TC Illustration

I am a young illustrator who is currently working on her studies. This blog is to show some off the work produced during my studies through college and in university that I am most proud of. Other than illustration, I have done small animations and I do photography as well.

[tc-illustration]

Socials

I thought I would leave links for my other social medias that I would be using other than Tumblr.

Instagram: Teigan (@tcillustration2024) • Instagram photos and videos

I am not doing commissions yet as I still need to figure out ways of payment, those who are interested please be patient as I try to figure it what is best for me and commission payment.

[tc-illustration]

Easter- Card Exploration

As another detour of showcasing work from my past coursework of studies, I figured I would showcase some experiments I did with imagery in relations to the Easter season.

Like the Valentines Day post, I aimed to explore with creating illustrations that could be used on multiple products however due to how busy my schedule had been lately, I only managed to put the designs onto one product.

For this, I created three alternative designs of a cute bunny doing different things to create variation of ideas that people would potentially want.

The main illustration was drawn and coloured in Adobe Illustrator while the text and its colour were added in Adobe Photoshop.

Hopefully next year I will be able to put these designs onto mugs.

These are on my Instagram as well.

If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

[tc-illustration]

Valentines Day- Product exploration

As another detour of showcasing work from my past coursework of studies, I figured I would showcase some experiments I did with imagery in relations to Valentines Day.

For a while I have been doing some product making with different products so I challenged myself to create a design that could easily be translated/adapted onto multiple products.

In this experiment, I simply had a design consisting of a tree with basic leaves and hearts around it. The design was then adapted onto a test t-shirt and mug.

The t-shirt adaptation was a silhouette that was cut on vinyl and heat pressed onto the material. Meanwhile the design was adapted to have colour and effects included; Although the colours came out differently than planned, it still was well recieved by those who saw them.

The lineworks were drawn in Adobe Illustrator while the colour and effects were applied with Adobe Photoshop.

These images are on my Instagram as well.

If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

[tc-illustration]

Halloween art

As a small detour from showcasing past work I created in my courses, I thought I would showcase some artwork I did for Halloween this year.

I created a new cat character who I call Ebony, she is a witch cat who can do magic with her pendent that she wears around her neck.

Her premise is that she would go on Halloween based adventures with Luna and Dante, most likely getting them out of the trouble they get themselves.

She has an owner who I refer to as Zinta the Witch, sadly I did not have the time to design her this year but I will attempt to do so for next year.

I have worked on some generic poses and a small piece here of her for a small cute image, I hope that next year I will be able to do something else with this artwork.

I have also done a small Halloween art of Ebony interacting with Luna and Dante.

Not sure of the story other than Dante was probably annoying Ebony and she lifted him up with magic to teach him a lesson while Luna was just confused.

That is all I have to showcase.

The Ebony on pumpkin art is on my Instagram while the artwork of the three cats is also on my Instagram.

If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

[tc-illustration]

Before going onto the final mainline project of the third course's second year, I will showcase the work I did during a brief mini project as the work in that is relevant to the next project.

This mini brief focused on us being given a form of opportunity to enter a competition with a card and gift focused client known as 'The Jungle' which we could design a new product that they could sell.

While I didn't enter, I did use this opportunity to get a form of taste within working as part of the card and gift side of illustration. As I worked on it, it also ended up allowing me to be able to redesign my character Dante from my second course due to using his character in this.

What I did was create a series of 'funny' cards with Dante but I first had to redesign him first as the original design was not ideal and my drawing style had improved since his conceptualisation. I first did a variety of pose sketches while implementing the design aspects I wanted to add to improve Dante.

With the sketch references done, the linework was refined with a black posca pen so that I had a clear reference for refining digitally.

Using Adobe Illustrator, the linework was refined digitally while implementing some expression work simply to see how they would look.

In terms of colour, Dante's colour would remain mostly the same except for a few changes to make him feel a bit more realistic. As I went onto planning the actual card designs themselves by creating very simple thumbnail sketches of ideas that I could use.

Despite these, I did end up creating completely new ideas as I added the refined linework of Dante to the Illustrator document I was creating the finals on.

In Adobe Illustrator, I drew the added aspects of the idea to the document and applied colour to all areas due to not intending to add too much detail and effects to the imagery.

These essentially helped me add more character to Dante as originally he was mostly a blank slate. I would later think of more aspects to add to him as time went on.

That's is all I have to show for this project.

If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

The final pieces are on my Instagram as well if you are curious.

[tc-illustration]

Continuing from the last post, with the main character reference done, I went onto working on the final narrative by first focusing on the environment.

The intended environment was going to be somewhere in the words while within a dreamscape, the final narrative itself was going to be two split frames to detail the two sides of the encounter story. With this in mind, I created two planned concepts of the environment initially in pencil before refining them with a black posca pen.

To make the environment seem more lively and to reference the transforming into animal spirits ability of the 'Familiar Spirit', I created some animal assets which some were reused assets of previous projects. I also had the characters for the main poses be sketched as well to refine.

These references were then refined digitally with the linework being done in Adobe Illustrator before having colour and effects be added in Adobe Photoshop.

This lead to the final piece creation being put together.

This was a piece I was very proud of at the time as it allowed me to explore more with character and environment as well as allowing me to focus within narrative as well.

That's all for now.

If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask.

Part 1

The final piece is on my Instagram as well

[tc-illustration]

With the second project showcased, I can now show the third project I did during second year of the third course. This project focused within character design and narrative imagery.

In this project we had to chose a character from any story origin such as folklore or Greek Mythology and adding a form of modern twist to the redesigns. I chose to focus with Norse Mythology and focusing on a lesser known concept which for this I will simply refer to it by the translation name of 'Familiar Spirit'. In a basic summary, these 'Familiar Spirits' are female guardians which act as guides to whoever the person is through improving luck and happiness while taking the form of their animal spirit, they can also be passed on through decendents.

This fact is important as my modern interpretation will be focused on a modern day descendent of someone during the time of Norse meeting their 'Familiar Spirit' in a dream as they can appear during dreams.

I first had concept sketches that I refined the best concepts with a posca pen to generate ideas for what could be included in both characters.

With design ideas generated, I created more refined sketch ideas of the full designs with a vast range of poses and close ups which I had in mind that I could potentially use within the final piece. I had notes next to them simply for reference.

After completing these designs concepts, I refined them digitally by redrawing the lines in Adobe Photoshop and added colour and effects with Adobe Photoshop. To add more life, I gave them official names just to feel more connected with them.

I then did some character expression work; Sketches the main expressions I felt they would use the most, refined the linework and added colour with Adobe Illustrator.

To end this post, I created profile sheets to display the important information I had about them so that they felt more realistic where a potential audience can enjoy.

The next post will go over the work that went into the final piece creation of the narrative piece.

Part 2

The expression sheets and character profiles are on my Instagram too.

[tc-illustration]

Continuing from the last post, the media exploration for the front cover continued into using print making to create it which I focused within Risograph printing.

At first I primarily focused with colour exploration; From getting accurate as possible colour choices to more randomised yet unique combinations.

I then asked for opinions to see which colour combination people where the majority vote went to the colour combination six. I reprinted it while also printing out separated colour layers in case they were needed.

Eventually I went onto creating the final front cover design which I intended to do digitally. The risograph prints were digitally scanned so I could edit them digitally them along with the needed logo of the magazine and add a background which I used an edited water colour background. There were some areas that needed to be fixed such as layer ordering, adjusting the colours to restore them and filling any gaps.

This and the double page spread were printed in large scale format to see how they would look.

Out of the two, the front cover work is considered my strongest piece of the two which isn't too surprising as I did spend more time on that than the double page spread.

That's all for now.

If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask.

Part 1

Edit; The front cover final is on my Instagram if you are curious to look at it on there.

[tc-illustration]

With the mini project in between showcased, I can now get onto the second project for the second year of my third course. This project focused within editorial and getting a form of taste of working with a client as the final outcome had to be a front cover and a double page spread based on one of the listed movies we were given for the 'Little White Lies' magazine.

The three movies we had to pick from were were The Fifth Element, Kung Fu Hustle and The Wizard of Oz (The original film).​ I personally chose The Fifth Element because I didn't understand Kung Fu Hustle and I really don't like The Wizard of Oz.

I first focused on the front cover aspect for idea generation by creating a mind map and gathering reference imagery to gain an idea for what I could do. While others chose to focus on the main characters, I decided to be a bit more unique by focusing on the good aliens of the film (The Mondoshawan) as they didn't have a lot of screentime and I felt that this would be more eye catching.

I had three main thumbnail sketches with notes detailing what the generic idea is as well as what may the potential problems be. In the end however I chose the first one as it was simple yet effective.

I gathered a vast range of reference imagery from the film where I chose a small selection to use as general drawing reference and for media exploration. I did basic sketches in pencil before refining the linework with a black posca pen.

I then went onto the media tests to see what could be used. In order I did; Different coloured posca pens, marker pen, felt tip pens, coloured pencils, acrylic pain and even digital painting.

Side stepping for a moment to the double page spread, as further experimentations for the front cover I want to show in a different post, I first planned up the layout in a rough planned concept. However this was changed to be more simplified based on help and feedback.

With that planned, I started to work on the spot illustrations that would be included. The concepts were initially drawn in pencil then refined with a black posca pen before they were refined further digitally in Adobe Illustrator with colour added as well.

The layout was put together in Adobe Illustrator which it had a few colour changes yet still worked. That will be shown in a different post.

The next post will be showing further exploration for the front cover as well as the process for the completion of the final outcomes.

Part 2

[tc-illustration]

This will be very short as there isn't a lot to it but still worth showcasing it.

Before going onto the second project of second year, we had to do a small brief to created printed products for a small pop up shop that was happening during the Christmas time.

I chose to do small A6 greeting prints, as a way to save time I decided to reuse print designs from the first project of second year as I really liked them and thought it would be nice to reuse them.

I had a very simple colour choices as this was meant to be a quick thing for me to focus upon so I could have more time on the main project.

That's all for now.

If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask.

[tc-illustration]

Sorry for lack of posts (Again)

Things have been very busy for me during these past few months, I will try to upload work relating to second year very soon.

I will be doing a new course soon and hopefully I will have time in between to showcase college work as well as personal projects I have been doing in between.

[tc-illustration]

From the previous post, I will be showing the process for the third and final print experimentation which was Risograph Printing.

As of that point in time, I had already gathered experience with this printing method so, like the Linocut Printing, this was a way to work upon skills I already had.

In terms of designs, I was using these concepts for the prints as I was going to create 4 designs at A5 size.

Since I needed separated layers to can into the Risograph Printer, I made digital refinements in Adobe Illustrator before being edited together in Adobe Photoshop and printed to use.

With the print references, I went onto creating the prints by having the Risograph Printer scan each layer and print the specific colour I had in the machine. I had two sets of Risograph Prints which two different colour combinations.

From last year, I was able to use Risograph Printing a lot so I was able to improve my skills and understanding further with this printing method. Compared to the previous two printing methods, this is what I consider as more of my go-to to use.

That's all for now.

If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

[tc-illustration]

From the previous post, I will be showing the process for the second print experimentation which was Linocut Printing.

I actually have past experience with this type of printing method so this was good to work upon skills I already had.

The design I did was a mixture of the smaller concepts I did earlier as I used the tools needed to cut the design into the piece of lino.

After cutting into the lino, the ink was applied to create the prints for the experimentations. I first did used black ink before testing red since those were the colours we were allowed to use at that time.

The very first black ink test piece did not work as well since some lines were not cut fully so I quickly fix that to do the next set of test prints which thankfully the lines were clear. The red ink tests were interesting as I had not properly cleaned the lino of the black ink so the colours ended up mixing together to create an interesting gradient like effect.

Compared to Relief Printing, this was a printing method I like more in comparison as the process is much easier to follow and there are far less steps included.

The next post will cover the last printing experimentation I did for this project.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 4

[tc-illustration]

Carrying on from the previous post, I will be showing the processes for each of the printing experimentations by first showing the process for Relief Printing.

Relief Printing is basically having a design on a form of 'plate' where ink is applied before placing the print on paper and applying pressure to both so that the print will show.

In terms of imagery used I used these concepts to put on a plate.

The layout of the plating had to be digitally edited together so that the file could be sent to a laser cutter. I don't have an image of the digital file for the print nor do I have a picture of the cut plate itself.

I actually needed a lot of help with this since it was very complicated, from getting the document right to even the main printing experimentation.

With guidance, I went onto doing the main experimentation once the main plate had been cut. The ink was applied to the plate and the paper was placed over it where a roll press was used to apply the pressure so that it was evened out.

In the end I only created 4 prints since I wanted to focus on other printing methods. This was not a process I liked very much due to how complex it was and have honestly avoided it since.

The next two posts will show the processes for the other printing experimentations I did.

Part 1

Part 3

Part 4

[tc-illustration]

Despite such a big delay from life and work for my education taking up most my time, I can now start showcasing work and processes that was done within projects for the second year of my third course.

The first project of second year focused on learning different types of printing processes, there was no exact final outcome as we had to have either a collection of experimentations or one finalised/proper print. I personally chose to have a collection of experimentations so that I could focus more time with understanding the printing processes.

Before starting on any imagery concepts, I had to decide on a theme by gathering reference imagery which I ended up combining two themes of botanical plants and crystals. (Only showing the mood boards for the themes and inspiration aspects together to make things easier)

With the theme decided upon, I started to generate a range of ideas for the imagery that could be used for these print experimentations. These ideas varied from full imagery to smaller aspects that could be used while also exploring with different media.

Some of these concepts were used in the printing experimentation which each experimentation will be shown in their own post.

At one point I had the concept idea of having the imagery be that of a botanical plant within a crystal. Getting some advice, I decided to create my own form of 'crystals' with plants inside by both ice and gelatine with fake flowers.

There were some colour explorations with the photographs I had for the theme exploration but that ended up feeling irrelevant since when I did do the actual printing experiments, there was a limit of what colours were available. So I will not show them.

There were also digital sessions for new editing skills in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator but they also feel irrelevant so I will also not show them.

The next posts will be showing the processes for each of the printing experimentations I was able to do in that project.

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

[tc-illustration]

Lack of updates

Hi, sorry for the lack of updates.

I am in my final year of my third course so that is taking up a lot of my time.

The first chance I get, I will showcase the process of my best work for the second year of the third course I am on.

[tc-illustration]

Continuing from the previous post, after I had created the new thumbnail sketch to plan the layout of the final pieces, I started to work on the assets I would be using to create the final pieces.

I first sketched the basic shapes of the assets before applying the media I thought would work best to them. They were scanned and digitally edited to fix any areas that were uneven.

We were provided a template to use for the finalisation of the book cover which I used in Adobe Photoshop after finding a text font I felt worked best for the book cover. After some edits with the assets and text, my interpretation for a new book cover for James and the Giant Peach was done.

I had to showcase the design on a mock-up template so I looked online for one I could use before applying the book cover to it to see how it would look.

The final piece had to be printed to be physically be handed in so I did so where I saw that the colours came out differently than how they looked on screen but I still liked it.

All in all, I did enjoy this project as it allowed me to explore an aspect of my childhood and how I could recreate a book cover in my own interpretations.

That's all for now.

If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask.

Part 1

Edit; The final piece is now on my Instagram if you are curious about it.