mariana almeida
PROCESS BOOK
EXPERIMENTAL
ILLUSTRATION
THE
13'16
5'12 BOOTY
BOOKLET
SILHOUETTE
PAPER
CUT
“THE
BEAST
TABLE
OF
CONTENT
3'4
25'26 THROW
THE
DICE
27'28
29'32
ZEN
MONOPRINT
PORTRAIT
INSIDE
ME”
17'18
19'20
COLLAGE
DRIPPING
21'22 AND
DRAWING
ON
DROP
AND
23'24 DRIPPING
ROUND
ABOUT
The reason that pushed me towards this course is the will to show how the graphic design is not just strictly bounded to the modern tools of elaborations, but it is instead also strictly correlated to the field it deeply rooted in: the analog world, 33'42
43'56
STENCIL
GAMBLING
57'60 CARD
THE
MIXUP
61 LOOK-BACK
AT
THE
COURSE
THE
BOOTY
BOOKLET
It is a booklet that can be carried everywhere decorated with own illustrations and filled with everyday notes.It’s sewed with wax thread and book-bindind needle using a five holes signature.
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4
SILHOUETTE
PAPER
CUT
Two-dimensional representation of the outline of a person, as a cutout, using sticker paper with different colours. Using lines and shadows to create the sense of volume and tridimensionality. In end it was tried some light effects with artificial and natural light to see how that could work.
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12
“THE
BEAST
INSIDE
ME”
We all have a hidden “beast” inside us, an animal that we are related to and we see similarities with. The animal that I relate to me the most is the wolf, so I made a combination with my profile contour and of the animal in order to enfases that similaraties.
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COLLAGE WITH PAPER CUT AND COLORED PAPER Using the image that was given to us in class I created a two colors collage with colored paper and colored sticker paper, using lines and shadows to create volume and outlines. The colors are chosen to creat a contraste, as they are bright and eyecatching.
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18
DRIPPING
AND
DRAWING
With two types of paper and Ecoline, I drew the same face as the previous exercise; using non-absorvent paper I drew the image and after that I folded the other absorvent paper on the long side over the other one.
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ON
20
DROP
AND
DRIPPING
Using Ecoline and absorvent paper, I dropped ink on the paper and dripping it around I tried to shape it as an open hand. It’s quite difficult to control the ink, so the result is difficult to get as expected.
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22
ROUND ABOUT (drawing a portrait with outlines) Drawing the same subject three times, in different positions, overlapping the drawings, using always the same starting point to draw from. The colors help to distinguish one drawing from another since they are overlapped.
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24
THROW
THE
DICE
Matching different tecniques with each number of the dice, the use of them is related to casuality. The resulte in the end is a drawing composed with different tecniques such as pointillism, zig zag and lines.
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26
ZEN
PORTRAIT
Looking to the person in front of me and drawing with hight contrat drop shadow, capturing the strong forms of the body and clothes. In the end the result is a two tones portrait.
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28
MONOPRINT Using as starting point the portrait of the woman in the previous exercises, imagine the profile contour of that same caracter and draw it. Next, use the both portrait and profile to create a monoprint. In some of the prints it was chosen to use either the front or the profile, in others were used the both as side experience.
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STENCIL Simplifing the lines of the portrait of the same woman, using mostly the shadows, I created a vectorised image with a program called DMesh. Transferring that edited image to a plastic tracing sheet extra strong (280g), and then cutting out the filling part, I used it as a mask to reproduce the shape in paper, textile and a vinil, with spray, acrilic and textile ink. In the end I mixed the tecniques to create interesting composition with color and shape.
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GAMBLING CARD (using 2-color linolcut) Recreating a gambling card inspired in the old ones, using geometric lines and shapes. In first place I cuted out the black shape and used a transfer print to know where to place the red print details. The result is a two color print of a new gambling card. As a side experience I decided to print the main shape in with in bright colored paper.
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THE MIXUP (glambling card using a combination of tecniques ) For the final assigment, I combined to ways of printing, stencil and linolcut. The stencil was used to create the background, consisting in a pattern composed by spades in a completely different color than usual. On the top of it was printed a recreation of a gambling card with the illustration of a fox.
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LOOK-BACK
AT
THE
COURSE
The reason that pushed me towards this course is the will to show how the graphic design is not just strictly bounded to the modern tools of elaborations, but it is instead also strictly correlated to the field it deeply rooted in: the analog world, the materials, the techniques and the importance of the non-serial creations. This initial purpose find himself combined with new and gradual acquisitions: in the last months, I indeed learned how to be more sensible to lines and shapes, the importance that they have and how they could be used to transform and recreate subjects and contents. Each exercise represented a new challenge not only from a creative point of view, but also technically. It is an important accomplishment, for those who started their way into the graphic design field, to start experimenting and creating something that helps acquiring self-confidence with new techniques, even challenging to take a different path. The best conclusion I could get is realizing that the combination of the digital and analog should be matched to obtain a final result that can be at the same time pleasant and clean for the eye but still endowed of the right amount of sensibility. Some of the projects gave me the occasion to have an introspective look into my approach to my creations, more than once I found myself in enthusiastic hesitation, while choosing techniques, layouts, materials and even the contents: this is how a wider range of choices changed the way I was creating into my mind. Some of the projects showed us how the causality can often contribute to shape a creation: even remitting stylistic choices to the case can produce unexpected and powerful results, may it be dripping some ink on a sheet or choosing the techniques according to a casual throw of a dice.
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This course helped me taking distance from the conviction that the design creations need a special place and specific materials to be done. The more we were getting into the point of the course, the more conscious I was about the fact that what we learned could be used everywhere and at every time, even at home: the materials are affordable and no special equipment is required for doing it. I got to acquire that just a small ability of re-inventing and shaping materials needs to be applied by those who want to experiment in the field of the illustration. Getting in touch with so many artistic realities gives the chance to make comparisons among a wide range of possibilities, by distinguishing what best fits with the own mindset. The short movies that we watched during the class, about letterpress, stencil and woodcut printing, were for me the most inspiring part. Seeing in detail how the artist plans and makes his work stimulates me to go further with my own work and see that more is possible in that field. As a result, I achieved a completely new and stimulating overview about the tools and materials to shape any creative input, implying more possibilities for me to find, time by time, the techniques that can express best my objectives.
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