Reflection

My creative approach to this assignment was different than my usual approach as it now includes what I have learnt so far in this unit, especially focusing on photography and composition and also including characters into the mix.

I enjoyed going out to the woods and taking many different pictures and compositions to try and re-create later or use in my artwork. I found this a great way to look at things differently and look at unusual perspectives that I have no done so before.

Being in the woods was also great to get an idea and inspiration of the atmosphere/ feeling and where the character might live.

I decided quite quickly after the research and trip to the woods what compositions I would try to re-create, I think the spread, cameo and panorama were successful, the spot composition, colours and illustration could do with more work.

I also think most of the art materials and colours were good decisions, I think the colour palette worked and linked all the illustrations, they are harmonious together.

I have had a bit of a revelation with art materials for this assignment, I have always just used one watercolour paint palette by Dalar Rowney and have just always thought “they are just colours its what you do with them that counts”, but I have come to the conclusion that art materials matter, different paints can enhance and add to your process and outcome. I feel like I’ve entered a magical world (although expensive!) and its something I’m excited to explore and test for my work going forward. I have discovered granulation, new watercolour brands, Neocolour pastels and honey watercolours and how the mediums work together by layering, and what effects they achieve and add to the feel of the illustrations.

As before I find the characters and people the hardest to grasp, but practise makes perfect and it’s something I’m determined to work on and get better at and improve.

Overall I have learnt a lot in this assignment and I’m excited to see where I can take this knowledge and experimentation in the next section.

After feedback from my tutor 23rd May 2023

My tutor mentioned that the oval illustrations were slightly less resolved, as the fern creatures size and shape was unclear. I also felt the same especially with the spot illustration, it was too dark and you couldn’t deferentiate the fern creature that well from the background.

I re- worked both of these illustrations and basically started again, but I kept most of the concept the same, just tweaked certain bits of it. For the spot illustration I made the whole illustration bigger, which helped in the first place, then I took out some of the background log and moss area, so the mushrooms were the main view, then I made the fern creature bigger and more clearer, and lighter in colour.

I re-worked the fern creature character in assignment 5 so I used this character design of him for this re-worked piece. I think you can also see the size of him up against the mushrooms, and see how tiny he is.

For the cameo illustration I kept the leaf more tonal, and didn’t add too much detail, then I changed the view through the leaf to Boston and his friends, to add more characters into the story, and also have a lighter background of the sky so you can see them better. I also made the cameo illustration larger in size like the spot, so the design is more resolved.

The other parts of the feedback from my tutor about how the story would develop, I have included all of this in my assignment 5 work, as this is what I chose as my final project.