Viewpoint exercise

This exercise involved selecting one of the options and setting up a composition around that phrase.
I chose "the morning after" and looking at our backdoor on a Sunday morning (after my sisters friends had been round!)  thought the collection of empty bottle and rubbish would sum up the phrase well.

I took pictures of the items and arranged some in different ways and took pictures zooming in and out to create different viewpoints. I positioned some of the items close together and experimented with different viewpoints.

 

 

I then went onto document the visual journey in my sketchbook but selecting smaller and irregular viewfinder formats and created various thumbnail shapes. I tried to select interesting shapes and angles as I worked.  

 

 

Keeping in mind I wanted a viewpoint which represented my chosen theme I decided that a pointy irrregular framed composition would convey the almost dishevelled and almost chaotic idea of the morning after. I produced the line drawing below and tried to make the distinct elements (bottles etc) readable.

 

 

The triangle shaped format suited the word the objects illustrated, giving the topsy torvy and almost upside town like qualities. From my thumbnail sketches a variety of views suited the word however the view of the bottles and the rubbish all overlapping each other coming in from various angles I think was quite successful.

 Initially some of the images I took showed the objects all standing almost side by side and quite straight. By moving the position and placing some on their side the scen became more chaotic and appropriate for the word.

Again, this exercise is making me think about either moving to consider different viewpoints or actually moving items into different positions which can alter their meanings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assignment 3 - Jazz poster

For this assigment I decided to work on a poster for a Jazz evening.

I began as per the brief by looking at jazz images and posters and created a few mood boards with some colour palettes included.

I then went on to produce thumbnail sketches in both my sketchbook and on paper considering different compositions / components and including text to see how they would work together.
The assignment called for us to begin by producing a range of thumbnails based on our mood boards etc. I experimented with various compositions in my sketchbook and on larger sheets and then decided I want to try drawing out some of these elements in more detail to see how they would fit/ look within the composition as I thought the quality and type of illustration would play a key part in whether the illustration and overall composition were pleasing.

 

I had the idea of a female jazz singer singing showing the emotion in her face etc and having this as either an outline or silhouette. I tried a few images one of which I couldn’t get the woman’s hands correct so abandoned. The other image worked better using blue and black pencils and crayon to create a textured drawing. I wasn’t entirely happy with these so continued with a lot more experimentation drawing various jazz images/people using watercolours to create an almost sketch like representation , pastels and a more tonal based piece.

In between working on these pieces I continually was thinking about composition and what sort of illustrations would fit within the various compositions I had tried.

I decided at this point to narrow down my choices and produced line visuals for three potential posters. The first was the female singer outline, the second a jazz character playing a saxophone (I had debated having a female dancer within this composition) and the third a more abstract jazz outline which I thought might be quite effective/ strong.

 

 

 

 

 

The next stage involved a lot of experimentation in Photoshop with my selection of images at creating a pleasing composition – thinking all the time about appropriate text/ placement of text to lead the viewer into the image and how to make the illustrations work with backgrounds.

At this point I was also thinking about colour palettes and as per advice given before from my tutor decided to quite selective in colour choice for each potential poster. I selected some colours from my mood board and looked at old jazz posters for combinations. I liked the idea of having something quite moody with maybe some vibrant colours added rather than very bright primary colours. I also worked at

Photoshop experimentation was really useful for composition considerations and colour palettes and I also tried to render colour digitally (which took a little practise – I’ve yet to fully master doing this in illustrator!) . I also tried to do a colour range selection from my drawings where I took the main shadows and highlighted areas and filled them with colour.

I came up with a huge selection of images/ files I was working on and decided I really needed to be selective.

Thoughts on images below – what was working/ not working.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the end with this assignment I got to a stage where I really felt I had to stop. I think my downfall here was having idea overload and at times going off on a tangent with new ideas as I worked. That being said I did think I produced some vibrant jazz posters although I did struggle to pick the overall final piece. I think that with time and practise this will come easier as my style develops and I know what sort of piece/ style I am most successful producing.

The use of a selected colour palette I think helped to bring the posters together. I think my abstract mock- up was interesting and quite attention grabbing but overall for some reason I feel that the man and saxophone image is slightly more successful as a finished piece. I found it hard to make sure the figure worked against the background but after a lot of experimentation I think the poster is reasonable successful through use of subject, colour palette and appropriate typography.

In the end it was a close decision between either the jazz lady singer or the saxophone man image as I think these were both quite strong through use of colour choice - fonts etc. However, in the end I think the jazz man is more appopriate as he conveys the jazz element more effectively.