Shape Continued

Returning to the circus theme because I know I work better with a theme. 

I'd got in a rut trying to make images and not thinking about fashion at all.

I NEED DIRECTION.

I want some kind of grounding to base my SHAPES upon. I wanted to do more research:

Victorian circus

Victorian fashion

Steampunk style

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/v/victorian-circus/

This was rushed. I should have done more sketches in response the the photograph first, but instead I jumped straight into making the SHAPES. I don't think this is a very good way to work because it wastes time when you realise that this FINAL you've spent hours making isn't what you wanted. We've learned about the importance of roughing in Vis.Skills, I need to bring that into Vis.Lang!

Although I enjoy the freedom of SHAPE, I think that good illustration requires an element of planning and preparation.

The Musz Sisters, http://lenorelovelace.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/carny-style-introduction-part-i/

Ew. I hate this one.

I hate the shape of that hand - WHAT EVEN IS THAT?

I hate the skirt. WHY DID I THINK SQUARES COULD BE USED TO RECREATE THAT SKIRT? THINK ABOUT THINGS FIRST, DUDE. AIN'T NO WAY A SQUARE IS GONNA MAKE IT.

I'm more interested in the characters than the costumes. I always seem to place the character in the same place on the page too, I haven't really been very experimental with the composition of these illustrations. I should have varied the poses a little more to make the portraits more exciting, rather than the conventional 'head and shoulders' snapshot.

Snake lady, http://sisterwolf.tumblr.com/post/19046078106/snake-lady

I think what I'm struggling with in these Vis Lang tasks is that they have no real purpose or context. Other than improving our own skills and practising processes, these illustrations won't be used in the 'real world', such as in a book or an article. 

I need a little more of a brief in order to take the tasks seriously and to feel productive in what I create. I want to have an end product and a purpose for making the work that is more than just to improve my illustration practice, but I know that this is the whole point of this module.

Maybe I need to twist these tasks into mini briefs for myself.

Maybe I'm just being an idiot.

FEEDBACK:

My peers commented that I had created charming characters, that have consistency when viewed as a series. I was a little worried by this comment in that we are trying to avoid having a distinct 'style' at this point in the course. I have been avoiding sticking to a specific way of drawing and wanted my work to be versatile. I don't want to be pinned down to one specific thing.

I would agree that these illustrations have a distinctive characteristic about them, but I think that this is not always a bad thing or something to avoid.

These characters are my children and they are recognisable as my own.

Having a consistent 'style': raised eyebrows, skinny limbs and big smiles brings a stamp of the author's hand.

What I saw:

CHARLOTTE'S COMPOSITION. Charlotte had made really lovely, slick and trendy illustrations, but the main thing that I liked about her SHAPES is her use of the A4 page. She didn't cram everything into one frame, she thought carefully about how the character would be posed to make the most of this format.

She told us how she had taken reference photos of herself in these poses to work from, which was a clever way of planning her illustrations.

Simplicity is key

Around the room, there were lots of different approaches to SHAPE demonstrated. Some people used Photoshop and others stuck to digital. I preferred the analogue approach because it allowed for real textures and raised areas of relief.

Shape has taught me that simplicity is key and that line is not always necessary.

Alex used felt, but in a different way to how I had intended to with my 'fuzzy felt'. She cut the felt and stuck them to the page, enabling her to work with a lot more texture than is possible with flat paper.

People were drawn to Alex's illustrations because they were so different and such an experimental use of media. Alex is also the Queen of colour, so had found some gorgeous pastel shades of felt to use in her outfits.

I WISH I HAD FINISHED MY FELT IDEA. I would like to revisit this.