a two year contract with Wraptious where they will promote and sell your work. So I thought, why not have a go! Here are my five entries:
Midnight
Water Highway
Octopus
Opulent
The patterned images were created using a design I had used for a different competition. I just took the basic shape and repeated it in various designs until I created a pattern that flowed continuously. From there I researched into restricted colour palettes as I tend to go over board with colours. Trying to keep the pattern symmetrical was easy and where each specific colour went was just instinct.
If you have read my other posts you may recognise the Octopus and the Water Highway images which I created when I was at University.
I am pleased with the outcomes, I could have spent more time on them but the amount of work I would have produced would be endless and it would have been harder to choose just five designs.
Thank you for reading this post. I would be extremely grateful if you click on the little facebook symbol on the image below (top right corner below) which will direct you to the Wraptious facebook page (you must log into your own Facebook to be able to like). From there if you hopefully like my designs you can click on the like symbol on my individual images, post (must be on Wraptious facebook page) or even purchase a pillow from their website! The more points I gain the closer I could be in the top 12 which would be a great honour. 🙂
I thought I would have a go at entering the AOI competition which is free. The theme was ‘Sounds of the City’ which is a tricky one to illustrate as there are so many avenues you could go down. I had many ideas but I focused on the sounds you may not notice anymore if one has lived in the city for a long period of time. I tried to make it flow and so created a a snap shot of a day. Here are the final outcomes:
I created two with slight differences, one has a simple black background allowing the colours to come through.The central image has a postcard stand showing other cities and their famous events. The other entry has a basic coloured pattern of the London underground route which emphasises the city aspect of it. I had also taken the main central image out leaving just the mini snapshots of a cities life. To balance the squares out, I focused on certain areas of the original larger image to create smaller scenes.
Here are the smaller images on there own, I focused on various areas from nature to music to night life. I have scanned materials to create texture in certain areas of the illustration whilst balancing it out with blocked colours. I tried to control my colour palette on each illustration by incorporating certain colours, for example the sunrise scene uses the colour spectrum of pinks, yellows and blues giving a warm soft feel to it.
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When creating the work I struggled to draw people, I’ve always wanted to be able to draw people really well and I need to practice a lot more but for this I just tried to create a simple figure as to not to overcomplicate the scene.I enjoyed creating some of the scenes and I do think some are stronger than others. However, I would have liked to spend more time on developing and experimenting rather than rushing to finish for submission. Which was annoyingly extended after the deadline had passed. Anyway, looking back I would say I have overcomplicated the whole piece and maybe I should have focused on a single aspect or image and to also tone down the colours a tad. Overall I did enjoy the unusual brief, to create an image to show sound without doing the cliche ideas was a challenge but a rewarding one I would say.
When undertaking researching during a project in my Masters course, I looked into creating a piece of artwork based on a sentence from the beginning of a story. I have created many rough designs but this is one that I have completed so far. The sentence being ‘At a time when rivers were made of chocolate and wishes came true’, I incorporated items such as clock hands, a chocolate bar, a pocket watch and a waterfall flowing into a river as well as a man fishing which can be a tranquil activity. Everyone will think of different items that could be conjured when reading this sentence but this is my interpretation. There are alternative colour palettes which work and some that don’t. First, are the colours that work.
This was my original colour choice but after experimenting a bit I decided on a much darker background. A cream background with a dash of blue showcasing the sky.A night time sky background linked with the wishes come true (wishing on a star at night). Matching the gold of the watch with the swish in the background, caramel gold.A lighter night sky with a pink swish (strawberry flavour?) I think this is my second favourite.Going back to the mix blues.
Now the colours that didn’t work. I wanted to show this, as colour has a massive influence on how the image feels or looks and can either make or break an image.
There is no vibrancy within the image and the background colours isn’t adding anything to it.
It’s too faded and looks a little dull.
The yellow in the background washes the stars out.
Below is the image I had settled on as it has a vibrancy to it due to the dark background.
I have gone for the caramel gold colour for the swoosh as it links in with the stars and the watch. There are altogether roughly five main colours which are set throughout the image, woven into one another so it flows. I placed blue stars next to the clock so they don’t blend in but I feel it balances out the image as there are gold stars in the opposite corner. There is a layer of text in the chocolate fountain which doesn’t relate to the text specifically but the way it had distorted itself gave the effect of the chocolate was flowing down and out. I tried to incorporate a mixture of bold block colours and the use of fabrics and patterns to create an interesting scene, being careful not to over do it. Hopefully you like the image but if you have any constructive criticism or comments then please leave a reply down below. 🙂
So I haven’t posted for quite a while oops! That’s because I have successfully completed my Masters course (my final display at the exhibition) and I’ve been outside playing in the sun.
Now the tough bit starts, where do I go from here? what do I create? what do I do! For so long I have been in education and now I am free from it, it is an uncomfortable feeling of how big the world is yet exciting. I have been in my little bubble for so long.
So my blogs may a little spread out from now on or they may be loads all at once, I just don’t know. I will create work for myself and hopefully you’ll like it!
So from that last concept panel I have made some alterations to my work starting with the straightening of the text:
…from this to…
I think it does work better straightened and it matches the other large paragraphs in the story. I still kept the same colour as it fits in with the colour palette of the illustrations which is very natural and nature themed.
Other changes I have made to my work is the Stoat jumping:
Originally I was trying to capture the Stoat’s weird way of attracting their prey and killing it, as they tend to distort and twist their body. However, now looking at the new design I can see why some viewers would have found it hard to understand what he was doing and where his limbs began and finished.
A much cleaner illustration of him jumping onto of the squirrel although I feel he doesn’t sit perfectly into the scene as the original as I have had to paint him separately then place him on top. Agin if I had more time I would refine the illustration.
Another improvement is the text on the front cover:
Instead of using a set type, I used one of the hand drawn noises from within the book and placed it on the front. I think it looks a lot better and is more natural with the surrounding illustration.
Here is the alteration to the end pages. I needed to incorporate more educational information in about the animals as it was mainly the illustrations showing the unusual creatures but to much type to explain what they are. So for the first end page I cut the original acorn scene in half and placed an activity game for the reader to complete. It also hints of what may be coming but still doesn’t give the story away.
For the end page that is going at the back I created the same layout by cutting the original scene in half and add a information page about specific animas in the book. I would love to have added more pages but I was a my 32 page limit and so I decided to place another activity in there by asking the reader if they could find any information about the stoat. This would hopefully kick start their interest in nature and the woodland.
For the sounds in the woodland I originally used the font that I used for the narrative and I liked it but it was suggested that I should hand draw the sounds like I did with the main sounds as it created more movement and depth. I struggled doing this as the images became pixelated when I reduced them in size or they were so fine photoshop couldn’t pick them up even though I scanned them at various dpi.
Anyway, I eventually got there and some are handwritten and some I have used the font as they were clearer compared to by design. I did change the style slightly so it’s not purely the same text and I think it works. I also moved the main text to the opposite page as it was hard to see on the branch on the left side.
Overall I think these tweaks have improved the book slightly and I am sure I could spot many more that I would love to correct however, I have ran out of time. But this does not mean this specific book is finished and I will improve it once the module has been finished. I will then hopefully send it to the Macmillan children’s book competition and possibly to potential publishing companies. Also I will be able to get my feedback from the questionnaires that I sent to a few primary school teachers and use their comments to improve and push the book further.
The last concept panel is here and I was nervous as I had worked so hard I didn’t want to get shot down. I admit I have become protective of my work and want it to be perfect and everyone loves it but I know this would not be the case as I can see areas where there is potential improvement.
The feedback I received was hard to take at first due to the me just wanting my work to be finished. Some comments I agreed with as I could see them myself when looking at my work:
the squirrels face is sometimes cartoony
some scenes are stronger than others
However, here are a few points that I would need to consider but may not complete them due to the short amount of time left:
text showing sound should be hand drawn to keep the consistency and make it interact with the illustration
the Stoat jumping looks odd and hard to work out
Does the Stoat need to be in the book – it doesn’t add anything to it
Can the last page be clearer and can the reader understand that it was his stomach that was grumbling all along
There should be a page in the back where it illustrates some facts about the added animals e.g. the Spider and Weevil. This is so it interlinks with the book more and learn about the other animals as well as enjoying the story.
Some images are too full and could be taken back and be more intense.
Some of these comments I would struggle with as the time is dwindling away to a week until hand in. For example, taking out the Stoat I would have to reconsider the storyline as it wouldn’t flow as well and would need a scene to bridge the gap. I could consider this in the future but for now I could take it out and ruin what I have already done. Plus I think the Stoat works as he is another unusual character that adds a sense of danger to the adventure. He is the one who makes the squirrel realise it’s his stomach that is making the scary grumbling noise.
However some of the points I will use and hopefully will be able to complete are:
the stoat jumping – to create a more of a cleaner image that is easily read
Straighten the text up
Create the last page which has a similar feel to it as a encyclopaedia
To look at the book through the eyes of not seeing it before, see if the story is easily read.
So after adding the main text, I realised I didn’t want text on every page as I wanted the illustrations to speak for themselves. So instead I placed one symbol that replaced a couple of sentences:
In this scene the squirrel is hiding from the Stoat and the Stoat has no clue where he has gone. So instead of writing a sentence explaining the scenario, I placed three question marks over the head of the Stoat and positioned the squirrel in the foreground hiding on a tree shushing the reader.
The reader can clearly understand that they need to be quiet and so the Stoat doesn’t realise where the squirrel is and can get away. I think this works much better and proves that you don’t always need text to explain the scenario.
As mentioned last time I was going to include text and I was going to look at other books to see if their typeface would suit my style of work. The three books I chose were:
The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson
The Red Tree by Shaun Tan
The Rabbits by Shaun Tan
Each book had a different style but I felt that they would work best.
The Gruffalo:
It looks like a set typeface, I tried to search the name of it but could not find it. Anyway, it is clear and precise with the excitement of the flicks and curves of the style suiting the storyline. Some speaking parts are set in italics so the reader can differentiate between who’s talking. As my book only has one talking character I could place their speech in italics and so the reader will know when it’s speaking and when it’s the story and may be inclined to put a voice on for the character.
The Red Tree
A different style, looks more hand written which I like as it interlinks with the illustrations. Very few words explaining the scene and it isn’t in a grid, straight line system which allows it to breath and float along with the illustrations. The text content is exaggerated with the size of the font and positioning e.g. this image makes you say wonderful things in a happy tone but as you carry on the sentence your voice drops and becomes quieter like it is disappearing into the distance. I think I would like to incorporate that into my scenes, allowing the reader to exaggerate the sounds of words preventing the narration to be a monotone speech.
The Rabbits
Again another text that looks hand written, looks like it has been carved into the page. All the text is uppercase and when speaking to a primary school teacher she commented that when the children learn to read they are learning about punctuation, upper and lower case letters. If I chose this style and kept the uppercase letters it may confuse the reader or it may be hard to read as I would have more text than this example. Also, this type suits this style of illustration whereas it may look clumsy with mine. So why did I pick this, well I just liked the hand written factor and that the text isn’t white or black, its yellowy cream which softens the appearance. I must consider this when typing my text.
So after looking at these styles I would ideally want to hand write my text to see if it works but I do not have enough time to write it out and then cut each letter individually on photoshop. I would consider doing this when I will develop this book further to refine it after hand in. So I decided to stick with a specific font, I didn’t want a loopy one or a extreme style as I want the text to be seen but at the same time blend in with the illustrations. Similar to The Gruffalo, a clear font that can be easily read and have the correct punctuation etc for the reader to learn. This is what I chose:
Its called Perpetua on photoshop, and I think it is a clear font that has a subtle character to it similar to The Gruffalo book. When incorporated in the whole scene:
It blended in beautifully, and I chose to not use black as this would be too harsh against the soft illustrations. So I chose a colour from the actual illustration which was a lightish brown, now it interlinks perfectly. When positioning the text I made them follow the wobbly borders of the illustrations and so it flowed but when it came to larger paragraphs I placed them on straight. This is so it didn’t look like I just plonked them on the page without considering the flow of the scenes.
The scene below shows text in the trees, and I have emphasised some of the words and positioning of the letters to allow the reader to experience the feel of the word when reading it. For example, squeeeak I have made the s small, increasing the letters in size emphasising the noise is becoming louder. I have also italicised a few words within the main text to highlight certain strong feelings e.g. he felt even more hungry. To show he isn’t just a little hungry, her is excruciatingly hungry.
Overall I am happy with the outcome of the text as I was worried that I would not be able to pull it off s I have struggled in the past. I would definitely consider using more time when incorporating text and experiment more with colours, style and positioning but for now I think this is a good base template.
Bibliography
Donaldson, J., 1999, The Gruffalo. London: MacMillan.
Tan, S., 2013, The Red Tree. Sydney: A Lothian Children’s Book.
Marsden, J., Tan, S., 2012, The Rabbits. Sydney: A Lothian Children’s Book.
The artists Eric Ravilious and Micael Rosen where mentioned to me and so I thought I would explore their work a little more. I had already heard of Michael Rosen as he is a successful children’s picture book author and illustrator but haven’t heard of Eric Ravilious before.
Eric Ravilious was a book illustrator, wood engraver, English painter and designer. He captured the Englishness in his paintings in-between the wars and also worked with Wedgewood for a short period. For more information on him visit:
I was directed to him as my work is trying to get the same softness as he has achieved in his work:
Beachy Head, 1939, Watercolour
It was said that he used to paint layers upon layers of thin watercolour until the colour was deeper enough. When he used to run out of time to finish the painting, instead of rushing it was claimed he would spend evening making notes about the colour of nature and then return in the day to finish his work. This is very meticulous way of painting compared today where one can take a photo and finish it off wherever they are.
Furlongs, 1934, Watercolour
He achieved the texture in the fields by stippling or in other works like the Beachy Head, the sky has faint white strokes which is achieved by delicate scoring of a corner of a razor blade. This is detailed and elaborate illustrations that have had a lot of care and time put towards them. I would love to get to this standard but again I would need more time. However, what I can take from this is, is if I take care in building my layers up when painting then I might be able to achieve some softness in the drawings. Also I am using a different medium to Ravilious but I am starting to use the pastel pencil like a watercolour by using my paint brush on the pencil first instead of putting pencil to paper. To gain some added texture and detail I then use the pencil on paper to achieve a rough texture.
Micael Rosen
I am looking specifically at his book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.
The front cover does not give a lot away, all you know is that these are the main characters which are a family and that they are going on an adventure but you don’t know where, or what they are going to encounter.
It is interesting that the pages that have repeating text are in grayscale. This allows the next page to have a dramatic effect when your eyes are flooded with colour and large text describing sounds. Originally I was going to place the Jay’s, Stoat and insects memory in grayscale to show it was a past memory but as the storyline developed I took out a lot of those scenes so it wouldn’t have worked as well as this book. The only word that is repeated throughout is grumble but this works best in bold bright colours. If I were to create another book with sounds I would consider the way Rosen has manipulated the colours to create a bigger impact with every turn of the page.
Dramatic woods and interestingly he has made the backdrop darker and the foreground lighter, many illustrations of the woods do the reverse. The text is very prominent in a large box with the illustration as the backdrop.
I love this scene! It’s very clever because when telling a story I always assume you have to go forward with the scenes but here he has gone backwards as they have mistakenly left the door wide open. Creating tension as the bear is approaching quickly. A clever concept and it is exactly the same scene but just the characters are changing. You can imagine the gut dropping feeling when they realise and they try and get tot he door as fast as possible to close it. Also I noticed the borders are wobbly similar to my illustrations and it does create more movement in the scenes although they have used a light brown to highlight the box whereas I have left it.
It is interesting looking at two completely different styles of illustrations but for my work they interlink nicely. Ravilious’s work shows the depth, softness and texture you can create with building up watercolours. Whereas Rosen shows the movement and flow you can gain from using various techniques to illustrate a story. Both illustrators use a sense of traditional medium allowing the subtle mark making to create the depth and not overcomplicating the scene, which hopefully I will achieve in my own work.
Bibliography
Oxenbury, H., & Rosen, M., 1996, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. London: Walker Books Ltd.
Ravilious, E., 2011, Research Point: Eric Ravilious (1903-1942). [internet] Available from: https://carpetmoss.wordpress.com/2011/03/02/research-point-eric-ravilious-1903-1942/. [Accessed 18 April 2015, 11.33am].
In a tutorial earlier on in the semester I was told maybe not to create a story board which would help my images to be not so rigid. However, I felt that I couldn’t work without one, I needed the guidance however small it was so I created a secret mini one:
Very rough and sketchy but this helped me a lot, as I could design the images around the storyline and I would create too many pages that I would then have to edit out. Although saying that and I may contradict myself here but in the future when hopefully I will have more time to create a picture book I will have another go at not having a story board. This is because I want to experience creating work with no boundaries and then in the editing process (which has been to short for this term) I will be able to merge ideas together or create better work.
