Illustration Week

 

This week I have been discovering the art aspect of illustration. At the start of the week we started by doing some theory work. This included us answering questions on what we thought illustration involved and what makes a good illustrator as well as things such as what materials they use and who they work for. In the afternoon we then did some experimenting with different drawing techniques, these being such things as drawing in one continuous line, drawing with your none writing hand or not being able to look at the paper and only look at the object from which you are drawing from. We also used different medias such as using sticks with graphite pencils on the end as well as felt tip pens to make our drawings more free, however I found this experimentation frustrating because of the lack of control. On Thursday we began the main project of this week which included drawing birds. These were primary sources as they were stuffed and so could have them still and in front of us. We were taught to experiment with different ways of drawing and with different media such as drawing with sticks in brown an black inks this created a flowing free sensation which i found effective within my work. We also used water and bleach to spray on the drawing to add effect but also to fade areas out that were incorrect, then we worked straight back over them while wet. This created even more of a free effect. After this we then created another piece on the same bird with the sane techniques however this time we used big pieces of collage to apply shapes of the bird onto the work. Another media we used was using white or cream emulsion paint to work back in the lighter areas of the bird. On Friday we concentrated on the term sequence and listed all the different types we could think of. Later we then applied this into the birds and came up with four different ideas. I chose to do the sequence of big to small using three birds one big, one medium and one small. The idea was to make them into some form of book whether it be folding paper or using fastenings. I created a fan type form where the each different layers of bird corresponded in size to the actual bird. Using the techniques from the previous day I created drawings of three birds then scanned these in and made them into the correct sizes. I then created a title page and attached all the layers together using a split pin.
I am now a lot more aware of illustration within our society and find myself noticing things more now. The work and specialism I find the most interesting within illustration is creating the creative merchandise for theatre productions. This has interested me as it is an aspect of illustration that I had never thought about before. Overall this week has been a pleasant experience.