Spidergrams

Exersise: Spider Diagrams

The idea is to write a spider diagram for each of the 4 words: anger, seaside, childhood and festival.

This is not as easy as it seems and as you ponder on each word, memories and thoughts bubble to the surface. Some thoughts wonderful and some absolutely horrific. Its quite amazing how our mind has the ability to create a realistic and accurate photo or movie of something that has happened so many years in the past. The emotions, the colours, scent of the air and the words stream back into your consciousness as thought they were just yesterday.

The word Anger was of course the most difficult for me as it conjures up negative emotions and experiences not just in childhood but in the now. I surprised myself at how many words came up and with such speed.

The second most difficult was Chilhood as my childhood was difficult. My intention however is not to dwell on any negatives as these thoughts are useless and in the past.

The words Seaside and Festival are fun and happy experiences and its fun to remember events and people from those times. They are also colourful and have odours and texture.

I was surprised at how difficult it was for others to find new words, even with prompting. It was a worthwhile project though and certainly makes you look at things in new and interesting ways. 

I decided to have a look at the images for the words on google afterwards, just to see what came up and I decided to do a collage of images that best represent my thoughts. Childhood was very difficult as the images didn’t really fit in with my mindset. The others were more playful and very enjoyable to put together.

 

Part 2 Ideas: Writing the brief

Project: Writing the brief

Ilustrator: Kenn Brown, Mondolithic Studios

Requirement: Book Cover for HALO EFFECT, a book about the most successful video game of all time.

Author: Glenn Yeffeth

Publisher: Benbella

Size: 15.5cm x 13 cm , 1.5 cm spine. Final size 27cm x 13cm

Colour: 4 colour throughout with glossy lamination one side

Front cover:

Title: Halo Effect

Subtitle: An unauthorized look at the most successful video game of all time

Edited by Glenn Yeffeth

Completely unauthorized (to be included as strap line)

Target Audience: Predominently gamers, lovers of science fiction, and those interested in the background of the most popular series of games ever to be produced

Brief: Cover image must convey the theme of space war, Alien vs good guy or preferably show the megastructure Halo in space. Feel must be science fiction, battle for earth. Suggest a viewing of the video game for further reference

Background:Halo is a science fiction video game franchise. The series centers on the interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant. The games centers on the experiences of a cybernetically-enhanced human super-soldier, and his artificial intelligence companion. The term "Halo" refers to Halo megastructures: large, habitable ringed structures where they must battle the aliens to save the earth

        

Body copy back cover

You’re the lone survivor of a genetically engineered race of super- soldiers, trying to save humanity from the vicious Covenant. You’ve got a voice in your helmet, a potentially genocidal robot on your ship and enemies on your tail.

But then you put down the controller. You haven’t been at war, you’ve simply been consumed by HALO, the first person shooter that transformed the landscape of gaming.

Halo and Halo2 shattered sales records and swept gamers deep into a fictional galaxy full of danger and deceit. Millions of players stepped up to the controls to become the Master Chief, captivated by the graphics, storyline and innovative gameplay.

Now in Halo Effect science fiction authors, gaming journalists, scientists, critics and even fellow gamers explore Halo’s hold on players and influence on the world of gaming.

Additional copy with ‘behind the story’ examples to be supplied

Additional requirements: SmartPop logo front and back, BenBella logo back and spine. Bar code space for ISBN number on back cover. 

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: