Study Task 3 - Three Illustrators using Print Processes

Glyn Smyth
http://www.stagandserpent.com/
Influenced by "otherworld", fairytales and mythology.
Initially hand drawn and then separates the layers in photoshop.
Scans in work or uses lightbox for final drawings but now uses mainly a Wacom tablet.
Uses local communal print workshop for hand made screen printing.






George Douglas
http://georgebenjamindouglas.com/
Riso-printing and screen printing process
Overlaid with hand drawn markings
Minimal colour use usually combining black with another vivid colour
Collaged imagery applied with a quick, energetic arrangement


Yann Kebbi
http://yannkebbi.fr/
Kebbi builds up layers over colours using etching process
He has to simplify the etchings and not overthink the process
The monoprint process doesn't allow for overcomplicated imagery

Studio brief 1 - Idea Pictures - Reflective Report

Idea Pictures - Final editorials

I found it difficult when using small thumbnails for initial idea generation. It was quite restrictive as a brainstorming method. Usually I make lots of notes and random sketches without frames so this was a challenge as a process. 

Thumbnails can be useful for composition once I know what I am going to draw but I did get the botanical ideas from the thumbnails which I could really explore once I reverted back to filling pages with more detailed and unframed sketches.

It's important to not become too literal with some of the ideas and always have some subtlety with the concepts. I became too literal at one point, drawing lots of brains and became a bit lazy, drawing floating jellyfish brains rather than thinking about Sacks' stories and character in more depth.

But once I went back to my core research about Sacks' love nature and how he spent time in the New York botanical gardens I focused on that as well as some of the hallucinatory themes from The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat and also the theme of confusion and perplexed anxiety of his patients that runs through all his stories.

The final editorials are subtle and only make sense visually to someone who has read about Sacks and his neurological case studies. They also work in the sense that they are relatively complex and play with perspective and interpretation of abstract patterns intertwined with the human anatomy which mirrors some of the neurological complex disorders Sacks describes in his books. 

As editorials the final pieces use the format dimensions well. However, I will look at replacing each white background with a possible coloured layer or a botanical backdrop to make them more visually stimulating and engaging. 

I'm happy with how the overlaying and collaging of the drawings has been executed. 

The botanical theme links the images together and I find a restricted use of colour can actually enhance an image's impact and add a clarity.

The feedback at the group crit was really pleasing and positive. The comments were exactly what I was intending for the audience. It's also interesting to see how another person can interpret an image and see something different that you don't see yourself despite spending so much time on it. The comment about the red leaves looking like muscle and sinew was a fascinating thing that I hadn't even intended but is obvious and an unintended but brilliant effect. 

Study Task 2 - Editorial illustrators

Mario Wagner uses traditional media methods - paper cut and acrylic for his collages.
He uses anthropomorphised objects for people's faces and anatomy.
His character's faces are often blank which eliminates any emotion and reduces the characters to a very simple, visual tool to communicate his ideas.




Kim Ryu uses similar methods to Wagner with her emotionless characters in order to not over complicate the message.
She uses handmade textures and strong contrasting silhouettes with minimal, subtle drawn marks.
Minimal colour palette.
Simple, bold use of 2D characters and silhouettes on negative space