PRE-MAJOR PROJECT Research, Development and Finals Arts University Bournemouth By Laura Huartson
Pre-Major Project Arts University Bournemouth By Laura Huartson
CONTENTS Learning Agreement Cross generational themes in picture books. Related to my essay, this section explores sensitive subjects within children’s books, looking at cross generational themes that are used and examples of these in both contemporary and historical contexts. 1. Mom’s Hair by Gro Dahle and Svein Nyhus. 2. Sinna Mann by Gro Dahle and Svein Nyhus. 3. The Island by Armin Greder 4. The Sad Book by Michael Rosen and Quentin Blake 5. Duck, Death and the Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch 6. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Jim Kay Location drawing at Exbury Gardens Character Development Storyboard Finals Evaluation of Project
ARTS UNIVERSITY BOURNEMOUTH Learning Agreement Name: Laura Huartson Course: BA Illustration Level: 3 Unit: Pre-Major Project Unit Code: ILL651 Credit points: 20 Study hours: 200 Tutor(s): Joel Lardner, Paul Roberts Synopsis of study For my Pre-major project, I want to explore into the use of cross-generational themes within children’s picture books, by creating my own narrative story that uses what would be classed as one of these themes. My narrative story looks at an old man named Arthur, who has lost his wife. Throughout the story you see that Arthur is depressed, and not coping well with his loss. He has neglected his house, but especially his garden, which had been both him and his wife’s passion before she passed away. The narrative explores how he begins to come to terms with his grief by getting back into gardening and restoring it back to when it flourished with life. To achieve the aim of my project, I want to push myself by creating a body of work that explores important areas in the development of my book. I want to explore the development of my character, going from initial quick character sketches to more detailed drawings of him, looking at his clothes, his movement and placing him within his environment; whether that’s his house or his garden. I want to create a substantial amount of storyboarding where I keep developing the images I want to produce. I also want to explore into the garden, looking at the contrast between it in its neglected state, compared to when it is brimming with colour, flowers and trees. To do this, I want to explore a range of materials, as well as improving my knowledge of Adobe Illustrator to allow me to combine both hand drawn illustration with digital colour and textures. I hope to have 5 final images to show how the illustrations will look in terms of materials. I also hope to have a dummy book to show possible layouts of the pages.
To accomplish these areas and to inspire my design of the garden, I want to complete some research trips and locational drawing to help me depict the garden in both states. I hope to visit both Exbury Gardens and Kew Gardens, as these should be extremely helpful for my project. I also want to have an ongoing inkling, where I’ll be able to add my research, photography and drawings to show the development of my project. I hope to learn about how narrative illustration approaches cross-generational themes within picture books, and how practitioners such as Quentin Blake, Svein Nyhus and Armin Greder approach conveying sensitive and sometimes controversial subjects within there illustrations. The reason I hope to conduct this project is because I want to use it as a starting point for possibly creating a children’s book within the Major project, and to further my knowledge of narrative illustration, which is the area I would like to focus on. Aims A1 To provide further opportunities for extended independent study A2 To encourage me to focus upon an individual project as a means of exploring and clarifying concerns for the remainder of my Level 6 studies. A3 To consolidate my ability to respond to the inter-relationship between theory and practice. Learning outcomes: On completion of this unit I will be able to: LO1 Demonstrate the ability to develop a sustained piece of independent creative work. LO2 Clarify theoretical and practical areas for exploration during the subsequent Major Project in relation to my self-development and vocational aspirations. LO3 Demonstrate my ability to develop creative work which responds to theoretical issues and questions. Assessment Components For assessment, I will produce at least 5 final images, accompanied by supporting sketchbooks. Within these will be character developments, storyboards and locational drawing taken from trips to Exbury Gardens and Kew Gardens. I will also have an inkling showing the processes of my work.
You can see from the cover of the book the strained state of Mum, through her face and her eyes
This children’s book called ‘Mum’s Hair’, is written by Gro Dahle and illustrated by Svein Nyhus. It explores an issue within society when a parent becomes ill, and the responsibility of looking after the child is threatened and strained. Using the metaphor of tangled hair to symbolize the unstable state of mind of an ill parent, it explores the impact this has on the relationship between parent and child. The book follows how Mum’s hair changes character from something beautiful and controlled, to something overwhelming and unmanageable; signifying the collapse and breakdown in the physical and mental well-being of a parent when they have become ill.
SINNA MANN GRO DAHLE & SVEIN NYHUS.
This book explores the topic of domestic violence, and the impact it has on the child stuck in the middle. The visual aspect of the story hugely influences the mood and atmosphere of the narrative. Everything around the aggressive character is grey and withered, displaying how the protagonist’s aggressive moods influences everything and everyone around him. The father is made to be gigantic and an imposing figure, compared to the mother and child who are small and loom in the background. His knuckles are also red, implying the tension and his short fuse. As well as getting bigger, his head decreases in size, suggesting the fathers loss of mental control, and therefore choosing to be violent against his family.
THE ISLAND ARMIN GREDER
Within this picture book The Island by Armin Greder, it explores a range of issues that we experience in today’s society; that of refugees, xenophobia, racism, multiculturalism, social politics, and human rights. The book follows people of an island, who find a man sitting on their shore. However, they immediately reject him because he is different to them. They lock him in a goat pen, refuse him work, and feed him scraps. Soon there fear turns to hatred of this unknown, different man, where they proceed to force him into the sea. The visual aesthetic of the book, and the use of charcoal pencil to create the dark toned illustration, influences the sombre mood of the book.
This children’s book called The Sad Book, is written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Quentin Blake. It’s a story that explores depression, death and grief; based on the real experiences of the writer with his journey tackling these issues after the sudden death of his son Eddie at 18 from meningitis. The visual imagery mirrors the darkness of the text, but then compliments those few light-heated moments with colour to highlight the period before his son death. This picture book builds upon Michael Rosen’s personal experience dealing with his grief and how it affected him, as well as following how he coped with his sadness. Because of the complexity of grief, with people dealing with it in there own different and personal ways, the book frequently uses a disconnect between text and image. For example, within a page from the book, he talks about how angry he is with his sons death. ‘How dare he make me sad.’ Yet Blake uses 4 colourful images of Eddie when he was a child, a time when Rosen was happy, in contrast to the texts which depicts his present day grief.
THE SAD BOOK MICHAEL ROSEN & QUENTIN BLAKE.
DUCK, DEATH AND THE TULIP WOLF ERLBRUCH
Written and illustrated by Wolf Erlbruch, his book Duck, Death and the Tulip explores the subject of mortality. The picture book follows duck, a character whose coming to the end of her life, who finds himself being followed by death. Death is depicted as a skeletal figure, but one who wears clothes. When Duck goes on to lie lifeless, death carries her to the water and places tulip on her, and nudges her away. For many people, death is a scary aspect of life, however, Erlbruch approaches the subject with subtly, showcasing the inevitable and approaching a subject many parent feel inclined to avoid.
A Monster Calls is a short novel for children, written by Patrick Ness from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd. It’s illustrated by Jim Kay. The book follows 13 year old Conor, who struggles to cope with his mother’s terminal cancer, as well as then dealing with a father that is nowhere to be seen, a fractured relationship with his grandma, and also being a victim of bullying at school. Throughout the book he is repeatedly visited at 12:07 by a monster who tells stories. It ends with Conor finally ready to confront his feelings about the situation and accepting his mother’s imminent death. It ends with his mother succumbing to cancer at 12:07. Jim Kay’s black and white illustrations compliment the text, and help covey the atmosphere and mood of the book. Highlighting the dark situation and depressive emotions that Conor feels with his mothers terminal diagnosis, the illustrations chaotic style reflects the turbulent state of his mental emotions, having to deal with the struggles of everyday life that many children experience such as bullying or an absent parent, along with having to cope with his mother inevitable death.
A MONSTER CALLS PATRICK NESS & JIM KAY.
RESEARCH TRIP TO EXBURY GARDENS
To enhance my project, I visited Exbury Gardens near where I live to inspire me with the design of the garden for my main character within my narrative. At this time of year in October, most of the flowers and trees aren’t at full bloom. This is helpful for me when I look to draw the garden in its neglected state, with weeds, dying flowers and bare trees. However, I did make a trip to the gardens last year when all the flowers where out, so will use the photography I produced then to inspire me with the rejuvenated garden.
Whilst at the gardens, I noticed how the leaves became even more colourful and interesting when they were dying and falling off the trees, compared to in the summer when it seemed the flowers took centre stage. Instead of being dull and brown like I suspected, many where vibrantly coloured with pink, red and orange appearances.
Whilst here at the gardens, I wanted to try capture what was in front of me as quickly as possible, as I often try to spend as much time as I can trying to get the image perfect. I therefore tried to not be as precious with my drawing, and used a variety of marks to try and capture the diversity of colour, and the different textures of the shrubs and trees. Because of this, I wasn’t too much focused on trying to describe and draw each individual leaf on the tree or within the shrubs, but to focus on the mark making and variety of colours that were present in front of me.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
STORYBOARD
Having written my text, I created an initial storyboard to jot ideas of what could go on the pages, and then went on to refine the storyboard. In terms of the layout of the pages, I took inspiration from Quentin Blake’s The Sad Book, experimenting with full page spreads, boxed images, double page spreads and purely text with a small image. I feel this adds variety to the page, making each image unique, different and interesting to the reader. After finishing this storyboard, I still felt that some of the pages needed working on. I felt that my character was too static, and some of the images are quite similar.
FINALS ‘Before he lived on his own, he lived with his wife. But she’s not here anymore.’ For my Finals, I decided to combine digital painting with pencil. I really liked how the texture of the pencil comes through, stopping the image from looking flat. I also looked at the colour of the chair, changing it with the Hue setting on Photoshop. I still felt that the blue/turquoise chair worked really, as it give us a break from all the different browns on the furniture.
Having finished my drawing, I initially was really happy with it, but found the walls looked flat. Therefore I decided to add a wallpaper pattern to the wall, and feel that this works really well. For me it enhances the image, but doesn’t over power the focal point, which is my character Arthur. I also found it a too yellow, so used the desaturate tool on Photoshop to tone this down, which I feel works better.
‘They did everything together. But most of all, the garden was their prized possession.’ This page explores the memories Arthur (main character) has with his wife before she died. Using the images made within my sketchbook, I experimented initially with tying to make them look old, by altering the colour of the pencil line. I really liked this technique, but felt it would not suit the style of the book that I was hoping for. Therefore, I decided to once again go about painting the photographs digitally.
‘For the first time in a long while he was happy again, in the place he loved the most.’ This final piece explores the last page, when the garden has rejuvenated. I had real problem with this piece, and it has improved a lot since I started colouring the image. The problem I kept having was that the image look too much like it was digitally coloured; too ‘Photoshopped’. However, with some help and guidance its turned out better then I was expecting, but if I return to this within my Final Major Project, I feel that I will try to improve it even more.
EVALUATION
Pre-Major Project The aim of my project was to push myself by creating a body of work that explores important areas in the development of my book. I wanted to explore the development of my character, going from initial quick character sketches to more detailed drawings of him, looking at his clothes, his movement and placing him within his environment; whether that was within his house or his garden. I wanted to create a substantial amount of storyboarding where I kept developing the images I want to produce. I also wanted to explore the garden, looking at the contrast between it in its neglected state, compared to when it is brimming with colour, flowers and trees. To do this, I wanted to explore a range of materials, as well as improving my knowledge of Adobe Illustrator to allow me to combine both hand drawn illustration with digital colour and textures. I hoped to have 5 final images to show how the illustrations would look in terms of materials. I also hoped to have a dummy book to show possible layouts of the pages. Having finished my project. I feel that I have completed some area’s I set out to do well, but feel that I haven’t reached the potential in others. Overall, I feel that I have developed my character well. Starting with initial pencil sketches to develop my character Arthur, I was able to established specific features and clothes, and figured out what he was going to look like. I then moved on to applying colour. Despite this I feel I could have pushed my character more, exploring even further him within his environment and the garden. Within my project, I wanted to have a final storyboard that was developed to its full potential from the initial starting point. I managed to create 2 storyboards, as well as developing further some of my pages. I feel that the storyboard could be developed much further, by experimenting more with perspective, view points and angles, as I feel many of the pages are looking straight on at the environment and the character. I was also able to create a small dummy book, which helped me to establish the pace of the story, and whether the images worked well with the previous pages, and subsequently the next.
Final Pieces For my Final pieces, I drew the image in pencil, and used Photoshop instead of illustrator to colour them digitally. Furthermore, I was only able to create 3 final images, unlike the 5 I specified within my learning agreement. Overall, I feel that my first final piece, of Arthur sat in his chair, is my most successful piece. This image was my first attempt at combining both hand drawn and digital techniques together. I feel that I have managed to grasp him in his state of grief. The colours used work well together, with the blue chair breaking up the predominant use of brown and creams. Furthermore, the combination of both pencil and digital colouring was the best method for this image, with the pencil adding to the character of the piece. In terms of my second final piece, I like how this has also turned out. I found the drawing of photographs the most successful way to depict the memory Arthur has with his wife, and compliments the text rather then depicting it. I have also used the pattern of the wallpaper from the first image within this, to create a subtle link with eachother. For the photographs, I used a Sepia tone to make them look old, and bring across this idea that they are the past memories. For the third final image, I feel that it is not as successful as my first two finals. I struggled to try not make it look like I’d used Photoshop to colour it, and wanted it to be able to feel like it belonged with the other two images, Despite this, I’m a lot happier with the way it has turned out compared to how it looked when I first finished.