More Development work

Planning My Book

Heres a few photos of the plan for my book. I am choosing to make a French Fold book because it means that screen printing will be much easier as there is less to worry about regarding alignment. Below are a few images showing how my book will work, I have photographed only the first few pages to illustrate the binding concept.

Front page

1st page

1st page opened up (french fold)

Print Workshop

Here are some of the prints I made from the workshop. I really enjoyed this workshop, I was not too happy with the prints of the bikes and the guy in the water but what I really loved was the textures that I was achieving, some accidental, some on purpose where I used powder and card to alter the surface of the plastic. I will definitely use these textures in my work for backgrounds etc.

Development of the Front Cover

Here is the development of my front cover. My initial idea is was a sketch that I would make more of a clean lined graphic but I really liked the intuitiveness of this. I went on to try the two colours but reverted back to the original but added colour. 

I then thought that having some nice, big hand drawn type on the front cover may be more aesthetically appealing to others and that the motif of the barbershop should instead be on the second page without any text. 

How my pages work

This is an example of how my pages work, firstly i have a blue layer (the bottom layer) and I overlay the pink, setting the layer properties to 'multiply' to create the 3rd colour. This is all done in adobe photoshop and its a really effective process for visualising the screen print.

Development of pages

Below is an example of how my pages develop into the finished piece. I have looked at my drawings in my book and loosely drawn them up onto photoshop with a Wacom. I then create a new layer and make the one behind less opacity and start to refine the work on the top layer

This particular page is probably my favourite; I like the composition and the narrative within this. I especially like the door bell panel due to how I have handled the way I show the form and material. 

inspiration

Jon McNaught is someone who is particularly and most notably inspiring me and my way of working on this project. His limited colour palette and use of overlaying colours has brought new floods of ideas for the visuals of the book. Also his use of texture in his work is very successful and really adds to the overall aesthetics of the image; I will definitely keep this in mind. 

Working with 2 colours and overlaying = cheaper for printing

working with cartridge paper                = very cheap/free paper

Studio Brief 2

Yesterday I proposed my idea to a small group.

Notable points that I expressed:

• There's a friendly atmosphere in the barbershop
• It attracts all types of people
• I want to illustrate the character and mood of a barbershop 
• I aim to create a book that creates a sense of being in that environment without necessarily being concerned about the plot
•  It will probably be screen printed 

Here is the feedback from the group when I presented my proposed idea to them, they seemed to really like the idea and suggested some nice points that I will definitely take on board as I progress.

Observed Drawing & Repeated Information

Today I have been doing some observational drawing. This was a nice change to my brief where I was studying the Olympics. I tried to make my drawings varied by playing with media and testing its boundaries. My favourite study was the one where I took the most risks- where I worked with oil pastel and Quink ink as this was new territory for me and I had no idea what the outcome would look like. Another study that I feel that I learnt a lot from was where I was continuously drawing the buckles on the bag using different approaches.  

I have learnt that using different medias can instantly change how you read the image despite it being of the same bags and scarf composition. 

'Things Holding a Pie' Hotdog Screenprinted Book

Above are a few images of the hotdog fold book that designed and screenprinted. The hotdog fold is great for producing a really quick book that only needs printing on one side, conversely it could easily double up as a poster if you wanted. 

Here I experimented with texture by using a coloured pencil in some areas, never before have I used anything other than block colours in my screenprints; I am really pleased with the outcome. I have also really loved collaborating with other illustrators- the brief we all decided on setting for this mini-project was 'things holding a pie'. 

Due to my previous knowledge in screenprinting, I found this project fairly easy however I know that some of the group that had never screenprinted before found it a little more tricky with things like alignment and layers. The hotdog fold book is great for a quick, low cost way of printing/binding however I feel that something a little more professional and better quality (hardbound/japanese etc) may prove a better choice for the book that I will make. 

Collage & Ephemera

i don't like the one below- too simple & cliche

I have really enjoyed this week's task of focusing on collage and ephemera in my work. I have predominatly worked digitally but have been scanning in textures, photos, text, my drawings etc. The reason why I enjoyed this week so much is because I set myself mini briefs- generally to make humorous work  or work that would make someone smile. I was quite inspired by Kate Gibb as you can see. The 'Rio 2016' is more of a promotional poster. I struggled a little with collaging well; as you can see in the last piece- it looks like I have just put images in anywhere without much thought. I love collage and ephemera in my work and I will continue to explore this more.

Below are some of the pieces of ephemera i found and collaged.

below are drawings i did for my collage