Narra$ve image making Unit 48 Emma Brady
Response to Tom Phillips •
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As a response to Tom Philips I tried to create my own version of his popular book pages that have been separate to make a word. My first aGempt at copying his work was by taking a page from an old book of Anna Karenna and trying to find a sentence in the wri$ng. My aim wasn’t necessarily to find a sentence that made sense but that would make the viewer think about what the words are trying to portray. I chose to use biro pen because it added depth to the photo and I felt that the words I had chosen (‘Beau$ful eyes broken by emo$on’) deserved to be thought about in depth.
My second response to Tom Phillips was to create a collages piece. In some of his work he seems to use the technique of collaging around his chosen words so I felt his influence translated well into my own response. My aim for this piece was to use different shades of blue paper because it thought it would be ironic because of the words I had picked from the wri$ng. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough shades of blue to make the piece look effec$ve. I really like this page the most because the words I had chosen (‘I was afraid of blue paper and Chris$anity’) even though they didn’t make the sense made me smile simply because it was funny.
Narra$ve image making plan
Narra$ve image making •
This is the end result of my series of images called “The life of Maggie”. I really wanted to portray the joy in something so simplis$c. To a human running wouldn’t necessarily hold all the joy in the world but to a dog it’s as if they live for it. I could take many photos of Maggie in this way because running seems to be the only thing she ever does. I chose to capture the series of photos in out back garden because it’s the place she is normally the most happiest and as the photos are meant to show joy is would only make sense to take them there.
The Journey •
This series of images I called “The journey” because my way to and from college is such a big part of my life. I wanted to show it from the view point of my feet because I thought it would be an interes$ng angle on the phrase “Walk in someone else’s shoes”. I wanted the viewer to think about their own journey and how it may be quite different from other people’s way of travelling not just in England but in other places in the world such as the migrant crisis at the moment.
Edward Lear •
Edward Lear was an English ar$st, illustrator, musician, author and poet. He is most commonly knows for his literary nonsense poems.
• I really like the work of Edward Lear because it’s so unique and at the $me that he was working this style of work had never been seen before. He had tried to become famous with his more tradi$onal pain$ngs but because pain$ngs like that at the $me were so popular there were a lot more famous ar$sts who were doing the same thing and had already made a name for themselves. Edward Lear published his own book full of his own nonsense poems that was popular during his $me. However, a rumor started that Edward Lear was simply a cover up name for the real author who people said was actually Edward Lear’s patron the Earl of Derby. This meant that Edward Lear never really got the recogni$on he deserved when it came to his book.
Edward Lear response Step one
Step two
Step three
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I’d been looking at Edward Lear’s very simplis$c drawings that he makes to accompany his poems. I really wanted to create my own simplis$c drawing but under $med condi$ons. I used Photoshop and gave myself five minutes to create a drawing inspired by Edward Lear. I first created a simple drawing of a pig and then added a buGerfly wing behind the pig. To save $me I copied the wing and then mirrored the wind onto the other side. I quickly added a liGle bit of detail onto the wings and I was going to do some detail within the wing but ran out of $me.
Finish
Spike Milligan •
Spike Milligan was a Bri$sh-‐Irish comedian, writer , comedian, poet, playwright and actor. His real name is actually Terence Alan Milligan but because he never like his name he changed it to Spike a]er listening to a band called Spike Jones and his City Slickers My favourite poem by Spike Milligan is Said Hamlet to Opelia, ‘I’ll do a sketch of thee.What Kind if pencil shall I use. 2B or not 2B?’ I really like it because I feel that only people who prac$ce art a lot or understand the different lead in pencils would be able to understand the poem. As someone who really likes art and prac$ces it a lot I can understand the poem. The phrase ‘to be or not to be’ is a very well known phrase from William Shakespeare but when Spike Milligan has used it with the pencil lead indicator it made me smile because I had overlooked something so easy to spot but is actually quite funny.
Spike Milligan is most well know for his poem On the Ning Nang Nong. The poem was featured in the book Silly Verse For Kids and the poem was voted the UK’s favourite comic poem in a na$on wide poll. The poem was then set to a song and became very popular in Australia where it was o]en played on children channels. According to OFSTED the poem is one of the most common poems taught in primary schools
Ning nang nong On the Ning Nang Nong Where the Cows go Bong! and the monkeys all say BOO! There's a Nong Nang Ning Where the trees go Ping! And the tea pots jibber jabber joo. On the Nong Ning Nang All the mice go Clang And you just can't catch 'em when they do! So its Ning Nang Nong Cows go Bong! Nong Nang Ning Trees go ping Nong Ning Nang The mice go Clang What a noisy place to belong is the Ning Nang Ning Nang Nong!!
These illustra$ons are my associa$on of what the word Ning Nang Nong are. I created them on Photoshop and made them look very childlike because that’s normally Spike Milligan’s target audience.
My chosen poem Bleu et Blanc •
This is the poem I chose to study a]er looking at the work of Edward Lear and Spike Milligan. It’s very similar to their style of nonsense poems but it has a deeper meaning behind it. When first reading this poem it seems as though it’s a childish poem to make people smile. However, when you read deeper into the poem you see that it’s actually rela$ng to racism and making the whole reason of racism seem a stupid idea. We smile at the poem because the cat and the rat are simply figh$ng over the fact that one of them has parts that a blue while the other doesn’t. When you then see the reason behind racism it’s just as stupid as the poem. People are simply figh$ng or not willing to get to know someone simply because of what colour they are.
Rive Gauche •
Rive Gauche are two illustrators who have teamed up to create various different types of illustra$ons. One works in 3D and character design while the other works with Photoshop. I really like their work because it’s very cartoonish and is something I would like to create my own characters in the style of. I’ve always really like Disney and Pixar anima$ons and some of their work is very similar. They also make their work fun and enjoyable to look at which is something I would also like to do with my own work.
The plan-‐ response to Bleu et Blanc •
As a way of responding to my poem I wanted to create a physical representa$on of the characters in the story. I looked at many different ways of crea$ng the characters so that they would be humors to look at but at the same $me send a message to what the poem is trying to portray. I wanted my characters to be enjoyed by not just adults but children as well that’s why I took on a cartoon effect to the characters.
Making my characters •
I create both my characters in the same way so I have focused on explaining one of the characters in par$cular. This is my ‘Gangsta Rat’ that I had sketched out briefly in my book. My first step was to copy in the sketch of my rat and then add it into Photoshop. This would then allow me to create a layer on top that I could draw the outline of the rat onto. So that I would be more précis when copying the rat I reduced the opacity of my original sketch so that I could see the black line I was using. To create a more solid outline of the rat I used my graphics tablet that allowed me to follow all the lines with precision as if I was going over something on paper with pen. I chose to go over the rat because it meant I could get rid of the dusk layer of the paper that I had been using and at the same $me make it much easier to see the details of the rat. My last step was to add colour to the rat. I $red to make it as accurate to the poem as possible but when I was adding colours I no$ced that the posi$on I had but the cat and the rat in made it difficult to add the colour in the way the poem was describing because it cause the design to look oddly shapes and not to a very high standard it seemed like a mistake on my half.
Final outcome to my poem •
These are my final outcomes of the two main characters in the poem. They don’t look exactly like I would have wanted them too because of the way I had drawn the characters but I s$ll feel that they get across the message that just because they look slightly different they don’t like each other.
• I really liked following this poem because at first even though it seems like nonsense it has a deeper meaning behind it. It’s another reason why I chose to create the characters in a humors cartoon style because at first glance it seems like a bit of fun but the deeper you look into the meaning it becomes a lot more serious.
Photoshop generate collage
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Using Photoshop I created a collages background to go with my characters. Because the poem is French I thought it would be a good idea to relate most of the objects within the image to France. I really like the outcome of the collage both with and without my characters in it. I feel that the way I have edited the individual pictures to create one image has turned out to be an effec$ve piece to look at and also enjoyable which was what I was aiming for. I could see this being used in a children’s book because of it being very cartoon but when put together with the poem could relate to both adults and children.
Collage step by step •
My first step on Photoshop was to create a clear blue background for the sky by block colouring a layer. I then went on the internet looking for old French newspaper ar$cles and then took the photo from the internet and used it as the base(ground) for my scene. I then when looking for a picture of the Eiffel tower and the row of trees that are in front of the Eiffel tower itself. I used two separate picture for this and used the wand tool in Photoshop to remove the background so that the image would look less like lots of separate images. I the thought that the floor looked too flat and I wanted the scene to seem as if you were being pulled in. I looked for garden paths on the internet and found the perfect one for the angle I wanted the scene to go. For this picture I couldn’t just use the wand tool because there were too many different colours so I carefully rubbed the background out using the rubber tool. Last of all I created the clouds in the sky so that the image wouldn’t look so empty. I used the same newspaper clippings from before and carefully cut out the shape. To make sure the clouds and raindrops looked the same shape I created one of each and then copied them and dragged them into place.
Alex Trochut •
Alex Trochus is an illustrator living in New York. He has worked with brands such as Nike Coca-‐Cola and ar$sts such as The Rolling Stones and Katy Perry.
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I really like the Work of Alex Trochut because he has a wide range of wri$ng styles. I personally like when he makes the words look as if they are flowing into each other because they look more natural and capture my aGen$on more. Although, I do like looking at his more op$cal allusion pieces of typography because it some$mes takes me a few more seconds than a normal piece of wri$ng to be able to understand the work. What I also like about the more op$cal allusion pieces is that they look almost 3D like they are trying to pop out of the sceen
Hand Job by Mike Perry •
The book Hand Job is a book created by Mike Perry. The aim of the book is to show the viewer just what goes into being a typography ar$st. The book contains work from various graphic and typography designers showing each ar$sts unique process. I really like the idea behind the book because it’s very rare to see a book specific to typographers. I didn’t know how much work actually went into typography un$l I researched about this book. I have to say at first I was a liGle confused about why the book was called Hand Job but the more I researched about it the more I started to understand that it’s one, to capture the viewers aGen$on and two, a clever way of summing up what the book is about.
Typography-‐illustrator •
These are my two typography words that I have created using Illustrator. I used the words from my poem (Bleu et Blanc) as I thought it would be a good idea to $e it into the rest of my work. Overall, I’m not too happy with the result because I found it hard to use Illustrator so my words aren’t as interes$ng as they could be. In the future I would really like to learn more about how Illustrator works to I can make beGer quality work.
Illustrator-‐ Step by Step •
The first step when crea$ng your own typography piece on Illustrator is to select the text tool that I have highlighted as the capital T symbol. You then right click on the word you have wriGen and select ‘Create outlines’ this then allows the text to become separated so that you can work with each leGer individually. A]er outlining the word make sure that you change from the black mouse to the white mouse seen in the picture to the side. The white mouse will pick on each anchor point individually so that you can pull and change the leGer to the shape you want while the black mouse will pick up the whole object. As I said earlier to actually change the shape of the leGer you select one of the anchor points on the leGer and start pulling and dragging the leGer into whatever shape you would like. As you can see pulling and deforming the leGer can make an interes$ng final result.
Hand rendered typography •
I followed on using the words I had been using originally. I created these on Photoshop using my Graphics Tablet. Normally I would have created them on paper and then possibly put them into Photoshop but I wanted to learn more about how my Graphics Tablet worked. Overall I’m much happier with my hand rendered typography then my illustrator typography because I was able to understand more how my tablet worked. I would s$ll like to keep working on improving my skills when it comes to my graphics tablet.
Intro in Design • There are 5 basic principles in design Proximity White space Alignment Contrast Repe$$on • Proximity is all about using visual space to show rela$onships in your work. It’s basically making the things within your design that relate to each other grouped in one place. Groups that are not related should be separated. • White Space White space is the gaps or nega$ve space between the content of your work. Nega$ve space helps you define and separate different sec$ons of your work. It helps to create a more professional look it your work is star$ng to become cluGered. • Alignment Alignment is something that we work with all the $me for example what I’m doing right now is automa$cally being aligned by the program. When doing it yourself it’s a good idea to either have a grid or imagine there is one(I would prefer there to be an actually grid to help me) to make sure your work is consistent when it comes to making sure everything is the right distance apart. • Contrast Contrast is one object being different from another. Contrast can help in many different ways such as catching the readers aGen$on or making your image aGrac$ve to look at. • Repe$$on Is making sure that the project you are working on has a consistent look. This means making sure that certain elements of your work is repeated throughout the project.
Studio Output and Josh Cole •
As I have been researching ar$sts to help me become inspired for my final piece I came across a collabora$on with Studio Output and Josh Cole. They worked on a project called RizeUp which it to help encourage young people to vote. Their aim is to help young people’s voices become heard because they feel that young people are struggling at the moment. This is something that I’m very passionate about because I would love for my opinions and ideas to be heard by our government but I haven’t found any way of gelng my voice heard.
Their idea of trying to let people have a voice has given me inspira$on about what I would like to do for my final Zine. It be a way for me to try and get my opinions across.
Josh Cole •
Josh Cole is a photographer who has worked with many major brands such as Coca-‐Cola, Nintendo and Nike to name a few. Josh Cole had a hard upbringing so his work is normally influenced by his past. I personally really like Josh Cole’s work because he isn’t afraid to be poli$cal or voice his opinions about subjects that people normally tend to avoid. I was really inspired by his photos taken in the migrant camp that used to be in Calais. It shows a different side of what the camp was actually like compared to what a lot of people were thinking at the $me while it was in the news. IT has inspired me to try and raise peoples aGen$on to things that we normally would prefer to avoid.
Final Zine ideas In my Zine I would really like to raise issues that are happening in the present day world. Issues that we would like to forget about and issues that we may have forgot to think about. While I was researching about refugees I came across this image and I would really like to use it in my final piece. The topics I was thinking of using was • War • Poli$cs • Global warming • Refugees •
sketches
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These are some quick sketches I made when I was brainstorming ideas for what to put into my Zine. I was looking at soldiers at first and how I could portray them in a simple way and then I went on to look at penguins. I had the idea to make it look like the penguin was mel$ng because of global warming and even though this is only a sketch I think this will develop to be an interes$ng idea.
Evalua$on In the project we were asked to create a Zine as our final outcome. I was really excited about this project because I felt that I could put a lot of my own thoughts into it and my own ideas. I was also really interested in this project because it was a lot different from what I had done before. I was excited to create something for both adults and children. I feel that this topic taught me a lot of new techniques for example using illustrator for the first $me and using my Graphic tablet in more detail. Although I didn’t think I was very successful at using illustrator I think that I have a good amount of base knowledge to be able to go on to develop my skills in much more depth. I feel that I have been most successful at finding out ar$st research and crea$ng my own characters. I especially enjoyed crea$ng my own characters because I thought they were light hearted and amusing to look at. I would definitely like to go forward with crea$ng more of my own characters in the future. Throughout the project I mainly used Photoshop and Illustrator but a some of my work like some of my sketches and my collage piece were created by hand. I much prefer to use either Photoshop or crea$ng things by hand because I feel that it’s an area that I have a lot of control over and an area I work well in. When it comes to Illustrator I would like to know more to see if I should be using it more than Photoshop to design most of my illustra$ons in because at the moment I don’t have enough knowledge to see how it would be beGer. In my work I have been most inspired by my poem Bleu et Blanc by Maurice Careme and the collabora$on by Josh Cole and Studio Output. I really like how they have both tried to get across the message about people wan$ng to be heard. Maurice Careme through a poem and Studio Output and Josh Cole by helping people to have their voices heard. I especially find the collabora$on to try and make people’s voices be heard a really inspiring project and something I would get behind and support. In my work especially my final piece I’m trying to make people start thinking more about world problems that we tend to ignore. When I asked for people’s opinion about my work while I was crea$ng it the normal response was ‘That’s a bit morbid’ or they would have an unpleasant reac$on to it. For most ar$sts this wouldn’t be a good sign but for me this is what I wanted to happen. It’s raising issues that people find disturbing and by bringing it to the forefront of people’s thoughts they are more likely to think about the message I’m trying to portray. In my final piece you will see that I have used the colours black and red I chose these colours because they are very bold and leave a stark image in your mind. I used red especially as a sign of how the world is bleeding and we don’t seem to care. I included red in every page because we see the effects of all the world’s issues every day but we just seem to pass them by. Overall I’m really happy with how this project worked out. I feel that my Zine is to a very high quality and I think that I have portrayed the message that I want effec$vely. I believe that I have showed a lot of evidence about how I created my project and that my work connects effortlessly all the way through.
Bibliography • hGps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ On_the_Ning_Nang_Nong • hGp://alextrochut.com/ • hGp://www.illustra$onweb.com/ar$sts/ RiveGauche/view • hGp://www.joshcole.co.uk/ #slider-‐6334731075041311202 • hGp://www.studio-‐output.com/case_study/ rizeup/ • hGp://www.learn-‐french-‐help.com/french-‐ poems-‐for-‐children.html • hGp://www.tomphillips.co.uk/works • hGps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Lear • hGps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Milligan • hGp://archive.mikeperrystudio.com/detailed/ 175