I am losing some of the fluidity of my preparatory drawings as I develop my ideas and I need to be mindful of this as my work progresses.
I don't post my sketchbook work unless it is relevant to the exercise that I am doing. This keeps my blog clear and easy to follow but doesn't show my development outside the coursework requirements. I need to find some way to show the breadth of my practice to her. Maybe a link to a sketchblog or similar platform. I'll think about this.
The quality of my research and extra curricular activities has improved which I'm really pleased about because it was an area of weakness.
Look at;
Maus by Art Spiegelman. Oh my, this is heavy stuff presented brilliantly by Spiegelman. I borrowed this book from the library and I was gripped, I had to pace myself or I would have read it in one sitting. I was so absorbed by the story that I can't really remember how much I took from the drawings and how much I read. The novel is presented as an interview with his father, a Holocaust survivor, who is clearly a difficult character, though how much of that is due to the awful things that he has seen and suffered and how much is because he is a difficult old man I don't know (I recognise aspects of his character from my grandmother who didn't suffer as he did). I rejected the book initially when I was looking for an introduction to graphic novels because the reviews didn't do it justice. Spiegelman proves that you can tackle serious and difficult subjects with a graphic novel, something that children of the 1960's and 1970's who read The Eagle sort of knew but couldn't prove. I like the way he uses animals to define the different nationalities, applying masks when they are pretending to be something that they're not. His drawings are small and dark, sometimes urgent and angry. They make the horror more real because they simplify it. A book that everyone should read.
Persepolis, an animated film based on Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel. I can't access the film at present but I've borrowed the book from the library. Both Maus and Persepolis are more serious than I would expect from a graphic. I quickly forgot that I was reading a comic because I was so gripped by the stories. Satrapi draws in a sparse graphic style, unnecessary detail is avoided and the focus is very much on the important action and the text. Once I became involved in the story I don't know how much I looked at the pictures and how much I relied on the text to follow the story.
Also take a look at Eric Carle and Mark Hearld in regards to the use of collage, and Mary Kate McDevitt in regards to hand drawn lettering.
Eric Carle I like the idea of making the colours that you want for your collage. I need to plan ahead more because paint needs time to dry if the process is going to work. He's extremely good at simplifying a story down to the essential visual elements and the limiting effects of the collaged elements is part of this process. It works for children books, is it possible to translate these techniques to tell an adult story? I guess it depends on the story and the choice of colour. Some of the success of the books with children is down to the rhythm of the story, apparently the author works out the beat of the story first then adds the words in.
Mark Hearld designs for textiles. I like the way he manages to both work in a primitive style and make his birds and animals believable. The link doesn't explain how he uses collage but it is shown in this film. This technique gives depth to his illustrations. Many of his pictures seem to use Carle's methods of making paper for collage but I can see evidence of newsprint in the picture in the video, I love repurposed newsprint.
Mary Kate McDevitt Hand drawn lettering. She has a recognisable style like handwriting but can modify it to serve different clients, I really like the lettering for the cold pressed coffee. Her style is a bit naive so it limits how her message is interpreted, I find it hard to believe her when she is being serious. Maybe this is because she is working for a different audience? I need to improve my lettering so I Googled more artists. I like Seanwes and there are some nice examples of lettering here I need to do more research on this.
Also take a look at Eric Carle and Mark Hearld in regards to the use of collage, and Mary Kate McDevitt in regards to hand drawn lettering.
Eric Carle I like the idea of making the colours that you want for your collage. I need to plan ahead more because paint needs time to dry if the process is going to work. He's extremely good at simplifying a story down to the essential visual elements and the limiting effects of the collaged elements is part of this process. It works for children books, is it possible to translate these techniques to tell an adult story? I guess it depends on the story and the choice of colour. Some of the success of the books with children is down to the rhythm of the story, apparently the author works out the beat of the story first then adds the words in.
Mark Hearld designs for textiles. I like the way he manages to both work in a primitive style and make his birds and animals believable. The link doesn't explain how he uses collage but it is shown in this film. This technique gives depth to his illustrations. Many of his pictures seem to use Carle's methods of making paper for collage but I can see evidence of newsprint in the picture in the video, I love repurposed newsprint.
Mary Kate McDevitt Hand drawn lettering. She has a recognisable style like handwriting but can modify it to serve different clients, I really like the lettering for the cold pressed coffee. Her style is a bit naive so it limits how her message is interpreted, I find it hard to believe her when she is being serious. Maybe this is because she is working for a different audience? I need to improve my lettering so I Googled more artists. I like Seanwes and there are some nice examples of lettering here I need to do more research on this.
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