Assignment 5: Picture the Scene

Brief

Select one of the following ELT briefs and create a rough sketch of each scene:

• A family is eating breakfast. The father is taking toast from a toaster, two children aged 6 and 10 are at the table. The youngest is putting cereal in a bowl, the other has just spilt a glass of orange juice. We can see their mother in the doorway holding up their school bags – they’re going to be late for school. Illustration size 120mm wide x 75mm deep.

• A scene in a park. In the foreground is a pond with two ducks. A man is on a park bench reading a newspaper, a woman is struggling to walk a large dog. Two children, a boy and a girl, are playing football, another child is flying a kite. There are two adults nearby having a picnic.Illustration size 120mm wide x 75mm deep.

• A family is at the zoo. We can see an enclosure with meerkats in the foreground. There is another enclosure containing penguins. People are looking at the animals. There is an ice cream stall with a few people in the queue. A mother and twin children, girls, have just bought an ice cream, but one of the children has dropped theirs and is crying.Illustration size 120mm wide x 75mm deep.

The first thing to do is note or sketch the important visual elements in each brief and then create a series of thumbnails for each which translate them visually.

Then choose the scene you want to focus on, and consider the focus and purpose of the image. Now create three versions of the scene which explore different compositions combining the visual information and relationships between them. Make notes and reflect on what emphasis and meaning you have given in each version.

Finally choose one of these three and make a finished version of your ELT illustration.

Aim

I plan to do 'A scene in a park', where I'll create some thumbnails for each scene, then chose one of each-- then one, there I'll explore three versions of that scene. Once I choose my best one I'll turn it into an illustration.

Thumbnails

For each scene I did a little sketch of the main elements of the briefs, while exploring different angles and arrangements.

Chosen Thumbnails

I wanted to try doing one of each scene just for fun, but ended up doing the cute little duckies.

Variation of Chosen Thumbnail

From there, I did 3 variations of the duck scene; one standard straight one and another top down, and another from a low-point-of-view.

As said in my notes, the top down is a really interesting however it doesn't fit the brief of 'Ducks in the Foreground'; therefore I worked on the ducks from slightly below- looking up.

Practice

I wanted to try out watercolour but I felt like I wanted to try something different. Half way through working on this, it felt like I wasn't really pushing myself.

Illustration

I created this duckling illustration using my Huion tablet using the program Krita, I haven't used this since the Graphic Novel unit. I wanted to revisit this "medium" because I worry that I'll have to get used to this medium for the field I am interested in.

Trying to do better

I felt like I didn't do very well, and I wanted to push myself-- and try a different camera angle.

Evaluation

This assignment was fun but difficult, I really wanted to push myself- hence the second illustration. I much prefer the second illustration because it's pulling me out of my comfort zone, trying out a different perspective and applying lighting and shadows to the illustration.

Looking at it again, the second illustration: the poses are a little strange, it's not as good as the sketch was. The lighting is good, it's fun. The colour slightly compliments each other, and it feels refreshing and like a nice summery day.

The duck illustration is was fun and I enjoyed doing animals; I tried my best to look at a variety of inspiration to capture depth of field and lighting in landscapes.

The part that I most enjoyed from this exercise is the the story-boarding, that's why I developed better sketched thumbnails. The thumbnails expanded my design skills as I tried to change perspective and focus on the main elements of the brief.

I would like to improve as much as I can, I would say this is a stepping stone into doing that.

Revised Designs

I was very confused with the brief and got it wrong after not reading it properly, I had to change the outcome of the design; I had to include every element instead of just each line individually. Going back, I created some thumbnails for the design, then I went into procreate to play with it further.

I wanted to give it a graphic novel style, like some comics I've been reading lately; I wanted it having a moody colour scheme as the two ducks are center of the narrative, and in my mind annoyed with all the chaos.

Thumb-nails

Process (procreate)

Result

Re-Evaluation

I am really happy with the end result, I was able to create a graphic style and I find the illustration quite amusing. Even though the others were much lighter in colour and more saturated, I prefer this colour scheme.

I would like to explore a style like this in more depth because I am fascinated with graphic novels and comics currently.

I believe that the illustration now fits the brief of the assignment, although I couldn't quite get in the kite that the kid is holding but I'm hoping that it comes off as suggested (a given that they are holding a kite-- hopefully).