#illustrationexperiments

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Scale and Perspective Illustration experiment

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Mixed media celebrity portrait of Andrew McMahon (in the Wilderness) (except I think the reference photo is definitely pre-wilderness era)

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For this week’s illustration experiment I looked through my photos library for landscape photos from back home. I had a hard time deciding on which one to try and recreate, so I settled for a kind of mix and match of elements from photos I liked a lot. 

I used Acrylic Gouache in my sketchbook for this one. Landscapes are another thing I’m not well-practiced in but would love to work on more. This was a quick little experiment, but I could imagine getting the hang of it if I put in the time and work.

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This week’s experiment certainly was experimental. I wanted to try out the illustrator live tools we’d used for our colouring pages again so I sketched this design in ink in my sketchbook before image tracing the photo.  I used coolers to find a colour palette I liked, which at first looked like a group of autumn/halloween colours to me, but in practice has a very retro-my-mom’s-living-room feel.  I ended up bringing it over to photoshop to use the brushes to colour the design. I had a lot of fun trying out some of the free textures from our class resources. In the end I’m thinking I went overboard on a few of them, but overall I’m pleased with my attempt. 

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I spent a few hours playing around in illustrator and had quite a few unfinished vector illustrations with no real direction. In the end I took my vectorized inktober snake drawing and changed the stroke colour, and plunked it on top of this background that I didn’t know what else to do with.

While I didn’t end up with any well thought out illustrations like I’d intended it was a good illustrator refresher, and I certainly learned a thing or two through all of the experimentation. 

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This illustration experiment “people doing things” is actually the one that has taken me the longest, despite looking like it only took 5 minutes.

I immediately had the idea of drawing people doing things in a continuous line style of illustration. I started by brainstorming anything I could think of that people do that could be drawn. I narrowed it down to a few activities I personally enjoy, and started sketching those. In the end I drew silhouette type images based on stock photos, so I had some sort of shadow to “trace” for the lineart.

Initially I thought it would be fairly easy to get the results I wanted, but this exercise is a lot harder than I remember it being. Several pieces of paper and a couple hours later I decided to try and trace my favourite composition digitally.

I definitely think it looks like more of a concept than a finished illustration, but after so much time I think it’s time to call it a week. 

Looking back at the original line drawings I’d done I’ve simplified the shapes a lot, but not nearly enough. 

As frustrating as it was I think this style is a really good way to shake up your normal drawing routine. You’ve got to break down your reference images to the simplest but still recognizable shapes and lines, and try to include as little detail as possible while conveying your message.

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This is my first fully digital drawing, so very much an experiment for me!

One of the first things to come to mind when I think “colour” is fields of flowers. I actually really enjoyed this experiment, and the tablet I bought last year is happy to finally be of service.  

Colouring digitally and having organized layers and the ability of ctrl+Z is a very different experience. 

I plan to continue experimenting with more digital illustrations, and hope to become faster and more comfortable along the way.

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This is my first illustration of the Illustration Experiment series for ARTG 241. 

This illustration represents the word pair “Visible Wonder”.

I included stars and planets, as well as plants. Visually representing where your mind may wander, more of the plants to suggest growth.