Assignment 2 - Point of Display

Reading this assignment I immediately had loads of different ideas and was looking forward to getting started. I was very aware I wanted to fulfil the brief set, so carefully looked at what was required- namely to produce images within a supermarket campaign to package and promote seasonal food. The supermarket is respected for quality and want to reflect this in the design etc. At this stage I immedidately thought I wanted to create something which would be suitable for a store like Waitrose.
The final images will be POS display near the fruit and veg.

The first stage asked us to create an illustration of fruit or veg - one for each range Summer and Autumn. I wasn't sure whether to go with fruit or veg so decided to experiment with both and see what I felt was working best. I began by doing some brainstorming of summer and autumn thinking about what fruit/ veg each brought to mind and also trying to create some mood boards that reflected the seasons. I did some research into what fruit and veg were in season in Summer and Autumn being sure to keep to the brief.

At this point I also looked at different food illustrations in food mags by illustrator including Lucile Prache,  Emma Dibben and Heather Gatley to name a few. I  liked the loose style of Lucile but was unsure whether some of her work was too loose and more subjective rather than objective. I was aware the brief wanted the drawing to be objective and based on direct observation.
I then went to my sketchbook and began a variety of sketches and colour studies of various fruit and veg trying out different mediums - inks, watercolour, pencils and crayon. I thought that inks or watercolour would be most suitable for the brief. I was also trying to bear in mind I wanted the fruit/veg to look edible and reflect this in the colour choice.
A great piece of advice from my last assignment from my tutor was to mix darker tones to create shadows etc rather than use black and so far I've found this means some of my illustrations aren't as muddy looking.

 At first I found it difficult to get a light touch to my paintings and I thought the fruit looked a bit flat. I tried different brush techniques and variations of washes and eventually felt I was making some progress. I've never really "properly" used watercolours or known how they work really and I read some techniques and advice which I think helped me in my experimentation.

 

 

 



 

I moved on to doing some larger illustrations incorporating some of the fruit from my sketchbook and considered what fruits best illustrated summer. I thought about doing British summer fruits peaches, strawberries etc or going down the exotic fruit line. Both could be considered seasonal summer produce. I drew fruit partially cut open and segments and was aware I wanted it to be apparent what fruit was being portrayed. I particularly liked working with colour pencil and some watercolours although thought that perhaps some of the still life compositions were a little boring and not particularly inspiring. I decided at this point to stick with fruit for summer and began to look at the autumn illustration following a similar process of sketchbook work and some larger drawings. To me the season Autumn brought to mind vegetables rather than fruit so I went with this.

 



 

 

Again, with autumn I tried different techniques and to portray the true colour of the vegetables.

With a bank of drawings for both ranges I then went back to my sketchbook for some composition ideas for the next part of the assignment which asked us to incorporate some aspects of the season to make a finished illustration for each range.

Ideas I had included summer salads, picnic rugs, summer sundaes and drink, fruit falling into a summer sundae glass, single pieces of fruit against a coloured background, ice lollies filled with fruit, sunburst effects.

Autumn ideas - soups and stews, warm colours, incorporate reading and log fires, a drawing of a single vegetable

I again went back to look at other illustrators work and decided that sometimes less can be more. I tried some in the style of Emma Dibben drawing a beetroot and a red cabbage then trying to do some smudgy spotches in the background. I think these worked reasonable well although I wasn't sure if the colour was a little unrealistic. At first I liked them and then I thought no they're a little flat.

I experimented with some more drawings and began to do some experimentation adding backgrounds, text etc which portrayed the seasons in Photoshop (which I've just bought and am loving!) I also looked at some Summer and Autumn colour palettes to consider how best to place the fruit and make it stand out against complementary colours, yet was aware that sometimes very bright colours could look garish in a supermarket.

 

 

 





I was quite pleased with how some of these photoshop compositions came out and actually think any one would probably be suitable for the brief .  I particularly liked the veg box illustration above and also quite liked the bold almost print like summer piece (although I thought that the fruit in this one wasn't as clear/detailed).

I settled on the two images below as being my final pieces. Both represent the seasons Summer and Autumn respectively and I could see them in a supermarket such as Waitrose.
I've tried to pick colour, font etc which represents the season and think my drawings are pretty realistic and I'm quite pleased with the final outcome. I think this was a good exercise for me to look at my drawing and painting style and was a good learning process. I want to continue to look at the tonal qualities of my painting and using different gradiations of colours to build up depth.

Assignment 1 - Say Hello

The brief was to produce an illustrate to introduce yourself to your tutor which shows your interests, hope inspirations for the course etc and we had freedom to use any drawing or digital medium.
I began this task in my sketchbook with some spider diagrams thinking about everything which represents me. I came up with quite a variety of things, some of which were quite cheery and positive and others which represent some of my troubles and were perhaps something which I wouldn’t want to share with everyone.
To get across a representation of me in a single combined image I knew that there would probably be multiple elements to the illustration as a single image of say perhaps me wouldn’t really communicate a lot about myself.

Sketchbook idea generation - snapshot of me

Looking around my room at home my pinboard made me think how to someone viewing it, it tells some things about me. I have scraps of paper, things that inspire articles etc and lots of notes and lists.
I also remembered about a picture I took on holiday in Vegas last year of myself reflected in the glass doors. In the image the camera is clearly visible and as images and photography are something I’m really interested in I thought I’d like to include this. I also liked the idea that the illustration was going to be a snapshot of me!

Sketchbook ideas - a reflection of me

I then stared out doing some sketches of myself from the image. I also drew my pinboard and after some experimentation thought about having an outline of myself over the pinboard and hit upon the idea of having pictures pinned to the board which represent me.
I have various photographs of myself over the years and was thinking about how we all change and develop throughout our lifes but these snapshots all make up who we are today. Trying to communicate this in an image seemed pretty complex yet I wanted to show how there are different sides of me.
I decided to try draw some images of myself from the past and from more recent times. This included a drawing of myself from a photograph as a child which is a lovely image as I look so angelic and content, yet also some images which show me as unwell. I used colour and watercolour paint for the happier images and black and white pencil drawings for some others. Both of these are mediums I enjoy working in.

I also did some illustrations of things I like – some Pepsi Max, a mug of tea, my notebook , novel and pen and some lace.

sketchbook ideas

image of self

child image of self

idea of image overlay on pinboard

image of me - charcoal and pencil

At this point with a bank of illustrations, I must admit I was a bit unsure what direction to take and how to put it all together as a composition/finished illustration. I sketched out some ideas and decided that I wanted to put it all together in Photoshop Elements as I know I want to learn more about working digitally and enjoy experimenting.

After some experimentation I played about with having an outline or image of me surrounded by snapshots and things that make up who I am. I played about with different background combinations – adding some scanned lace (as I love Victorian yet modern inspired clothes!)  I also considered adding some text but thought it looked a little lost and didn’t add a lot to the illustrations. I couldn’t quite get something I was happy with so took a step back and re – read the brief. The brief said the work could show your hopes and aspirations for the course. This got me thinking about how ideally I’d love to work in a more creative job, how I’d like to be healthy (like some of the images I’d drew already rather than how I have been of late).

Image of lady from fashion mag I painted

Whilst browsing some images on a lifestyle blog I enjoy viewing, I hit upon an article about an art editor in NY. There was some beautiful images of her sitting at her desk and I decided to draw the image. I then thought I’d try illustrate a similar image but making the person look more like me.
The final image was okay but the style of drawing I produced seemed quite tight and a bit too stylised (which is a style I think I’d like to get away from). However, I did think perhaps this could feature somewhere in my final work.
With this in mind I then set up the camera and took a picture of me at my desk and produced a pencil drawing with tonal elements which I preferred.

image of me at desk - like lifestyle mag - who I want to be - working creatively wasn't keen on style of image

image of me sketched from photo I took

Taking this to Photoshop, I thought about then combining my previous idea and having my pinboard in the background with different snapshots of me. I tried some different background combinations, experimenting with layout and colour and came up with something I liked better.
However, by doing this I came upon a better composition for my previous idea of just having a pin board so I went back to an earlier version and made some adaptions.

As a result I came up with two final works, both of which I think would represent me and communicate something about me to my tutor. However, I settled on the one which I thougth was stronger and will now send it off to my tutor.

Final image

Learning points and reflections
I had lots of ideas for this exercise but getting across these in an illustration was quite hard. I found it really helpful to keep all ideas in my sketchbook even if I was unsure how to execute them.
I think my main issues at this stage are decided on the style of illustrations appropriate/ that I want to create – whether that be something more detailed or more stylised. I think that both final outcomes show this as they combine some more detailed pictures I drew and some more stylised ideas.
I really enjoyed working with Photoshop and think there are lots of things I’ll be able to learn and explore, using layers and backgrounds to bring together illustrations and enhance my drawings.
I know that composition is something which I need to work on and I hope that as the course and my confidence develops I can learn more about what works as a finished piece.
Throughout the exercise and the course to date I think it’s important for me to look at images, photographs, magazines etc for composition ideas and general inspiration! After reading some articles about illustrators I’ve also began to think that it’s okay for me to want to draw from source images at times or use reference material as we all do it and that I should stop doubting myself because of it.