I have produced
(for studio brief two), three ten seconds animation, (for studio brief 3) three
A4 prints, six A5 prints and three fabric prints onto bags based on a book by
Neil Gaiman called “M is for Magic”.
This module has helped me to gain a lot of
skills, for example I am not allowed to use bright colours (as I always do)
because my themes are ‘dark’ and ‘weird’. I had to use dark colour schemes and have
to illustrate different objects as I normally do. I found it was difficult at first but after
my tutor gave me some advice (he advised me to use monochrome and grey colour
as well as using charcoal), it became easier and easier. I started to realise
that this module makes the colour for my current personal illustrations duller
which is good and weird at the same time.
This module had also taught me to be as
specific as possible. For example if I want to get reference images for a
clown, I need to write ‘scary clown’ as if I search only ‘clown’ then happy
clowns will pop out. I think I have
developed organisational skills by using a timetable and creating to do lists.
I have also learnt new ways to illustrate by drawing from quotes and key
motives from books.
I have experimented with a lot of techniques,
medias and processes and I have learnt a lot.
For example I have experimented with lino,
mono, etching, screen print, fabric print, After Effects, Photoshop as well as
traditional collage by using charcoal, coloured pencils, marker pens etc Charcoal
used to be my least favourite because it is quite messy but now charcoal is my
favourite media. I like the texture that it creates. I believe charcoal suits
my theme for this module.
One of the most exciting activities in this
module is animation. I think it is amazing to see my illustrations move and come
to life especially by adding some sound in After Effects. Of course it tested
my patience and took longer than I thought but whenever I look back at the
final outcomes, I think all the hard work paid off. My first and second ten
seconds animation work every well but I do not think my third one do, I think
to improve this I might have to add some hands at the end of the animation with
the feet hanged.
I wish I had discovered fabric printing sooner
as I really enjoy the methods and technique compared to screen print. I think I
follow the feedback from the crits too much. I think before I make decisions
(especially for producing my final designs), I need to think deeply. I am
looking forward to doing more fabric printing for my next module.
I think I lack visual experimentation for studio brief 1. I
have made a lot of sketches but not finally refined illustrations as most
sketches went to studios brief two and three.
I
think my final fabric print (a house with chicken leg) is not centered. To be
honest I don't think my illustrations for printed picture work very well
printed on a piece of paper because they are too simple but work well on fabric,
but at least it communicates the book as I have used the main character from
each of the short stories. My patterns that I did early on in this module didn’t
work so I had to decide quickly on something else for my final product in the
last few minutes. I had to keep changing my final products, and then at the end
of this module, all my final products are so different from my proposal for
studio briefs two and three.
The strength for my final outcomes is that I
managed to use dark colours to suit the theme. They also portray the key
elements from each of the short stories in “ M is For Magic”.
For my next modules, I want to do fabric print,
create illustrations that can communicate messages by not using any texts,
explore more animation techniques by using After Effects and other animation
software, experiment with lines instead of shapes, use different medias especially
wet medias like ink and paint.
Lastly, I am amazed that I didn't use Illustrator
at all for this brief I’m sure you know that I was obsessed with it last year.
Project Proposals.
Moving pictures
Printed pictures
