Getting The Gist

For this project I found a story about a new car being developed. 

Title is:  Car Giant turns over a new leaf.

Nissan aimed to jump ahead in the green car market as it unveiled the Leaf, the new model which is among the worlds first mass market electric cars.

Cool and about time, so I did some initial drawings of my thoughts: green obviously, new to the world, electric cars etc.

 

Using the initial drawings I produced a photoshop montage using the cars as flowers coming from a bouquet of green with power plugs coming directly from the cars.

I liked the idea of having the plug coming from the car but was afraid it would look to much like a mouse.

I then realized I hadn’t included the giant which was part of the title, so decided to make a change and do a drawing to include a giant bringing ‘Green’ to the cities. Also, if it came as a bouquet or gift with more emphasis on the electrical plugs, it would highlight energy conservation.

Contemporary Style

Kenn Brown's farewell to kitty

I've never done any illustration in Photoshop and decided as most of the contemporary artists either combine their paintings with digital or use digital as their main method, that it was time I learned.


Kenn does both and has some extraordinary work. I found this recent digital painting he produced when his little cat passed on.  I've been looking for an excuse to do an image of my little Lucy who recently passed away, but it was too difficult until now as she was with me for nearly 16 years. Although I have used Kenn's cat as an example, and copied a lot of his techniques, I found it's a great way to learn and try new tools. 

I call it LSD (Lucy in the sky) and I had a great time making it. I had to create new eyes for her and draw the wings. Will probably try to do it again as a painting and see how it goes

Bawden style

Love the funky work of Bawden, and tried to do something of my own in a similar style to these two but relevant to where I live.

I tried to be clever and do the drawing in photoshop using clip arts and my image of a ghekko, but next time I think I will try to do it as a line drawing to get  more depth to the work. Fun though!

The beginning: history of Illustration

The history of illustration. Each of the 6 artists listed gave me pause for thought. Although their work is what would be now called ‘outdated’ they all had serious talent and excelled in what they were creating at the time. Its hard to choose one for comparison as each has its own beauty.

Edward Bawden is probably the one I would choose for my comparative as I think his work is ageless. As a printmaker he reduced his line to basics for the linocuts and lithographs, a style that is still utilized today. Even the paintings he did during his years as a war illustrator were very contemporary. 

Edward Ardizonne 1900 - 1970 was an illustrator who portrayed day to day events in London. Another war artist, he then moved on to illustrate children's books. Although very talented I find his work very old fashioned, loose pen and ink work with watercolour washes.

Kathleen Hale 1898 – 2000 Illustration and author of childrens books, particularly ‘Orlando the Marmalade Cat” were what made her famous, but she produced some beautiful lino cuts and paintings as well. The illustrations were to ‘cutesy’ for my liking.

John Minton

John Minton 1917-1957. A prolific artist during his short lifetime, he was a painter, illustrator, muralist and designer of props and costumes for the theatre. His work seems quite dark to me. Perhaps it was his state of mind which was coming through his paintings, but one poster I really like was done for London Tansport. Full of life and movement.

Eric Ravilious 1903 -1942.  Another artist I admire. Best known as a muralist, wood engraver and watercolourist, his work is really outstanding. He seems to be able to make light glow in his landscape paintings. But, not my first choice as it all seems dated.

EH Shepard. Winnie the Pooh and other childrens books were his forte although he was a cartoonist with Punch for 24 years before he became famous. I can't say I like this type of illustration. To cutesy.

Contemporary Artists:

There are thousands of illustrators, each with incredible talent. So do I choose someone famous or someone I admire? No choice really. I have been following the work of Kenn Brown since he went to OCA in Toronto with my daughter back in the ‘80s. Kenn and his partner Chris Wren work together to create incredible illustrations Their work is described as digital, but they also work with oils and acrylics with amazing effect. Ken doesn’t illustrate kids books, but his cyber illustrations would excite any youngster.

The image at the right is an outtake for an assignment on advancement in technology to end disability

So now I need to draw an illustration in the same style as my two chosen artists: 

Just the beginning

I am waiting in anticipation for my new course to arrive. In the painting 1 course I painstakingly wrote my learning log in a notebook. It was a  lot of fun, like going back to school, cutting and pasting images and clippings into the notebook, but I think it's important to be interactive and hopefully receive more feedback on the work I am about to start.