...

just been playing around with scanned in images and trying some layouts out in photoshop. theyre not brilliant, but an alright starting point that i can build on. Might even try out hand drawn versions of the characters.


I have also made a little diorama box thingy to try different layouts in, creating different depths and perpectives. I will put the photos up soon.

narrative workshop

Earlier this week I attented the narrative workshop which Salvatore Rubbino held.
I really enjoyed it, and wish we had more workshops like it. Before I went I had been feeling a bit down about this project, not really knowing what to do next. But after the workshop and a talk with Salvatore, it gave me a boost and now I feel motivated again. In the workshop we illustrated little stories which we had made up from a selection of words which had been given to us. We only had that day to make the story and illustrate it start to finish, which was really good for me to do, because it showed me that I can do things when I put my mind to it. I need to put that mindset towards my project and then I will be fine. Salvatore suggested that I create little books like the one I made in the workshop, but for my project, and get a big mass of work done, and not worry about what it was or was going to be, but just do it and then something will come together. I think that is my problem, I worry so much, that I end up spending too much time worrying and not enough time doing. But from this week I am just going to DO and not worry.
So far this week I have created 2 little books for my story (it wouldnt fit in 1!) so I have worked out the layouts pretty much for definate, and the good thing about making a little mock up book is that I can see how the images work on their own as pages and as part of a book.
I have also been playing with collage.I am going to work with my existing card characters , and I am going to bluetack them into different layouts and photograph them. I will see how that will work for the book. In the mean time I have been trying out more fixed collage, and creating painted backgrounds to see how that would work when digitally composed.

layouts

So I have started to experiment and play around with layouts, plaing around with different media that I have used to try and find one that works the best. Ive started with a simple layout just to get into how I might do it.

this first one has been just drawn and then scanned in and digitally coloured. I think it looks a bit too flat, which is the draw backs of digitally made images.



This second one, I scanned in the characters made out of card, and then put them on a background of flat colour and scanned in textures/patterns. I think the scanned in card characters actually work quite well in this, so will try some more out in different layouts. I still need to play around with the colour scheme.

Patterns

I have been looking at patterns by Brie harrison. I think she makes such brilliant patterns themed around flowers and birds, and think her colour choices are interesting. I want to make my own pattern for the end pages for my book, so want to start thinking about ideas. Obviously mine wont be as sophisticated as this and will be a bit simpler as it is for children.

update

I have been unwell recently, hence no updates, but I have been playing around with patterns and designs for trees and flowers. I think designs I have been making have a certain Folky feel to them. I want to look at some folk art to maybe look at how pattern is used within the images and products such as blankets and things because when I think about Folk patterns I think of blankets and duvets.


I have made some little characters out of card, which i think work really nicely. I will have to develop the other characters and backgrounds to see if they will work together. One probelm is that they took a while to make, so if I did use them then I would have to get faster at making them, and be really organised.I need to play around witht the characters abit more, so i will see what else I come up with.

Wales trip

Enjoyed my trip to Wales at the weekend. was such lovely countryside and weather! luckily. Unfortunatley I spent alot less time drawing than I had hoped as I spent quiet alot of time climbing a mountain and then getting lost up that mountain. But I did manage to get some drawing done on the climb up, and I have some photographs so I can draw from these also. While I was walking I noticed the "colour scheme" of the area was really interesting... deep reds, oranges and browns with greens and the blue of the sky. I thought I could take this into account when thinking about colour schemes for my images.

here are some photos from my trip.

The mountain I reached the top of (and got lost in the clouds).



The view from a little way up


View of the valley from 3/4 way up


in the clouds with the welsh ponies

Wales

I am off to Wales today for the weekend to do lots of walking and drawing. As my story is set in the countryside/woods, I thought this would be a great opportunity to draw from life - primary research. I will draw, photograph and collect anything that I think will inform my project.
Lets hope the weather holds up!

Tutorial

Had a tutorial yesterday with Joel and Paul. They liked the idea of my book... suggested a slight change in the story, which makes sense. :)
My storyboard was mentioned, they said it was good, showing flow of the story, (forgotten the word.. continuity?) but with different perspectives/layouts... loads of negative space in one, a massive head in the other.. so they liked that, so I am hopefully already showing that I can deal with narrative. :)
My drawings that I did with my eyes closed were liked, and I was advised to do some more drawing like that.. left handed, different materials (ink, different pens, pencils...) which is good, because I like doing that kind of drawing because it loosens my drawing up, and I like the results you get with it, a quality that you can never get when drawing normally :)
I also need to spend some time just playing around with different materials, which I have begun to do, but need to experiment loads.
I also need to finish off my learning agreement and make a little timetable for myself.. set myself mini deadlines.
Just looking at printing/delivery times on blurb and lulu (publishing websites) so that i know when I need to have my book ready by. I am aiming to do a few little zine type books along the way with some of my drawings in and also before I order the final book, I am hoping to do a mock up of it so i can see how it works as a book, and if there are anything changes I need to do.

Blurb: "leave 5-6 days for printing". "Once ordered, most Blurb books arrive within 7 to 10 business days, depending on the shipping option you choose." ok so I will probably need to leave 2 weeks for a book from blurb to get delivered.

Lulu:again need to leave printing time before posting times. (3-5 days) I have used Lulu before, and they have a wider selection of sizes etc. and will be quicker and posting by the looks of it, so will probably go for Lulu when making my book. They also cater for a variety of book thickness, so will be able to make my thinner zine type books on this website too.

	Priority Mail	Royal Mail	Estimated shipping: 1-2 business days*
	Express	FedEx UK Domestic	Estimated shipping: 1 business day*