Photobooth: Experimentation and Evaluation

23rd Mar 2020 by turquoisecho ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I was about to start writing up some new research, but I realised I’ve been putting off writing up my first experimental piece of finished work in FMP.

I am using illustration to explore the concepts of friendships, relationships and closeness. In doing this, I illustrated an everyday encounter between Antonia and Mitzi – mucking around in a photobooth. I had the intention to bind it into a mini-zine, an instant book I’d found out how to make in my research.

The illustrations I created came from a variety of different pieces of research. These were all mentioned in my Pecha Kucha, but overall I think they were a huge success.

This is the final result. You can see I experimented with different inks and paper types, including black and white versions. (This is because traditionally, instant zines were printed cheaply in B&W on office photocopiers to be shared and I like the historical aspect of that!).

Evaluation

Was my research purposeful? I would say so! All of the research I do affects my work somehow, because it sticks in my brain like velcro. In this case, though, studying artists like early manga artists and artists that inspire me allowed me to work comfortably in a style I like but to work in a more self aware way, and I think it’s improved the look overall as a result of the research.

Did I develop my ideas thoroughly? The short answer to this is no. Because it was just a response to research and was very experimental, I consider this successful nevertheless. Interestingly, I could focus on the form of the book I bind reflecting the content within the book in future projects. E.g. I could have had these images in a concertina style strip, similar to an actual photostrip that might come from a photobooth.

Where am I going to take this? I’d like to work in the area of “meetings” for a bit – I’ll probably chose one specific meeting and illustrate it in a couple of different ways. I need an experimental week, and to do that I need an image or scene I can experiment with. My thinkinig is circling around Drake meeting Mitzi, Ludwig and Techo. In terms of importance to the entire narrative, I have to say honestly I think this is the most important happenstance in all of the character’s development.

Artist Research: Jamie Green

10th Mar 2020 by turquoisecho ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Jamie Green is an illustrator I have been inspired by for months after I found her on Instagram. She is a freelance illustrator and designer, and she works mainly traditionally, e.g. with gouache, coloured pencils, watercolours etc.

Fanart of an indie band. I really like how they draw figures. The jagged, slightly disproportionate limbs are something I want to work into my own style because they make me feel happy looking at them. The colour scheme: pastel pink and blues – exactly my style. And the way she draws faces is pleasing. I like the linework of the noses and the eyes and eyebrows. I want to work like this.

The technique used in this sketchbook scan is colouring under full opacity on a multiply later. It allows the lines from a scanned image to stay dark while you colour.

I’m realising as I pick out my favourite work from Green’s website that the bright, complimentary colours are some of my favourite aspects of their work. The hand lettering is another similarity between our styles.

This is typical of her cosier style. She loves mushrooms and so do I… it’s admittedly part of why I love her work so much. I made breakfast with too many mushrooms for the first time in ages today… I was disappointed at myself. I’ve hit a mushroom limit. Anyway. I really like the “scribbled” texture that comes from working traditionally.

Research: Origins of Japanese Comic Art

9th Mar 2020 by turquoisecho ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I’ve been influenced, however directly or indirectly, by Japanese comics in a big way in my personal artistic style. I’m researching the context for it, to see the historical and social connections to my current style.

In terms of my personal style, artists I had access to while developing my style were heavily influenced by contemporary manga and anime.
This was because of shows like Pokemon, Sailor Moon etc. that many people, including Western / American artists, were exposed to from childhood. The stylised, lineart heavy cartoons I enjoyed on social media growing up were all tied back to Japanese animations and comics.

Hokusai is a famous 19th Century painter from Japan. He’s most known for his woodblock prints and natural paintings, but he created a lot of “playful sketches” (manga) work for his students as well. This is some of the earliest modern manga.

“After Commodore Perry opened up Japan to the West in 1853, an influx of foreigners followed along with the introduction of European and American-style comics. In 1857, Charles Wirgman, a British journalist, published The Japan Punch, a magazine modeled after a popular British humor publication. George Bigot, a French art teacher, started Toba-e magazine in 1887.

While both publications were originally intended for the non-Japanese expatriates living in Japan, the humor and artwork in the pages of The Japan Punch and Toba-e caught the attention of native Japanese readers and artists. Ponchi-e or “Punch-style pictures” began to appear as Japanese artists were inspired by Western-style comics and began the evolution toward the uniquely east-west style that is modern manga.”

At the dawn of the 20th Century, Japanese artists took inspiration from Western comics and applied Japanese ideas to them.

Kitazawa Rakuten (1876 – 1955) is considered the father of modern manga. He was inspired by American artists like Outcault, who created the comic strip The Yellow Kid. He was the first to start a school specialising in caricature and comics.

He drew humorously. The figures are all fun, drawn semi-realistically with a black ink pen.

Machiko Hasegawa was one of the first female manga artists. Following World War II, Japan was occupied by the US. The US had bought in comic and animated characters of their own, e.g. Betty Boop and Mickey Mouse. This was inspiration for a lot of Japanese artists.

I think this is adorable. My characters have an incredible amount of similarity to this work! It’s been so interesting finding out where my style leads back to in its origins.

An example of Hasegawa’s most famous comic strip, Sazae-San.

A really influential early manga artist was Osamu Tezuka. He created Astro Boy, a figure who is now an icon recognisable by almost anyone today.

Tezuka was the first to draw eyes so disproportionately large. Almost every anime and manga in recent decades uses a similar style, so this was revolutionary in terms of the style’s conventions.

I just went onto the Tezuka Osamu website. It turns out that he put the word for insect into his pen name, simply because he loves insects so much… and when you scroll down, you can click a little picture of astro boy shooting up to go back to the top of the page. I actually wept a bit at how sweet it was.

Future of the Body: Week Three

28th Jan 2020 by turquoisecho ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This week I had the chance to get more work done on my Futures project, having successfully uploaded my e-portfolio and sent it to Brighton.

I finished off the worksheet with all of the photo references I’d been saving along the way. You can see where I’ve used them in generating initial ideas here.

I re-read a couple of Asimov’s short stories and stumbled across a drug called Spaceoline. It makes space hops easier – which are usually associated with feelings of free-fall and terror, and can be quite traumatic mentally.

Here I experimented with the product’s branding and form. I looked at American gas station logos and Americanised product branding. Then, I speculated on what form the drugs would actually take – but I’m pretty settled on powder pressed into pills.

This was a hastily concieved idea of a Spaceoline jar, for the purpose of experimenting with all sorts of media. I have become enamoured with this piece, even though it’s just a concept sheet. Shown above is: Embroidery, collage, pen, pencil, marker, concertina paper, rings of paper glued on and weaving through the paper.

What has been successful this week? I particularly like the row of pill bottles with collaged insides on the first worksheet. The pill bottle made of concertina paper was actually an accident, but I’m really pleased I kept it: the shape is pleasing and I like that it stands off the page.

The woven paper in the second sheet became the trail for a rocket launching, which I LOVE. I might have to use it again, or use the texture as inspiration. I was told that the blue watercolour puddle was successful as well, so might incorporate that in further work.

Where am I going to take this?

The next steps for the project have been worked out through a group crit we had on Monday, which is a blessing as it makes me confident in where I’m going. I’m going to design and make some brand packaging for Spaceoline. Since it’s a fantasy world and not an actual graphic design project, I can go absolutely goofy with it and have all the fun designing this in the world. Into week four!

Artist Research: Jonny Hannah

28th Jan 2020 by turquoisecho ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

A particularly groovy illustrator I found in an Illustrator Journal from 2003 is Jonny Hannah. I’m hoping to make some work inspired by him in my Futures project as I continue it.

Jonny’s illustrations are excitingly busy; the longer you look at them, the more detail you see. He also has a passion for hand typography, which you may know I’m quite passionate about. His work is blocky and stylised and he uses a mix of drawing and printing in creating his works. I like that he had a long phase of liking 1950’s paraphernalia and style: this lends itself well to my retrofuturistic work in Futures of 50’s American advertising.

He released a book called *Greetings from Darktown* in 2014. Inside he has created his own world. In this image, I love the composition of the folded up sheet. It reminds me of bookbinding.

I’ve just had a thought… I know I’m going to be creating some brand packaging for Spaceoline. What if I also made a wonderful fold-out instruction / information leaflet like you get inside some medicine boxes? I know usually they’re just packed with boring text, but I could make this one beautiful.

I have been drawn like a moth to a flame by this limited colour pallette. You can see that this is partially printed, with lino cut shop fronts. Maps really interest me – especially ones that use creative license. I also really like the handwriting here, and might have to magpie it, as my primary school teachers might have said.

This is just a mental hodge-podge of images and typography. I love stuff like this. Ideas upon ideas upon ideas.

Artist Research: Toma Vagner

21st Jan 2020 by turquoisecho ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Toma Vagner is an illustrator that grew up on a Russian island within easy sailing distance of Japan. Her father was a sailor that often bought back Japanese toys and trinkets, which went on to inspire her work.

The art style of the time went on to inspire her as well- e.g. Hokusai and his compositions and style. You can see this in the flat coloured areas and bold line art of her works.

Here, I love the grainy dark background and the pastel interiors of the piece. Random objects floating about give me an almost abstract, uneasy feeling – but I love it. I want to create this feeling in my work. I have already taken inspiration from the flowers growing behind the hand in one of my Future worksheets.

I am a sucker for pastel pink work. Here, I like the female figure and her cool jacket. I also really like the repeated images throughout the piece, e.g. lipstick, the colour swatch circles and the lights on her mirror. The fact that most of the composition isn’t defined is interesting: it means the flat colour dominates the piece and I really like that.

I like the grey background against the pink. Vagner tends to colour her lineart quite brightly, with pinks and reds. I’ve seen a lot of artists doing this and I think it adds a lot of interest. It gives the eye more to process than just red or just black.

Artist Research: Bruno Mangyoku

21st Jan 202021st Jan 2020 by turquoisecho ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

An illustrator I am very inspired by is Bruno Mangyoku. He is trained as an animator but works as an illustrator, and has picked up commissions from large companies such as Wired, Red Bull and Monocle.

He describes his work as “character driven” – because he “can’t envision a piece without focusing first on the characters.” I really like this, because it reflects my own interests. I love drawing people and giving them personalities.

My favourite thing about this piece is the colour scheme, followed closely by the man’s face and posture. I think I’ll have to borrow this colour scheme for one of my Futures illustration pieces. Don’t let me forget! It’s very limited, but that’s what makes it lovely. It’s got an almost vintage feeling about it.

I love nature, so I’m tempted to steal the shapes and colours of some of the fauna here. Bless this guy… Looks like he made a really bad wrong turn somewhere.

Another good example of a successful limited colour pallette. It reminds me of a scren print or a lino print, where you’re keeping it simple with limited colours. The composition is even, e.g. the tan coat being reflected in the leftmost woman’s ginger hair. It’s cut-out, sharp shading makes it feel very graphic, which I like.

Although his work is digital, I will try to recreate the feeling traditionally. I love working digitally, but right now it always pushes me into the same routine and style, which isn’t what I need. I like to manipulate media physically at the moment.

Future of the Body: Week Two

21st Jan 2020 by turquoisecho ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I started a worksheet for week two. I’d been very excited about working in my sketchbook, but I thought that for experimentation’s sake, I’d work larger.

I had a one-to-one chat with Emma. She said her favourite work of mine was the drawing-heavy women with bio-luminescent body alterations. She also suggested that I continue drawing and brainstorming products for a future sci-fi type audience, since I’d done plenty enough research and context.

Wahoo! I couldn’t have asked for a more affirming conversation, since that’s what I really enjoyed doing. I had recently found some other inspiring illustrators, so I began drawing.

You can see media used ranges from watercolour to collage and marker.

Where am I going to take this next?

I’m going to fill the space up with drawings and keep my judgement suspended until then. After that, I’ll either complete another whole experimental sheet or run some self evaluation before I complete any more work. Once I’ve identified what I like a lot, it will allow me to refine the ideas and create more sophisticated work.

I feel I should mention that because Brighton have required an e-portfolio from me on next Tuesday, this project will run slowly until then. After that, I have an interview and will need to design a portfolio for that too. I’m juggling my time and this isn’t my priority right now!

Future of the Body: Week One

16th Jan 2020 by turquoisecho ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

This project is the first one in which we are really given free reign over what we do. I’ve been drawn to sci-fi and futuristic, creative body alterations or modifications.

All of my scribbled ideas and pathways are in my sketchbook, in mind maps or where I can find space – but what I’m documenting is the ideas I’ve taken a little further – to thumbnailing and experimenting visually.

This was an idea for bioluminescent body alterations, a new beauty standard that exists in the future. I saw an interesting article about futuristic body modification in a fashion show called A.Human, which inspired a lot of these images. I collected a range of bioluminescent animal photo references in order to be inspired here.

You can see the beginning of an idea here. The concept is a pill that you can take which contains a script for a dream that has been pre-recorded. When the user falls asleep, they will experience that pleasant dream. I imagine they’d range from adventures to friendships to romantic and sexual exploits. You can see I play with words for possible brand names – find In Your Dreams – and then immediately thumbnail a possible logo.

This concept was directly inspired by one of Issac Asimov’s short stories, in which a corporation sells dreams and employs creative thinkers to imagine and “record” for them.

On this page you can see I develop the logo so that it has a graphic elegance – an eye winking. I moved away from the realism I’d been sketching before to experiment with bright colours. I continually evaluate the designs with notes to the side.

This page was a fun one to do. I started by laying down the basic watercolor shapes to force myself to include variation. I was happy I did this, because the top right design really spoke to me – so I took it further.

This is where I am currently with this train of thought. You can see some possible brand poster thumbnails – but I’m also considering actually creating the brand packaging for the pills too.

What do I need to do next?

I’m aware that I’ve gone quite specific quite early with this train of thought. I actually plan to do some collage work, create another mind map and widen all of my thinking back out again. With all of my research into sci-fi and notes I’ve taken, I’ll find another path of interest to liaise with for the next week.

Artist Research: Lera Efremova: Future

8th Jan 2020 by turquoisecho ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I wanted to find an illustrator that worked with pleasing colours and textures. Although this isn’t related to the future of the body directly, I like the way Efremova uses colours and space in her work.

In terms of context, her work is sold as high quality digital files, cards, posters etc. So, visually pleasing illustrations to be placed in the home.

I was thinking I could apply it to my work in terms of experimenting with different media in my sketchbook. I want to focus on generating textures so I can have a base collection of bright colours and techniques to use as backgrounds in illustrative work.

I want to take direct inspiration from the kind of shapes and colours she uses. E.g. the collections of stippling-esque dots, or the leaf with a dot grid on the far left that’s been roughly cut.

I like the busy collections of objects and shapes against the dark, basic background. The colour scheme is mostly desaturated blues, with a few very light blues and pinks as a complimentary highlight colour. Efremova works a lot with pale pink and blue, but that combination is very trendy at the moment.

I made some textures and experimented while looking at her work. You can tell from the colours and some of the shapes. I also just wanted to suspend judgement and try out whatever I could in case something cool happened.

Gemma's Art

I talk about what I do and make, why I do and make it and how I could have done it better.

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