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Final Piece Evaluation

My final piece was based on the ‘truth’ side of Truth, Fantasy and Fiction. My final piece was based on love, which is a true emotion that all people experience at some point in their lives. Love was my starting point, so because of this I decided to progress onto researching about the different types of love. the results that came up were based on the types of love that people in the greek period believed existed. The types of love included Eros, Philia, Philautia and many more (More information about this can be found on my blog).

Shortly after this, I brainstormed what is usually involved within these types of love, and from there I narrowed down which types of love people in the modern day can usually associate with the most. I narrowed this down to friendship love, romantic love and love for yourself. In the end, I found that ‘friendship love’ was the topic that I naturally gravitated towards in the end due to the fact that right now, as a college student, my friends are a big part of my life.

After I did this, I then proceeded to look into a few artists that I really liked the style of. Most of my artist research is based on people that work with comics and very simplistic illustration (more information about this on my blog). I chose these types of artists due to the fact that I am aware that my strength within graphics design lies within illustration. A couple of these artists also managed to inspire me in how I would present my final piece. They displayed their comics and pieces of artwork in many different ways, including stationary, postcards, hoodies, t-shirts, etc. In the end, I decided to go with postcards because I felt like it was the most achievable thing that one could do in the 12 hours that was was going to be allocated in the exam. With 12 hours, I could potentially produce 4 different post cards, all with different illustrations on the front. Since my theme is love, I also thought that this was a good way to showcase my illustrations as postcards can be given to people that mean something to you, or just to keep because you like the design on the front.

After this, I brainstormed a few things that I usually get up to with my friends when we’re together, but I was careful as to not make the things too unique because I wanted my final piece to be relatable to other people. I also did this for the other types of love that I picked out, such as family love, self love, romantic love, etc. In the end I narrowed it down to a few that I found the most relatable, and then I finally narrowed it down to friendship love.

Out of all of my artist research, the one that influenced me the most was Lingvistov; I loved the way that they used simplistic cartoons to illustrate the complete opposite of the caption and also managed to make it either comedic or endearing. Whichever way it went, it was always adorable to look at. Lingvistov worked with many different topics that ranged from ‘21 reasons why I love him’, illustrations about procrastination, cats, etc. It varied greatly, but there was something for everyone within their work -everyone could relate to something. I wanted to this element within my own final piece, so this is why Lingvistov was my biggest inspiration.

For my final piece, I did a variety of illustrations and my plan was to print them onto blank postcards. I made sure it was bright and colorful in order to reflect the happy tone that my final piece that was going to be about - friendship. I used a bold outline for all of my characters, in order to make them ‘pop’ against the plain, pastel backgrounds. The boldness could also symbolize the significance of friendship, as it makes the characters the center of attention.

I experimented drawing digitally using my Wacom tablet, and with fineliners as these elements felt the most relevant to use for illustration. Using these mediums will allow me to experiment with different types of line work, and different lengths and thicknesses of line.

fine liners - Using fine liners can help you to achieve very bold and dramatic lines. Lines created will be very crisp and precise. However, the consequence of this is that there will be little room for error.

Wacom tablet with PaintToolSAI - Using this combination can help me to save time as well as different types of line. I also feel that drawing digitally will help me to execute a final piece that looks professionally made. However, the cons are that I have to carry my laptop around with me everywhere as well as my drawing tablet. On top of this, Printing may be an issue. Finding the right type of paper/postcard to print on may result in losing time.

I showed these in the form of thumbnails, both hand drawn and digital.

The aim of my artwork is to create relatable and endearing illustrations that will please viewers and make them think about enjoyable times they have had with their own friends. I decided on this aim due to personal experience; I find an illustration, piece of artwork, a song, etc. more appealing when it speaks to me on a personal level. I feel that producing postcards as a final piece will help me to achieve this, as postcards can be bought simply for their appealing prints, or to give to someone that it reminds you of.

I did not finish at the end of my 12 hour exam, as my plan was to make 4 cards with friendship related illustrations on, but instead I only managed to produce 3. This line would be seen in stationary stores such as paperchase and WHSmith, ready to be sold to customers who may directly relate to the images that I produced. Some problems that I encountered were - applying text to my final outcome and printing out my final pieces onto actual postcards.

The way that I overcame the ‘applying text’ problem was by making up my own font (using my own handwriting) and writing the captions on myself. I had problems applying the text due to the fact that I was using my laptop brought from home with my graphics tablet connected to it to create my final piece, and in order to add text I needed adobe illustrator. I did not have adobe illustrator installed onto my laptop, so I compromised and used my own handwriting instead. I made the font very thick and bold in order to make it stand out from the rest of the characters and the background.

In addition to this, the way that I overcame the ‘postcard’ problem was by buying matte photo paper and blank card - since I could not find any blank postcards anywhere that were available to print on, I printed my illustrations onto photo paper. Afterwards, I mounted them onto white card using spray mount to make it more sturdy and more post-card like. I think this worked well as at the end of the 12 hours I was happy with my final pieces as they looked very neat and professional, despite not using actual postcards to print on. I was very proud, as they looked polished anyway.

I feel that my message is successful due to the fact that events that may occur/may have occured with friends are portrayed well within my final pieces - the characters are show to be having fun, as enjoying themselves. They are also very comedic, as the captions contrast with the actions of the characters in the illustrations. It is the irony that achieves this effect.

Graphics final pieces

Font experimentation using adobe illustrator.

Final exam presentation

I have decided to present my final piece as a post card that can be found and bought either online or in stationary shops such as paperchase or WHSmith. I feel that since my theme is on friendship, post cards are a good way to present a final piece. Since my theme is love (under the option of ‘truth’), postcards will be good for people to purchase and to give to a friend to show to them that they love and care about them. The illustrations on the front of the cards will be relatable - the selling point that will make customers buy them.

The above postcards are only available online.

Character development - the following characters are based on my friends that will possibly be included within my illustrations. I drew these characters in the style of lingvistov, as I really liked the style. I chose to use my friends as the main characters of my illustrations as I always have fun with them, and they are the ones that I make memories with. Also, the use of boys and girls within the illustrations is a good thing as it means that it will appeal to mix gender friendship groups, and any other types of friendship groups, really.

Their small, cute and simple faces are endearing. Although simple, the eyes can be changed in such minimal ways and so can their mouths in order to convey different expressions. This will make it easy for me to illustrate my ideas within the set time limit of the graphics exam due to the simple nature of these illustrations. Bodies are also very simple - the little ‘stubs’ that they have for arms and legs makes them look very cute and attractive to people. the cuteness of the characters also connotes the way that I feel about and see my friends - I portray them to be very expressive, simple yet endearing.

I drew these character experiments with a fineliner. I chose a fineliner that wasn’t too thick or thin in order to make sure that the characters and their features stood out. The lines I drew with my fineliner are also quite neat and uniform which could convey that the simple times in life are the ones that make you the happiest - in this case, time spent with friends.

Artist research for exam - Lauren child

Lauren Child is an English writer and illustrator, best known for her work with ‘Charlie and Lola’ and ‘Clarice Bean’.

As a child, I remember watching the show on Charlie and Lola on CBeebies and being absolutely fascinated with the mix of cartoon and real life textures used within the illustrations. I loved it so much that I remember attempting to re-create her style as a child (but of course, that didn’t go very well due to the lack of patience we have as a children).

She has a distinctive illustration approach, so much so that even to this day, I can still recognize her art work as a young adult despite having stopped watching the show years ago.

Charlie and Lola is a cartoon about two siblings and their every day adventures together. The show is from Charlie’s point of view and it touches on every day events that children could come across themselves in real life. It teaches them how to deal with it whilst also promoting positivity - children can relate to the stories being told on the show, whilst also being entertained by the vast amount of colors used. This is what makes it so successful.

Analysing Lauren Child’s art work, Something that I have noticed is that she makes sure to use reasonably intricate floral patterns that contrast with her simple and sketchy characters in such a way that it brings them to life. Her extensive use of a variety of floral patterns are very pleasing to the eye. Not only this, but the use of authentic textures within her drawings (e.g. the tissues in the tissue box on the second photo above) creates a whole new dimension to the art work - the variety of textures make you want to reach out and feel the pages of the book, but the use of the very ‘sketchy-looking’ illustrations reminds you that it is merely just a cartoon. There is an extensive amount happening on the page at once that it just works well. It’s a half way boundary between truth and fiction, and this is why it comes off as so unique and original.

In conclusion, Child brings her illustrations to life with the use of very simple, sketchy looking drawings and combining them with textures that we come across in everyday life (e.g. Jeans, floral sofat/curtain patterns, etc.). The effect of this is that it draws children in, as the concept is very charmingly mismatched, almost like the whole thing was made by a child itself with a few scraps of fabric, some crayons and a black pen. The work is simple yet intricate. This mix of ‘truth’ and ‘fantasy’ is vastly effective; it makes the artwork feel personal in it’s own way.

I enjoy Lauren Child’s work very much, so I would like to incorporate some of the factors that makes her work successful in my own - The use of bright colours, contrasting patterns and simple characters. Despite being a very colourful and unique type of illustration, I think this wouldn’t have been successful without making sure it related to the target audience - this is something that I will consider when making my own final piece. in order for it to be successful, I will make sure that it is based on topic that many people will identify with as it makes it more ‘personal’.

This is something that Lauren Child’s approach has in common with my previous artist research Lingvistov - they both make sure that their basis for their illustrations are relatable. This is what they use as the hook, combined with their very distinctive illustrative styles. I will make sure to use this in my own final piece to make sure that the final outcome will be successful.

Final piece ideas (exam)

- Book full of illustrations

- Cards with my illustrations printed on

- t-shirts

- stationary: bookmarks, notebooks

-calendars

Eros thumbnails

(friendship love thumbnails available in graphics folder)

‘Self love’ thumbnails for graphics exam coursework

Exam Artist Research: Lingvistov

Lingvistov was founded in 2012 by Asia and Landysh who had graduated from a university of linguistics in Russia. They worked as language teachers.

Lingvistov started off teaching English through skype. They wrote about things like: ‘The Best Pick-Up Lines’. But this developed and they got their own web-design team. The artist in the family, Landysh, created a whole range of illustrations that were thoroughly enjoyed by the public. Due to this, Lingvistov decided to open an online store which sells cards, prints, t-shirts and books. All of which are produced by themselves.

Lingvistov’s objective is: “to offer the best service and to make Lingvistov the place to go to find an awesome gift for your friends, family and yourselves.”

I heard about Lingvistov on tumblr, and I fell in love with the illustrations at first sight. In my opinion, illustration is one of my strengths within graphic design which is why I chose to write about them and include them as artist research.

The pictures I have provided above are examples of their work. What I love the most about their illustrations are that they’re relatable; if I can relate to them, then most likely other people will too. Not only that, but the captions are charmingly juxtaposed with the illustrations, giving it a very comedic yet charming feel. To me, the simplicity of the illustrations is a breath of fresh air and a great contrast to very busy illustrations that require a lot of interpretation. It’s simple, straight forward, and refreshing.

The basic block colours used as a background means that the illustrations are made the center of attention. The typography used is also very minimal and adds to the ‘simple’ vibe the illustrations give out. It takes us away from the stress of every day life and reminds us of the simple things in life that we take for granted.

I’m very confident in the fact that Lingvistov have reached their objective: “…give you a jolt of positivity whenever and wherever you are.”

I like the feel-good aura that it gives out, and I would like to achieve the same positive effect with my own final piece. I strongly believe that Lingvistov’s illustrations will influence my own final piece, as I will make sure to capture features that can be seen within Lingvistov illustrations such as: block colours, a widely relatable topic, comedic characters and simple yet effective captions.

Evaluation of Curtis Wiklund experiments

After looking through the experiments that I did with Curtis Wiklund, I have decided that his style is not something that I would like to proceed with regarding my final piece. Comparing my work with his work, both of them are very personal - his art work focused on documenting the little moments he had and enjoyed with his wife, and mine being similar except I illustrated them about my friends. I feel that this is too personal to take forward, and that if I continue in this art style, I will be stuck on trying to find something interesting to do for my final piece. It would also be hard to aim it at a target audience, due to how personal it is. In addition to this, these experiments seem too ‘safe’ and vague at this moment in time, and I would like to move forward from them, hence why I am leaving them as they are.

I am very happy with what I have produced. However, I stated at the beginning that my aim was to create something that many people will be able to relate with. My experiments may not have worked, but I have taken something from it - from now on, I will concentrate on the little moments that many people WILL be able to relate to, instead of personal moments that only me and a few other individuals will be able to concentrate on. It has also helped me to realize that illustration is definitely something that I would like to continue with, due to the fact that I consider it as one of my strengths.

Secondary Research: Curtis Wiklund

This piece was inspired by Curtis Wiklund and I used PaintTool Sai to make this art piece.

the way that this relates to Curtis Wiklund is through the art style, the colour, the line technique used and the theme - love.

Curtis Wiklund drew illustrations based on his life and personal affairs that he had. They ended up being mostly of him and his wife, due to the fact that his wife was also his best friend who helped him get . This relates to my own piece above as I have drawn a picture of people that I treasure very much, Just like Curtis Wiklund has.

Wiklund’s art work is also based on real life situations and mine is too - the picture I illustrated above is from a good and memorable day out that I had with my friends - we went to watch 10 Clover field lane and then to eat at Wagamama’s. Afterwards, we had a sleepover.

I kept the colours used in the experiment black, white and grey. The effect of these very minimalistic colours is that the viewer will concentrate on the centerpiece of the art more - the people, and what the piece is trying to convey (friendship). I also blurred the background of the piece further to make the characters and the event more prominent. In addition to this, it gives the art a sentimental, as it conveys to the audience that the background is blurred because it vocalises the thoughts, feelings and intentions of the artist; the people in the piece are important to the important to illustrator, and therefore the illustrator wants them to be concentrated on. the illustrator wants to make it apparent that the people are they’re source of happiness. This mirrors the effect of Curtis Wiklund’s pieces; not only does it warm your heart, but it also makes you reflect about your own life events and makes you think about times in your life that have made you feel the way the piece does.

I used thin, black lines to mimic the ‘effortless’ look that can be seen within the sketches done by Wiklund which conveys to the audience that the artist was eager to get the idea down, and did so in a simple, fast yet effective way. I love the use of the sketchy lines that have been layered ontop of one another, as it adds to the reflective feeling of the piece. I feel like it mimics the situation that Wiklund would have been in since he would have had to draw a picture every day for 365 days - this means he wouldn’t have had enough time to do that much detail. I captured this by the use of this messy and repetitive line type. The lines are built up in such a way that it makes the piece look more detailed than in actually is, and I really like that effect. I think it is very effective.

The characters themselves and the art style used is also simple which could connote that the best things in life are free - in this case, friends. The food and the objects on the table are drawn in a more careless way as opposed to the characters to show that these material things don’t matter as much as the company.

In my opinion, I think this experiment was successful due to the fact that I followed the Curtis Wiklund’s style. If I was to change anything about it, I would experiment in colour to see if it would look better. Colour could connote happiness which is a feeling that I felt when illustrating this event, so I might give it a try. But overall, I am very happy with the outcome.

Inspiration for experimentation - Curtis Wiklund

My artist research on Curtis Wiklund inspired me to proceed with my idea or ‘love’. Judging from the drawings and life updates that he drew, his wife is definitely a big part of his life, and plays the role of being his best friend as well as his significant other.

Since I mentioned that I wanted to make this unit more personal, I have been inspired Curtis Wiklund to draw pictures of the people in my life that I love and treasure. Ofcourse, the types of love I feel for them all varies but I still love them all, either way.

Curtis Wiklund drew pictures every day for 365 days, but since I don’t have that much time, I will be using pictures as primary research that mean a lot to me and include the people that I love. Just like Curtis Wiklund, I will use different types of media and see which one I like the best.

Primary research inspired by Curtis Wiklund

For this experiment, I used a biro pen on paper from a diary. I chose this picture to illustrate as it was taken on a good night in with a few friends.

This comes under the topic of ‘truth’ as well as ‘love’ as it is an illustration of a real life event that I really enjoyed and treasured.

I used a biro to get the same fine, yet messy lines that can be seen within a few of Curtis Wiklund’s illustrations. I made sure to only spend a mere 5-6 minutes on this doodle, to make it look as effortless to achieve the same effect as Wiklund’s illustrations. Combined with the fact that it’s in black and white, I feel that the use of the biro gives the drawing a sentimental feel to it, and really makes it clear to the audience that this picture meant a lot to the illustrator. The black and white almost makes it look very dream-like, and reminiscent of a good memory. The black and white has connotations of simplicity, which could suggest that all you need in life is a couple of good friends to feel happy. The effect of this is that it may also make viewers empathize with the drawing and make them think of people who make them feel the same way, and reach out to them at a personal level.

I really like the look of the sketchiness, due to the fact that it looks effortless and drawn as a product of someone’s good thoughts about an event that they just really needed to express.

Overall, I think that this was a good outcome (considering it only took a few minutes). However, I may experiment with this in colour to see what type of effect it achieves, and whether it will still give off a sentimental feel despite being coloured.

“I started a daily sketch blog a while back when my wife, Jordin, was doing a ‘Photo 365’ project. Many of the drawings ended up being of the two of us. During that year, many people told us they felt like they got to know us better through the drawings, like they were a peek into our personal life.” – Curtis

More sketches from his blog: http://curtiswiklundphoto.com/sketches/

Curtis Wiklund started a blog, and posted a drawing every day for a year. Every day, his art styles varied. No two styles are exactly the same, and he even used different mediums such as charcoal, pencil and even his iPad. The large variety of mediums and art styles used make it very interesting to scroll through, as it is very unpredictable.

Despite this, I have noticed that most of his drawings are very sketchy, simple and effort-less looking and the effect of this is that it’s very easy to concentrate on the centerpiece of the work (which is of course Curtis and his wife). The majority of them are also in B&W/grey which gives the pieces a reflective feel.

Although his objective was to do a drawing every day of the year in order to document what goes on in his life, he ended up drawing his wife more than anything, and the things that they went through together. This conveys to the audience that his wife is not only his partner, but his best friend, and helps him to get through the daily struggles of every day life. This ultimately gives off a sentimental vibe, and makes viewers reflect on a person/people (that may not necessarily be their partner) that may have made them feel the same way.

Curtis Wiklund’s work has inspired me to experiment with many different mediums within my final piece,as I feel like some mediums that he used were much more successful than others (the charcoal, pencil drawings and It has also inspired me to create something that will evoke a sense of sentimentality in the viewer through the piece, as it helps them to create an attachment and will in turn, make them want to see more of this. Subjects that fall under this are: Love, friendship, marriage, etc.

Therefore I will research more into these topics.

Exam artist research - Sarah Andersen

Sarah Andersen is a 23 year old cartoonist and illustrator who graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art. her comics are semi-autobiographical and follow the adventures of herself and her friends. Her pets are also featured within her comics.

What I really like about Andersen’s work is that she takes situations that we may encounter in our everyday lives (and may not even think about) and transforms them into cute and comedic short comics. The subjects that she chooses to do her comics on are relatable which is what makes them so entertaining and endearing to look at (combined with her adorable, expressive and simplistic cartoon style which portrays her to be a very goofy and almost clueless individual).

I have provided a few examples of her comics above in which the situations reflect things we as people have faced at least once in our lifetime - procrastination, giving awkward speeches infront of other individuals, knowing useless facts as opposed to knowledge that we actually need, etc.

Andersen’s comics are simple, yet effective in the sense that it grabs people’s attention. She uses a thin outline, and sticks with black and white. Despite being monochrome, her comics aren’t boring at all. She makes the character that is supposed to represent herself very expressive which is meant to represent the outward projection of her thoughts/most people’s in a certain situation.

The font used in her comics are very effortless, almost handwritten-like. it adds to the very simple feel of her comics.

Her artwork can be bought in the form of t-shrts, mugs, stationary and postcards. Since my strengths within graphic design lie within illustration, I will look into doing one of these things for my final piece.

In conclusion, what I think makes Andersen’s comics so successful is due to these factors: Expressive characters, comedic yet very relatable, combined with a simplistic feel makes her work a good and inspirational outcome. I will try to incorporate these things into my own final piece in order to achieve the same effect. However, one thing that I don’t like about her work us that it doesn’t have enough colour. This is one factor that I may experiment during my experimentation but apart from that,I am a huge fan of her work.

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