elliott spriggs

elliott's seminar blog for IA4003. illustration animation second year at kingston. they/them pronouns. i like drawing on location and life drawing

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summer project research

DRAWN AND QUARTERLY

sarah glidden

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summer project research

DRAWN AND QUARTERLY

aisha franz

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summer project research

DRAWN AND QUARTERLY

julie delporte

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summer project research

DRAWN AND QUARTERLY

denys wortman

tender, well-observed domestic scenes that skilfully depict daily life

[elliottsseminarblog]

summer project research

DRAWN AND QUARTERLY: 25 YEARS OF CONTEMPORARY CARTOONING, COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS ed. by tom devlin

interesting overview of the artists featured over the years in this seminal publication

featured artists:

kate beaton

kate beaton’s short comics based on classic novels like the great gatsby and jane eyre use cartoony drawings and humour to respond to well-known literary works. her comics are humorous and tongue-in-cheek

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little ten second character animation on a single frame, developing character and more of a narrative

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DUCKS!!! an editorial illustration gif based on an article about museums, birds and freedom

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a quick one-day animation about goats in space, trying to be more loose with animation, thinking about shape and colour and less figurative drawing

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process and portfolio briefing: approaches

creating a narrative of self

3 approaches:

archival / experiential

categorisation, accumulation of past work

archival / experiential website - easy to categorise work and upload lots of images

mark pawson - organised in categories

studio frith - dynamic homepage, communicating the experience of the work

diarised / anecdotal

telling stories, blogging

not archives - not easily subcategorised or formally curated; more personal, more narrated, presenting your own brand

blogs, tumblr, instagram

charlotte ager

edited sequence

managing the narrative, thinking about how it’s read, selecting key elements

showreel, portfolio (print/pdf)

making clear decisions to make work make sense together

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process and portfolio: capturing + presenting work

examples 

content (images optimised for display + details to highlight visual ideas) 

process (images showing creation/construction + details to highlight materials / construction methods)

context (work captured in intended environment + interaction with audience to communicate purpose / scale)

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storyboards for owl creek bridge

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everyday connections: light and angles

i chose the photographs for the final sequence for their use of light and angles. for a location to go with it, i chose a column in the studio to have the photos on both sides of the column. i liked the black stickers on the wall because they seem connected to the use of circles and dots in some of the photos.

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everyday connections: the crit

is it a visual puzzle? grouped by typology? chronology / time-based? continuity - describing a narrative or story? what does it mean?

being aware of the context of the environment

adding interactivity / movement

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everyday connections: editing and sequence

everyday connections: bridging the gap between single image and a sequence of images

what is editing?

removing elements to boost quality, altering / refining / distilling / selecting / manipulating for clarity succinctness; gently prodding the attention of the audience.

walter murch (1992) in the blink of an eye: “every film is a puzzle really, from an editorial point of view”

assembly

one-piece puzzle: selecting the artifact. directing the eye

art kane (1967) aretha franklin – cropping and selecting

two-piece puzzle: diptych / pairing. sequence (before/after). comparative / dialogue

jason fulford, tamara shopsin (2015) grave hopping: jean genet and (2014) this equals that – shared tonal values, compositional similarity, one bounces off the other

three-piece puzzle: triptych / trinity. sequence (beginning / middle / end). cyclical. timeline

elizabeth price (2012) the woolworth choir of 1979 – connecting gothic architecture to girl groups and a socio-historical event to define “the congregation” by linking between the 3 gestures

multi-piece puzzle: sequence (complex). fluid / evolving. multi-directional

allen j pakula (1974) the parallax view – changing meaning of images through their context, rhythm and pace

missing piece: audience. movement of the eye. bridging connections. assumption / experience / knowledge

solving the puzzle – considering content, composition, colours, texture, tone, shadow, framing

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week 3: depicting data

group: olivia heseltine, josie owen, megan willett, harriet morton-smith, victoria hoover, elliott spriggs

we chose a study about the possible health risks of vaping (link)

we chose megan’s illustration (below) as the most effective:

it shows the mice from the study and it seems anatomically accurate which is helpful for a scientific illustration

the contrast in texture and materials between the mouse itself and the little cloud of vapour makes the image visually appealing

The contrast is eye catching and all the key elements are communicated like the mouse, the vape and what the vape does to it

I love that it looks like an X-Ray hinting to the scientific experiments and such. It makes us really understand the health implications of vaping by being able to see the rat skeleton so it’s easy to read

the slight humour in the fact that the mouse is literally vaping catches the reader’s eye

it shows a lot in one picture - the mouse, the e-cigarette and the anatomy of the mouse, which links well to the scientific illustrations that we were shown in our lecture. It’s additionally used a bit of colour which makes it eye catching and more detailed than a black and white drawing would be, and these colours are accurate

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seminar: blog review

uses:

assessment – summarising and reflecting on friday sessions w text and image to create evidence of engagement

personal reflection – a place to reflect on notes and ideas from RSJ and consider what’s personally relevant

archive of ideas, themes, projects, references

using multimedia to add to RSJ notes

things to consider

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chs lecture: sensory design

thinking of imagery and illustration as not purely visual and using embodiment

western culture is ocularcentric - most heavily focused on vision, because it was historically seen as “closest to the mind”. biological senses are tied up w sociocultural norms; how can we challenge these?

sensorium: total character of the unique and changing sensory environments perceived by individuals

how does illustration appeal to touch / hearing / smell / taste?

ian hague (comics and the senses) argues comics are a multi-sensory experience eg electronic comics including sound, scratch and sniff covers, etc. designing for all the senses

multisensory design in advertising - aural design engineers, augmented reality...

things like taste and smell are harder to manipulate because of their strong ties to personal memory

tactile cinema: touch and animation

increasing emphasis in film theory on cinema as a multi-sensory experience. the address of the eye - we are touched by the substance and texture of film

haptic visuality: as opposed to optical visuality, touching with your eyes / looking with your body. our eyes function like organs of touch

jan švankmajer: touch in relation to emotion in animation. also made 3d sculptures and collages to explore touch

stop-motion animation emphasises materials, production involving physical manipulation which is sometimes visible in the materials, recognisable materials and texture, connecting to tactile memory, objects bearing traces of the past