REDO 3 Image Montage

The top one is the first attempt, and the bottom is the second attempt. I definitely think the second one came out better: with the gouache and after being printed.
My technique didn't change as much as my confident level did. I used less water because I was more comfortable putting more pigment on the board. I like the colors better too. There is a lot more contrast between the kiwi and the key in the second one than in the first one. This is how I intended it to look the first time - like the marker comp.
The giraffe turned out pretty much the same. The tongue looks much better and the fur overall is less orange.
For printing this time, I adjusted a lot of the settings when I scanned it. I increased the cyan and all the highlights since last time it printed too dark. I also upped the brightness once I got it into photoshop.

Conversation Comps

These are the comps for the conversation project. I think I was successful in making him look like a bum, especially withe the 5 o'clock shadow he's got goin on. The only things I changed from the pencil comp to the marker comp was his left arm, the wording on the board and the amount of sidewalk that is showing. I changed these things because of the comments I got from my class mates. They weren't sure where he was sitting so I showed more of the sidewalk, including the curb and added some cracks in the cement. I really liked having written comments from everyone and being able to comment on everyone elses.
I plan to take this illustration into Photoshop for final production by adding color to a line drawing.

3 Image Gouache Montage (ROUND 1)

This is the finished three image gouache montage. I think it turned out well. I mostly used the pick out method. The only thing I'm not real happy with is the color of the kiwi skin. In my marker comp it was more orange, or at least lighter and it looked better because it contrasted nicely with the blue in the key. I feel like the key would look even better if the part in the open area in the center was more defined. As for printing, it did come out darker than this, but I actually didn't mind it...but in reality, it really should look like the actual illustration after printed. So I need to do some color adjustments in photoshop after scanning and also lighten it up a bit so that when it prints it will match the original.

Now that I know I will be painting this same project for a second time, I can hopefully fix these things. I think I will still paint them in the same order: kiwi, background, key, giraffe. I'm going to try and use less water though. Hopefully this will go well. I'm gong to get it traced right now so I can work on it over break!!!

Illustration Midterm Portfolio

These are the five pieces I chose to submit for my midterm portfolio.

The first is the marker comp for the three image gouache montage. This turned out a lot better than I was expecting it to. First, I used Lucy to draw all three images. I started with the giraffe because oddly enough that's what I felt most comfortable doing first. I laid down the lightest colors first and built up to the darker values and eventually used colored pencils. I did the same thing with the key and the kiwi. The marker comp stage really does make going to final production (gouache in this case) much easier. I chose this for the portfolio because I feel like it is tight and it is very clear what I plan on doing once I get to the gouache. This took me about two to three hours.
The second piece I chose for the portfolio is the product illustration we did in gouache. The main reason I chose this piece was because it shows my ability to copy type accurately and maintain the integrity of the original type, in this case logo. First, I laid down the red, including the shadows and once that dried I traced the logo on top. I went in with a wet brush and used the pick out method to take out where the letters were going to be. Then, since the board was stained red from the paint, it wasn't white at all, I went in with two layers of white. To finish I created the highlights with the same method and then put in the reflection with a method similar to watercolor. I feel like this product illustration is especially "sexy" because of the reflection as well as the bold, crisp lettering. This project took me probably close to six hours - the majority of that time was spent on the lettering.
The third piece that I chose to submit was my first experience with gouache. I like the simplicity of it. All I did was lay in the black color and then pick out the highlights. I was surprised at how white some areas of the board were. I guess it's because I picked out the paint before it was all the way dry, or maybe I had a thicker layer of gesso. I don't know. On all of my projects since this one, I haven't been able to get the board that white after I have painted over it.

The grass was definitely an experiment. First I had laid down the green and picked out a few areas with a wet brush. But then I got a hold of a sponge and spent nearly and hour messing with it. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think it looks a little over worked. I think if I had used the sponge in the first placed and just left it alone instead of going back over it about a thousand times, it could have looked better. This took about three to four hours. I could have done it a lot quicker I think, but I started really slowly - I was scared to put paint on the board!
The fourth piece is a line drawing with watercolor. This was from the project where we had to do 10 different versions of the same subject using different materials and techniques. This only took about twenty min. I like the line drawing a lot. Not a lot of shading, just some lines but you can still distinguish some values. The background was done in color and I really like how it turned out. Why didn't any of my other watercolors look like this?!? Well, actually, I think I know the answer to that. I spent about 60 sec on this background. On most of my other watercolors, I didn't know when to stop and overworked the medium. Watercolor can be so easy if you let it do it's thing. And that's what I did here. I wet the paper and then loaded my brush with blue and green and put it on the paper. I'm pretty sure I went back in with a paper towel in a couple areas so that it didn't run into the bird. But I like all the soft edges.
This is the fifth and final piece I chose for my portfolio. This is one of the last small water colors I did. This one was done in sharpie first and then water color was added. Again, I think this one was so successful because I didn't try to control the watercolor so much. There isn't a lot of line work, but what little there is, especially on the house, is really nice and adds that much more detail in a subtle way. This is also one of my best examples of clouds. I did wet on wet with a very light blue and then went in with a paper towel and dried the areas that are now white. Then I took a loaded blue brush and put the color in the areas that were still wet. Then I tilted and turned the paper to let the blue run to all the wet areas and softly bleed into the areas that I had dried which creates a very soft, cloud-like edge. This illustration took me about 45 min I think.

TA-DAH!!

I've learned a lot so far in this class, especially now that we are doing more of a process for each project, including the printing process. We'll see how that goes after the second half of the semester.

Conversation Illustration Thumbnails

These are my ten thumbnails for the conversation illustration. My conversation came from a girl and a guy Friday night after the play, Columbinus (which was really good) and they were talking about the recent misfortune of the St. Louis Cardinals. They lost the first three (out of the five) games against the LA Dogers this last week. The conversation was brief: "I know man! The Cardinals suck. I can't believe they got swept by the Dodgers in the playoffs." They also talked about the error by Matt Holliday when he missed a catch in the outfield and, as the newscaster put it, "got hit in the nether regions..." I only did one thumbnail illustrating that. All the others are showing how the Dodgers put the Cardinals out of the running in the NLCS.

I myself am a Cardinals fan, so these are meant to insult the Cardinals or anything like that :)

For pretty much all of the thumbnails I am using symbols to illustrate what happened. For example: in most of them I am using the Cardinal mascot to represent the whole team and show that the Dodgers ended their 2009 season.

Rusty and I chose the one outlined in blue to take on to the next step - three different, tight pencil comps for Monday (THANK YOU RUSTY!) The St. Louis Cardinal mascot is sitting on the sidewalk in his uniform but with the head of the uniform sitting next to him. There is a cardboard sign next to him saying that he needs a job (because the Cardinals are done for the year).

Some changes I want to make: change the sign to say something like, NEED WORK. The Dodgers put me out of a job in the playoffs.

Or I could have a newspaper on the ground with the headline "Dodgers Sweep Cardinals..." or possibly laying over the guy like a blanket to make him look more like a bum who needs a job. I will also work on his face and expression of course (character development, etc.) to also help him look more like a bum.

I plan to do this as a cartoon, similar to the DMV cartoon we did.

This blog is a lot longer than I thought it would be.

i hate gouache

Gouache and I are not getting along today :( hopefully tomorrow will be better.

3 Image Montage Marker Comp

This is my marker comp at half size. I am really happy with the way this turned out. I used more colored pencil than I probably should have but oh well. I layed down large blocks of the main colors with marker and then went over it with colored pencil to add shadows and form and blended that with the blending marker - I love that thing.
I did the giraffe first by laying down three different brown hues and then added some gray, brown and black colored pencil. I did the key next by putting down brown marker over the whole thing first (except for the white areas) and then went over that with blue and black colored pencil. I chose blue so that it would contrast the brown-orange color of the giraffe. I went back in with a white pen to add the detail and highlights. The top of the key will be transparent-you will be able to see the kiwi and the giraffe through it. For the kiwi, I colored the entire thing with green marker and then went back in with yellow colored pencil and blended the heck out of it. The skin of the kiwi has the same colors as the giraffe and provides a nice texture. The rest of the background is just a light blue with a little bit of texture.
I hope my gouache will look better or just as good as this does!

3 Image Montage Thumbnails

For my three image montage, I chose to do a kiwi fruit, a giraffe and an old fancy key. I'm not trying to communicate any sort of theme, I just tried to think of three unrelated objects. I want the giraffe to be the focus and the kiwi to act as a background. I want the key to be in between the other two objects and become transparent at one end so that you can see the other objects through it. I like #2 the best. It meets all those requirements I just mentioned. Now, marker comp yay!

Finished DMV Cartoon

This is the final version of my DMV cartoon. The color was added in photoshop. That went better than I thought it would. The only part I'm still questionable about is working with channels. I still don't get it! I know that the point of working with the channels was to get rid of all the data that wasn't black (get rid of any white or gray values)...I think.

As far as color choices I was trying to create contrast by making everything in the DMV very neutral and boring looking, and then the have the model, photographer and make-up artist bright and vibrant.

We'll see how it prints...

Three object montage coming up next!

Inked DMV Cartoon with Final Compostition

This is the final composition for the DMV cartoon. The top one is in ink and ready to go into Photoshop for color...we'll see how that goes...I'm not so sure.
Anyhow, this version is a little different from the last three versions-almost a combination of them. The only thing I really wish I could have squeezed in is the photographers umbrella, but I couldn't get it to fit in the way I wanted it to. I think the spotlight alone sends the same message though.
I decided to only show the back of heads of the photographer and the make up artist so that there would be more focus on the DMV worker's expression and the model's face. I like how it has turned out so far.

DMV cartoon variations

These are my three variations of one scenario at the DMV. Rusty chose the one where the girl is getting her driver's license photo taken and she is all dressed up and has brought her own camera crew and equipment and in one, she has even decided to bring her own personal make up artist. In all three, the DMV lady is rolling her eyes and looks frustrated with the situation. She is my favorite character. I honestly didn't mess around a whole lot with different expressions and different ways to make cartoon features, but I feel like I was successful nonetheless.

DMV cartoon thumbnails

These are three of my rough thumbnails for the DMV cartoon/comic, showing three different scenarios. I didn't realize that we weren't supposed to be using speech bubbles, but it makes sense. If you can create a cartoon that communicates the idea without anything being said, that's pretty good. If the cartoon requires something to be said/explained, then the illustration is not done well enough and something needs to be changed.
The first thumbnail illustrates a girl who has come to the DMV to get her photo taken for her license and she has brought along her own camera crew and set. The DMV worker is apalled.
The second one shows a fisherman who has come to renew his boating license and he was hoping he could pay with fish instead of with money. The DMV lady is annoyed. I think this one would be harder to convey the way it is now with out the speech bubble. If I use this one, I will have to rework the composition and really emphasize both of their expressions. Maybe I could show his pockets inside out and empty to show that he doesn't have any money.
The third one focuses on the fact the when you go to the DMV, you will 99% of the time be waiting in line for a while. I wanted to show a line of a variety of different people all doing different things while they wait in line - sleep, eat, daydream...I want to have a couple people gathered around a board game on the floor too.

Finished Memory Portrait

This is my finished Memory Potrait of my younger sister Kate. I decided to do it in gouache for two reasons: 1. I am not as familiar with gouach as I am watercolor so I decided this would be another good opportunity to use it and 2. I have more gouache than I do watercolor. Especially the brown and ocre color. I'm almost out of those colors in watercolor from doing all the landscapes.
When I started, I didn't really have a technique in mind other than I was going to start with the lightest values and build up to the darkest. And each layer was put on by spreading it over the whole area for the most part, and then going back in with a wet brush to find the shape of ther face and other quailaties. I used a lot of water over the whole thing - I like the texture it made. I was originally going for a sepia toned color scheme because of her big golden brown eyes and her rich brown hair, but now it's sort of a distressed sepia. I like it, and I was able to work rather quickly. I spent a little more time on her eye because that's the feature I wanted to highlight the most.