initial ideas

Artist Copy & Emulation - Axel Scheffler

Original:

Artist Copy & Emulation - Bjorn Rune Lie

Original: 

My Copy: 

My emulation:

EXPERIMENT: Colour inks + photoshop

Ink:

After inverting on photoshop:

Scan of cut out: 

With the drop shadow:

With the different colours/layer styles: 

For this I used different coloured inks all one one sheet of paper and let them run and blend into each other. I then scanned this on into photoshop & inverted it, to create the 'galaxy-esque' effect. After this, I printed this off and used the papercut method to cut out the letters of 'All About Space'. I then scanned the paper with the cut out letters on into photoshop. I played around on Photoshop to see what I could do, and ended up adding a drop shadow to one of the layers to create a 3D effect. On the second piece, I inverted different colours and added them to layers using different layer styles. 

EXPERIMENT: Pattern

For this experiment, I decided to look at patterns as I want to use one for the end pages in my final piece. Initially I drew out a simple spaceship/ufo, then scanned it into photoshop and adjusted the levels.

After this, I messed with the drawing in photoshop by adding a drop shadow, changing the colours and removing the black line to see what it looked like.

I then used the above image to create a pattern in photoshop using the pattern stamp tool to enable it to be used as a pattern. I created a new document and applied the pattern:

I thought this was too plain and boring, so I used the shape of the original drawing and filled it with a pastel blue colour. 

I then used this on a layer underneath the original pattern and lowered the opacity. This was the end result:

Case Study: The Highway Rat - Julia Donaldson/Axel Scheffler

Context/Content

I am focusing on the children’s book ‘The Highway Rat’, written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated and designed by Axel Scheffler. The book is a story about a rat, as the title suggests, who goes around stealing food from others, when he is eventually led astray to somewhere where he has to work and the animals who he’s stealing from can live in peace. The story is inspired by the poem ‘The Highwayman’ by Alfred Noyes. As the book is for children the poem has been adapted and animals have replaced humans, which is more entertaining for a younger audience and animals seem to be a common theme in children’s books. The overarching theme of the book is about theft, and perhaps used to teach children that this is not something they should do as in the end the thief is the one who ends up worse. This may suggest the book is acting as a morality tale. Similar works to this include all of the Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler books, as they all have a distinctive design to them and the stories are often quite similar in their structure. This structure is one of a traditional narrative, however the story is completely written in rhyme. This is entertaining for the young children who read the book and might make them internalise the story more.

Form

There are lots of complimentary colours used in the book, in particular varieties of greens and reds, with some cool colours such as blues used also. As the story is set outside the dominating colours are the natural ones, such as the blues and greens. However the horse and rat are in nearly every page in the book, so browns and greys from them are particularly dominating too. Texture has been created in the book with techniques such as different sized brush strokes, the use of cross hatching, and lines with varying thickness. The decorative colours used help to keep the book appealing or the audience, who are young children. Traditional perspective is displayed in the book to keep it easy to focus on for the reader. There is very little white space in the book and the pages are very busy, but not to a messy or unorganised extent. The work is consistent and there are no bastard elements to pull the work down. The medium the artist works in could be used to maintain a traditional style and not to rely too heavily on modern technology and programmes such as Photoshop and Illustrator. The composition of the book is quite simple, with a lot of double page spreads of full illustration. Some pages stray away from this convention, with panels being used to break up the pages somewhat. There is lots of evidence of the artists hands within the work, particularly if you look closely as you can see all sorts, such as brush strokes and where certain bits of paint have been added and so on. The serif typeface continues with the traditional style of the book as it is seen as more formal than a sans-serif, however it is still easy for children to read and isn’t too decorative.

Process

From looking at the work it is most likely to be the case that the artist has first drawn out the illustrations in a pencil base, creating the shapes and making sure they’re correct. He will have then used acrylic paint on these drawings in a realistic way, with highlights and shadows being utilised. These images will have then been scanned on to the computer and sent to the author to make sure she is happy with them. The artist needs to have very hands on skills, including the ability to use acrylics, have good drawings skills and have a good eye for composition, shadows and highlights. You can see the evidence of the processes by looking closely and seeing the cross hatching and various brush strokes that the artist used.

Personal Response

I initially was drawn to the book because of the use of colour. I think the complimentary colours such as purple and yellow in the sky on the cover are used to enhance the rest of the drawings. I also admire the style of the drawing and attention to tiny details. Axel Scheffler has a very distinct style and when looking through books you can immediately identify anything that he has created, which is something that i admire.

Further Drafting

I drew out some more things related to my subject matter, but focusing more on things that might actually be in my final piece. I also did a few simple thumbnails/drafts of my front and back covers, just to get some ideas.

Case Study: Lion vs. Rabbit - Alex Latimer

Context/Content

The children’s book I am focusing on is ‘Lion vs Rabbit’ by Alex Latimer, who is the author & illustrator. The title of the book links directly to the content, as it is about about a lion and a rabbit who compete with each other in order for the lion to stop bullying other animals. One of the overarching themes of the book was bullying, as the characters’ main aim is to stop it from happening. Another is competition, with many different contests being overtook between the lion and the rabbit. It is obvious the work has been influenced by contextual matters such as the importance of technology, with one of the animals in the book using the internet to place an advert for someone to come and stop the lion from bullying other animals. This suggests that at an early age children are aware of what the internet is and how much of an impact technology can have on their everyday lives. The book is an adaptation of one of Aesop’s fables called Raynard the Fox, which is about a small animal who outwits a large one. This enables morals to be taught to the children whilst still entertaining them by creating a scenario that will keep them eager to read on. The work may have been created in order to transmit these morals or to simply interest the children with the storyline. The book uses an anonymous narrative structure from a multiple character point of view, and with the use of a narrative arc it is straightforward for children to understand and be able to keep up with. It conforms to the majority narrative conventions such as following the story in a chronological order, having a plot twist at the end and using speech/dialogue.

Form

The book uses a very vibrant & natural colour palette, with lots of blues, greens, oranges and reds. The most dominating out of these are the blues and greens, which is most likely due to the fact that the book is based on animals in the African Savannah, so they’re used for the sky and the terrain. There is a continuous hand drawn style to much of the book, with the line on the illustrations looking as if they have been done with pen but have more than likely been created digitally. Also, the texture of the pages change from one to another, with some created with a uniform fill while others have what seems the finish of paper with a few marks on them. There is a traditional use of perspective within the book, and the use of shadows and some isometrically drawn objects helps to add depth to the illustrations. Space is used to enable the reader, particularly as the book is for young children, to focus on the key elements. There is evidence of control throughout the book, with everything structured and simple, again catering to the specific audience. The composition of the book varies from page to page. Some pages are complete scenes, with characters, backgrounds and other parts to it, which take up the whole page, then there are pages with a lot of unused space and a simple illustration in the middle. There are also a number of pages which take on a comic book style, with the use of panels to aid the narrative. This diversity maintains an edge to the book and makes sure that it doesn’t become mundane and dull for the reader. In regards to typography it is kept simple, with one sans-serif, informal font being used continuously throughout. This simplicity may be to keep the pages balanced, allowing the illustrations to show more character than the typeface, whilst also being easy for the reader to understand and clearly see on the page. On the back page of the book there is some institutional information in the form of a barcode, website and the price of the book.

Process

The book has most likely been created using illustrator and photoshop. The initial thumbnails will have been created first to get an idea of what the book will look like, then paginated to decide what goes where. The drawings will then have been drawn by hand, inked and scanned into photoshop/illustrator, where the colour will be adjusted to suit the style of the illustrator/author. This means the artist has to be able to use these modern techniques, with the digital programmes requiring a time and patience to gain the skills on how to ues them. There is evidence of the use of these programmes, for example the use of uniform fill and how clear cut the lines are.

Personal Response

What drew me to the book was the use of vibrant colour and how the use of dark lines were used on the elements the artist wanted to highlight. Another part that I was drawn to was how the pages are composed in a variety of ways. I like elements in particular as they are distinctive and not something you find in many books, and I would have definitely loved something like this when I was younger.

Final drafts

These are the final drafts for my pieces, which aren't extremely detailed but I have labelled colours, position and so on to give myself a plan of what to do.

Final piece bits and bobs - typefaces

As I am creating a children's book I wanted to make the typeface quite eye catching but imperfect, so I decided to draw the letters out by hand. I then scanned them into the computer and put them in my final piece.

Final Piece - Front & back cover, end pages and double page spread

Unit Evaluation

From looking at the exam paper, I decided on the idea of outer space for my work, in the format of a children's book. Initially I looked at conventions of children's books to see what their traditional characteristics were and what I would have to do to make sure my work was as professional as it could be. After this, I did some ideas sheets about space, as well as some research on space, children's books and inspiration in general on 'Pinterest'. I went out and took some original photos of decaying metal and steel as a method of seeing how spacecrafts would look in terms of the material they were made from. I then drew these photos out, a long with many more drawings of anything and everything to do with outer space. I complete 2 artist copies and emulations, then went on to do my experimentation. This included a technique using coloured ink & Photoshop to look like a galaxy, which I ended up incorporating into my final pice. After this I did my final drafts of images, layout and type, then went on to do my final piece.
After doing an artist copy of Bjorn Rune Lie, I felt very influenced by his work. I particularly liked the odd drawing style he had and the fact that his drawings had a hand drawn feel to them.
In regard to refining, my final piece was something I refined the most, compared to the way it looked on my final draft. Despite liking the final draft, when it came to actually doing it on photoshop I found myself messing around and ended up changing in a way that was different to the final draft, but in a complimentary way.
As mentioned, Bjorn Rune Lie was a big influence to my final piece. I think the way he works looks professional but still has a hand drawn feel to it, which I found myself emulating, as I thought it would be particularly suitable for a children's book. The thing I would change from the whole project may be the media I used. Although Photoshop worked well, I used acrylic paint in my Axel Scheffler artist copy and emulation which I found enjoyable and it looked good, so I may have tried to incorporate that into my work if I were to do it again.