Assignment 3

Movement

Take a more sustained and focused approach to this assignment, addressing the theme of Movement.

This idea of movement could either be quick or slow or from large to small or both, or colour to black and white or vice versa.

You are documenting making a change, use the material you have already produced in this section and exercises. Combine your work and use one of these forms, the content is up to you, but should take around 4 days to produce.

1. Animation
2. A zine
3. A short film or video
4. Three character illustrations with suitable backgrounds and character traits.

Now for this assignment the option that I haven’t completed before is option 4 (Three character illustrations), I am intrigued by this option and it’s the one that I clicked with straight away.

I have an idea already in my mind about how I could do this, but I want to follow my creative process to see if this is where I’ll end up or not!

I’m going to start with some bullet point ideas before I start my mind maps, I think as I already have these in my mind, I need to get these down on paper first.

Approach

I started listing my creative process in my sketchbook and added the new things I have learnt in this section to add to the process.

I then went on to complete a mind map of the word movement, I used the Thesaurus technique here after about half way through, I ran out of words to think of:-

I then highlighted 9 different words, that I thought were contrast with each other, some fast in movement and some slow in movement.

I then illustrated these roughly to give me some extra inspiration.

I then went on to do a quick moodpboard to capture some ideas I was having for this assignment and for the words from my mind map above.

Research

Movement; is the act of moving, a change or development or the process of moving.

I found a website called livesnaplove.com and they showed some great ideas for ways to capture movement in photography, and 5 ways to show movement in photography.

1. suspended movement

Livesnaplove.com

The most popular, and where you can freeze the action and time.

2. Motion blur

Livesnaplove.com

Show the motion through the blur, the background stays sharp.

3. Panning

Livesnaplove.com

Is the opposite to motion blur, the background blurs, but the image stays sharp.

4. Intentional camera movement

Livesnaplove.com

This is where you move the camera to get an abstract shot.

5.Time lapse/ Chronophotography

Livesnaplove.com

To take images over a period of time, the time is in real time, but the video is sped up through time lapse to make the scene quicker.

An idea!

My idea that I have in mind is to combine the panoramic photographs from exercise 3, and the characters from exercise 4 to create some fast and slow scenes, either collaged or illustrated, also showing the characteristics of the characters through movement.

Thumbnails

I did some quick rough sketches of what was in my mind, basically it was using the dragon origami character in the night scene, firing out fire from his mouth. The second one was showing the bird flying in the outdoor sunny scene, and the third was to show the Chinese lady character at home in my apartment as a slow scene. I’m not sure how this will be created, but I think both real time photography and illustrated parts, draw/painted etc?

The next step was to move onto some compositions and viewpoints for each of the scenes, and explore more about how this would come together.

From these I thought about the idea shown in my moodpboard, where I could incorporate the photography with illustration, this would show quick with slow process.

I then wrote my thoughts down for the idea to develop:-

So basically using the iPad and Procreate to illustrate the sliced section of photograph.

Next I need to sketch out the sliced piece on the iPad, and go from there.

I started to do this, as you can see from the iPad screen shot below, but after having a nights break, I realised that I needed to start the character development first, before getting the art work right, otherwise it would just have to be changed again later!

So I went back to my origami characters and worked on those to expand the character designs, stances, movement, characteristics etc.

I started with the bird and did some sketches in different stages of flight, looking for an angle that shows a fast movement.

I named this character Oriz as it is the meaning of a folded bird, so I thought this was fitting for this guy.

I then went on to draw the dragon in some character designs, here I was looking for different stances, does one show he’s about to breathe fire?

I named the dragon Spike, I thought this suited his character, and as he is a origami bird, the folded points are quite spiky!

Then I started to work on the Chinese lady, and her character designs. I needed to show a slow movement here, but needed some props to make this work better, so I chose a book and a cup of tea.

I named the Chinese lady Chen, as it’s a popular Chinese woman’s name.

The next stage was to go back to the art work and work on the character designs with these included. I went back to the iPad and Procreate and started working on the design I liked the best from the characters.

I drew the Chinese lady with her mug of tea and her book, walking through the hallway. I added some background that was around the strip I wanted to illustrate.

This is the finished strip, I used a 6B pencil brush and gouache brush for the colour.

Next I was going to move onto the bird illustration, but for this one, I have decided to go back to traditional methods and use watercolours to illustrate this design. I was not keen on the effect the drawing above had when working with Procreate.

I started by sketching out the strip I was going to paint, added the background from the Panoramic photo and then adding the bird in the character design that represented ‘FAST’ the most. I used Gouache paint for this illustration, I wanted quite a bright pigment, and a flat colour, I have been experimenting with gouache for a few months now, and thought this would be a good chance to add to some techniques.

I annotated a few points here and decided to add some lines on the bird to still give the origami feel to the character, go over some of the white areas, so the pencil doesn’t show through, and to add the details on the trolley parks.

I think this looks better, I also added some small lines to show the movement in the bird (Oriz).

I then moved onto the dragon character (Spike), for this illustration I decided upon watercolours for a traditional feel. Although they are my comfort zone, I did think I would use the colours from the pictures, so the dark black, browns and greens, which is out of my comfort zone.

I liked the atmosphere of this illustration already, I like the way watercolours give some texture and moodiness.

I tried to keep the folds visible on Spike, and did have to use gouache paint for the fire, as I forgot to leave some white space for it, and the watercolour didn’t show up over the black.

Now I need to place these illustrations back onto the panoramic photos and see how they work. I decided to change the colour of the photograph to Black and white so it gave a contrast against the illustration.

I had some trouble placing this illustration, it didn’t quite match up to the photograph, I’m not sure if this is because its shot in a circle, and the bottom lines are more on a curve?!

Reflection

What went well?

I think the creative process went well, and the character designs, I was pleased with how these turned Outland naming the characters help me to see what type of animals/ people they were.

I enjoyed the creative process of the artwork, the drawing and painting, and experimenting with gouache paint and more digital work, also choosing colours I wouldn’t usually work with in watercolours.

The idea was good, I liked the contradiction between the fast panoramic photograph and the slow art illustrations. I also liked using the characters from the origami exercise to develop these further, and combine with photography.

What could have gone better?

Although the idea was good, I’m not sure I managed to pull it off completely! I think I would work longer on the illustrations next time, I think I would just stick with the watercolours or gouache paint, as the contrast was better. I would try and get the illustration and photo to match up better, and maybe explore more with being creative (like in the ref photo)

Section 3 overall reflection

What were the main challenges you encountered when working with alternative making approaches?

For the photography I was trying to get a full 360 degree photograph, it was hard to control the camera and turn around on the spot without coming off the line and keeping the arrow steady on the guidelines. Although it was simple in principle it was harder in execution.

For the origami it was finding or having the right thickness of paper to be able to fold the paper easily, yet not too flimsy that it won’t hold in place, and not too thick that it won’t bend!

Also trying to think of names and background work for the characters, trying to give them some characteristics yet still keeping them rigid like origami statues.

Now you have made work with unusual materials and techniques, which of these are you going to use for future work?

I would use the photography again, I think taking ref photos and using the panoramic view would be nice on holidays, and trips, then use the photography for inspiration for future artworks, or colour palettes.

I liked doing the origami, I think these would make great activities for kids, so maybe do these with my nephews. They are also cute for little gifts especially the little lady would be nice to hang on a mothers day gift.

How did you find moving from working with singular elements to combining them? Did you need to make adjustments to the singular elements of them to work together?

I found it fairly easy, I usually work with different mediums, so I’m familiar with using Photoshop to combine elements to produce one outcome. With the assignment, two of the photos worked out well, and matched up at the end, it was just the night time one that didn’t match, I couldn’t manipulate the illustration to make it fit, as it would have distorted it and made it look wrong, maybe it’s something to work on and learn more about.

What have you learned about making that you want to take forward when you look at part four?

I would like to take forward the photography into part four, I would like to use panoramic photography again, and look at different natural areas, and unusual view points. I would like to work more on fantasy work, so that may be helped by the collaged process, also character design is something that I want to work on more in the future, so maybe some sort of making of characters, as a base for turning them into illustrations.

Also texture, whether that be through the paint or the medium or the photography I don’t know, but these are the areas I am leaning towards at the moment.

Which of the artists mentioned in this section did you most enjoy looking at and why?

I liked Emma Stibbon’s work the best and was most interested in her because of the photography and art that she makes, is based on nature. I like her process of working with and finding out all the information on the area’s before she makes the art, and that influences her outcomes and the feel behind the art. I also like the fact that through her work, she shows people about the natural earth and what is happening to it, so she is promoting the cause and helping the situation by raising awareness about it.

I liked her ‘Salt flats’ picture, the expanse of the photograph, the angle and also the texture and shadows that were seen, being in a monotone colour palette, helped the feel of the artwork.