Illustration & Visual Narrative [Task 1 : Exercises]
09.27.2023 - 11.01.2023 / week 1 - week 6
Sheryne Axellia Putri / 0367267 / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative MediaIllustration and Visual Narrative
Task 1
Week 1 09.27.2023
In the lecture, Mr. Hafiz Zamri introduced us to the module with a variety of relevant media, materials, and techniques that will be explored, so that we could be able to create visual communication through illustrations. We were given an exercise to practice our skills using a pen tool in Adobe Illustrator by using "The Bezier Game"
Figure 1.1 Week 1 (09/27/2023) My nodes on The Bezier Game.
Week 2 10.04.2023
Character design basics → Designing memorable characters → Stylized design
Stylized design is the reason why you may find the characters appealing.
• Iconic: you can immediately recognize them even in black silhouettes.
• Simplicity: allows viewers to digest and understand the purpose of the characters easily.
• Unique: not only memorable but makes an impact on the viewers.
Principles of Character Design
Figure 1.2 Week 2 (09/27/2023) Principles of character design.
Shapes, shape a character's silhouette to identify a character from one another. Explore the possibilities of combining different interesting shapes.
Use the character's persona as the basis of the weight shapes for the design.
Color, plays an important role in determining and separating the basic roles of the characters. Color Psychology → colors give impressions of emotions → relatable to the viewers.
Emphasis, contrast → to make the design stand out by using colors and different shapes.
Harmony, every element (shapes, lines, color, motifs, patterns) in a design should complement each other and reflect the narrative of the characters.
Expressions, poses. Clear visualization of the character's behaviors, quirks, and personalities makes it easier to appeal to the viewers.
Week 3 10.11.2023
- Chiaroscuro
Drawing in chiaroscuro ( the line that never existed).
⤷The use of light and dark to create the illusion of three-dimensional volume on a flat surface.
⤷An Italian term that means 'light-dark'. In paintings, the technique refers to clear tonal contrast to suggest three-dimensional volume and modeling of objects and figures. Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio were known to use this technique in their artworks.
Figure 1.7 Week 3 (10/11/2023) Still Life with Fruit (Caravaggio, 1601)
⤷The purpose of chiaroscuro is to increase the scene’s dramatic tension by exaggerating the subject’s importance using color or light contrast.
Figure 1.8 Week 3 (10/11/2023) The Calling of St Matthew (Caravaggio, 1599 - 1600)
The lines we draw in an average illustration do not in reality, they are only means for us to define on paper the space that the objects depicted by such lines occupy. We need a good knowledge of traditional line drawing before getting into further concepts.
⤷ Chiaroscuro, is an artistic lighting choice in which the focus point or the subject of a scene is brightly colored or contrasted with a dark background.
LOW-KEY LIGHTING ⤵
Figure 1.9 Week 3 (10/11/2023)Barry Lyndon (Kubrick, 1975)
A style of lighting for photography, film, or television. It accentuates the contours of the subject by throwing areas into shade while a fill light or reflector may illuminate the shadow areas to control contrast.
- Chiaroscuro is used in visual narrative because.....
→ this method is an excellent lighting choice to differentiate positive vs negative spaces (negative space refers to the filled space or the background that surrounds the subject) matter or object of interest in visuals.
→ Increase dramatic tension and thrilling emotive depth on the look of the scene.
→Create a sensational effect to elevate fantastical viewpoint to emphasize the narrative.
→Attract attention and visual hierarchy to the main point of the scene.
→Make tasteful composition with the play on negative vs positive spaces.
Week 4 10.18.2023
Blending modes are useful for changing the objects’ color by adding blending effects and colors to the chosen objects. Blending modes work depending on the position of the object on the layer or group. We will discuss in detail all the available blending modes in Adobe Illustrator.
In Illustrator, there are six blending modes: Normal, Darken, Lighten, Contrast, Inversion, and Component.
Figure 1.10 Week 4 (10/18/2023) Blend modes.
- The original color of the selected object of all the groups is known as the Blend Color.
- The Base Color refers to the colors lying underneath the artwork book.
- The color resulting after applying the blend is known as the Resulting Color.
PRACTICAL
Week 2 10.04.2023 - Vormator Challenge
Vormator is the ultimate challenge of your creativity: the aim of the project is to give each student a chance to show their ability to create a stunning piece with limited means. Each person will get the exact same set of shapes, and you are challenged to create your own unique design.
Figure 2.1 Week 2 (10/04/2023) My tracing of the shapes using the Pen tool.
Week 3 10.11.2023 - Light and Shadows.
Figure 2.2 Week 3 (10/11/2023) Making the shadow using the Knife tool.
Figure 2.4 Week 3 (10/11/2023) The result.
We were introduced to the Knife tool in Adobe Illustrator, which allows you to split, cut, and combine paths. Illustrators use the Knife tool mostly for creating outlines, dividing objects, and making unique shapes. In this practical lesson we use the Knife tool for the purpose of creating a shadow, we can also make a highlight/lighting using the Knife tool.
Figure 2.5 Week 4 (10/18/2023) The reference.
Figure 2.6 Week 4 (10/18/2023) The textures I used.
Figure 2.7 Week 4 (10/18/2023) Exercise for blending modes and using textures.
Another exercise with the Pen tool, with adding textures inside the path. The help of the compound path tool, it allows to intersect paths that combine to form a single path. The objects that are selected will be combined into a single compound path it helps to apply effects to multiple paths at once, like in this example to clip mask a texture.
INSTRUCTIONS
Figure 3.1 Week 1 (09/27/2023) Module Information.
Task 1 10.04.2023 Exercises
- Vormator Challenge Character - Game Card Design.
- You are allowed to rotate, flip, and duplicate the elements you have to use all the elements scaling is allowed, but proportionally, so skewing or free transform.
- Add, subtract, intersect, and group elements as you see fit. The use of color is unrestricted; you can create your own color schemes (e.g. use Adobe Color).
- You are allowed to use gradientsThe Elements may be filled, and the use of strokes is allowed. You are allowed to use filters or effects (e.g. drop shadows).
1.1 Progress
1b.)
Figure 3.2 Week 2 (10/04/2023) First attempt at character design with the shapes.
Sort of a warmup by combining the shapes to form a character. With the limited shapes to use, I found it quite challenging and the first thing that came to my mind to make is a cat.
Figure 3.3 Week 3 (10/11/2023) Second attempt of the character.
Figure 3.4 Week 3 (10/11/2023) Base color.
Figure 3.5 Week 4 (10/18/2023) Adding the texture for the character.
Figure 3.6 Week 4 (10/18/2023) The result with texture, gradient, and shadows.
The texture is to make the character's theme floral and nature-based, with the green grass hair, and tree branches tail. I decided not to add texture to the main body because I didn't want the look to be complex.
Figure 3.7 Week 5 (10/25/2023) Making the background with pen tool.
Figure 3.8 Week 5 (10/25/2023) Before and after.
I slightly changed the brightness and contrast with Photoshop to make the character more visible to the environment.
1.2 Final Result
Figure 3.9 Week 6 (11/01/2023) The final result (PNG).
Figure 3.11 Week 6 (11/01/2023) The final result (pdf).
Figure 3.12 Week 6 (11/01/2023) The final result as a Pokemon card (pdf).
REFLECTION
Experience
In Adobe Illustrator, the Pen tool is a powerful tool that can be used for creating curves, lines, and shapes. It took me quite a long time to understand and get used to the tool I thought that the Pen tool was a complex version using a normal brush tool, but once I got the hang of it I understood that it's a fundamental tool that every illustrator should be familiar with. What I like the most about the Pen tool it allows you to create precise and clean shapes.
Observation
In most of the digital software I use, the purpose of layers is very different than Adobe Illustrator. For example, in Photoshop the use of layers mostly to control and arrange the objects by the use of clipping masks (confining an object to another object). In Adobe Illustrator the purpose is primarily used to organize and separate the objects but it doesn't matter how you arrange your layers, you can clip mask any object as long it is more than one object.
Findings
I learned that there are many methods to master the Pen tool in Adobe Illustrator, the method that really helped me is practice, by tracing from basic shapes to complex shapes like curves. Practice using different tools as it will help to learn their capabilities, for ex: use the pathfinder panel in Adobe Illustrator as it allows to merge, divide, and intersect paths. It can be a useful tool for creating unique shapes.
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