Illustration and Visual Narrative: Exercise 1 and 2

26.8.20 - 9.8.20 (Week 1 - Week 3)

Sajiya Mir (0340836)

Digital Photography & Imaging 

Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

Taylors University

Exercise 1

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VORMATOR CHALLENGE!

[Instructions]

[Inspiration]

I looked at the character design of other artists to see how they use basic shapes to bring their characters to life. All artists used simple shapes and patterns, but they were able to bring their character to life using colors, textures, and expressions. The colors used are bright and compliment well with each other. More brilliant colors were used on certain parts to give emphasis. 

Fig.1 Character Design by unknown
 

 Fig.1.2 Character Design by Yujin Won  

          

Fig.1.3 Character Design by Janice Chu

Fig.1.4 Character Design by Adam Record

[My Design]

Fig.1.5 Vormator Idea generation

I drew a few character sketches to see if I could assemble the shapes. I wasn't looking for any styles; I just started playing with the shapes to see what I liked and disliked. I even tried to see if I could bring the form together to resemble a mammal. For instance, the Design 1 'Fugo' is inspired by a salamander, and the Design 2 'Nelly' is a hybrid between a cat and an owl. Design 3 'Rock' is just a rock; I've added a few flowers to the head to give it personality.

Fig.1.6 Character Design 1: Fugo

Fig.1.7 Character Design 2: Nelly

Fig.1.8 Character Design 3: Rock

Fig.1.9 Character Design 4: Lady

Fig.2 Final Character Design 2 Development 

I picked my second design, 'Nelly', to further develop. I changed a few features of her body, like the hair. Instead of using Drop, I used Tentacles and made the hair much fuller, surrounding the whole head. I also changed her legs. Instead of Wurst, I used Zerk for the front two legs. On the tail, I removed the design I mad using Drop as I felt it made the character looked too crowed, so I left that one Drop at the very end of the tail. The overall body stayed the same; I just added a design on the body using a badge.

 Feedback: Ms. Anis said she like my character design and also suggested that I make a story for my character, which could help me come up with the right colors for the character. 

[Story]

Name:  Nelly 

Age:  Unknown

Gender: Unknown  

Powers: Levitation, Mind control 

Story: Nelly is a cat / owl-like creature; they are part of the species called Qalian, which was thought to have been extinct a long time ago, but still very few live today. Qalian is tranquil animals, and they are very difficult to find. The sighting of the Qalians dates back to 30 B.C., but the precise date of their origin is still uncertain. The vibrant colors of their body make them shine in the dark forest in which they are found. Qalian Feared by humans for their mind-control powers, only a few are domesticated.
Nelly was found wounded by a hunter in the forest. Instead of killing her, the hunter felt sympathy and took her in. When they got the right food, the Qalians grew quickly. Nelly, who had was now getting along with the hunter that had rescued her, grew into an adult in less than a month. The hunter called her Nelly and handled her with care. He didn't know a lot about the species and wanted to learn more to better care for Nelly. He soon discovered her dislike of water; she would growl in rage when he tried to offer water. He was quite surprised to hear about their mind-control abilities, and he wondered if Nelly would ever use it on him. Perhaps she already had as he was feeding her fives a day. He was quite familiar with her levitation power as she would often float around the house. 
As the days went by, the hunter noticed that Nelly was yearning to go back to the forest. He would often find her staring out of the window. The hunter wanted to release Nelly when the time came, but he was disheartened by the thought of not seeing her again. One day, as he was walking around the forest where he had found Nelly, he came across a cabin owned by an older man. After talking to talking to the man for a few hours, a thought struck him. He could also build a home around the forest. That way, he could be near Nelly, and she could still go back to the forest as she pleased. He quickly began constructing his cabin in the forest's foot; when completed, he released Nelly back into the woods. Nelly mostly lived in the woods and would return a few months a year to visit the hunter. 

[Character Coloring]

Fig.2.1 Character color design 1

Fig.2.2 Character color design 2

Fig.2.3 Character color design 3

Fig.2.3 Final Color Design

 

I was playing with a lot of color combinations to see what was working and what wasn't. In the end, I liked the designs 8 and 10 the most,  as I felt it went with the Story of them having bright colors that gave an illusion of a glowing body. Plus, it would contrast nicely with the dark forest background. I tried to incorporate what I liked from each design in the final.  I added the purple around the neck as I thought it contrasted neatly with the yellow face. With the use of a badge, I also added the twinkles in the eye. 

[Background]

Fig.2.4 Background Design 1

Fig.2.5 Background Design 2

Fig.2.6 Background Design 3

[Trading Card]

When looking for Inspiration for my trading cards, I look at a lot of tarot card designs. I really like the simplicity of the borders. There wasn't a lot of thing going on; the borders consist of two lines at the most. This allowed the actual image of the character to be the main focus. The designs were also geometrical, which I felt would go with my character as its an ancient species. 

Fig.2.7 Trading card Progression

[Final Outcome]

Fig.2.8 Final Character Design 

Fig.2.9 Final Trading Card Design 

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Vector Landscape Illustration 

[Instructions]

[Inspiration]

Fig.1 Inspiration 

Fig.1.2 Inspiration 2

I looked at concept art for fantasy games and movies for Inspiration.  I paid close attention to the composition of the mountains and trees and how they show the foreground, midground, and background. I used the rule of the third to help me decide where to positions the mountains. While sketching it out, I drew will shade of black and white to help me understand the contrast between light and dark better. I also played around to see how I could incorporate Chiaroscuro into my landscape. 

[Sketch]

Fig.1.3 Landscape Sketch 1 

Fig.1.4 Landscape sketch 2 
 

Fig.1.5 Landscape sketch 3

Out of my sketches, I chose sketch 2, as I liked the composition that the most. Then I found this picture on Pinterest from an unknown artist, and I really like the color scheme of the image, so I took out samples of colors and tried using it in my landscape. This image also helped me draw the shadows of the mountains and where the tree would look nice. 

[Process]

Fig.1.6 Color Scheme

Using the color schemes, I played around with the rocks and mountains to decide on a color scheme before moving on to the rest of the landscape. Once I was happy with how the details looked, I saved the images, so when doing the rest of the landscape, I can come back and use the pictures as reference. 

Fig.1.7 Detail of rocks 

Fig.1.8 Detail of mountains 

I started by sketching out everything on Illustrator using the pen tool. I separated each drawing in a new layer as later when I colour it, it would be easier to handle. Sketching it all out I ended up with 28 layers. 

Fig.1.9 Progress 1 

Next, I started with coloring the rocks, I went back to the colors I had already selected and used that as a reference. Deciding the colors and the gradients allowed me to finish the colouring process much faster. 

 

Fig.2.0 Progress 2 

Once done with the rocks I colored the grass. Keeping in mind which was the foreground, midground, and background I choose how dark or light the shade of green is. The closest was the darkest and as I moved further the shades I pick were lighter. I also adjusted the opacity of each layer. 

Fig.2.1 Progress 3  

Then I moved to colouring the mountains and the sky. I changed the colour of the sky to a much lighter blue then what I had picked from the reference image because the first colour I used made the landscape look dull. I wanted my landscape to look bright and lively so I picked a color that better suits the mood I was going for. The mountains and the clouds I used gradient. 

Fig.2.2 Progress 4  

Finally, once I had all the base colours, I started with the detailing of the mountains and the rocks. I once again went back to the image I set as a reference to help me. 

Fig.2.3 Progress 5

Fig.2.4 Progress 6

[Final Outcome]

Fig.2.5 Final Vector Landscape 

Fig.2.6 Final Vector narrative 

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Reflections 

[Exercise 1]: 

Experience: At first, it was intimidating to think about how I can make characters with only eight shapes available, but once I got started to play around with the shapes, I created a lot more. Even with the constraint, the number of potential characters was infinite. I was very shocked at my ability to create as many characters as I was able to. 

Observation: Research before starting design has made the process so much smoother. As I researched the shapes that well-known characters like mickey mouse or Phineas and Ferb have, they are often made of simple shapes like squares and circles. This helped me to think better about how to incorporate the shapes. 

Findings: One discovery I made about the designs that poses were straightforward and that none of the characters I made had dynamic poses. This could have made my character look more interesting, but I think I played it safe when designing it. So this is something I'd like to improve on in my next projects.

[Exercise 2]: 

Experience: The second exercise was quicker because I had a lot more experience with Illustrator than before. So I've been able to play around more with the style of brushes and their effects. It was also different from painting on Photoshop, some of the strokes like clouds were not what I desired, but the result was satisfying. 

Observation: One observation I made with the vector landscape is the foreground, midground, and background. I assumed the foreground has to be the largest and the background the smallest; although this still stands, the foreground could also be something small like a rock and the background as big as a mountain. Playing with how light or how dark it is can help distinguish between the two. 

Findings: One thing I learned from Mr. Fazal during class was the importance of sketching and preparing. Although I've always been trying to sketch before beginning the final, I haven't always sketched out the details. Typically, I drew one drawing per design and moved on to the next one. But Mr. Fazal explained how we could make a couple of concept sketches and how this could benefit us in the future when we present them to our clients.