I decided to make a gif. I wanted to play with ways to create movement. It took 19 pages of drawing, the light box was essential in this, it really helped make it flow from one image to the next.
Next I had to start compressing my work into an idea for an outcome. First I listed what I wanted from the to show from the project:
1. Form vs Function in children's illustration.
2. A purpose: to teach a moral.
3. Encourage outdoor play and imagination.
My first idea was a comic about a child being taken to the park. My moral was outdoor play is healthy. I tried to show it by having the first part f the comic in monotone with dark shadows then there would be a big contrast between that and the outdoor scenes.
But I realised that it didn't show the form vs function factor.
Next I had the idea of having two posters each telling the same story but one from the child's point of view and one from the mother's. Then i would have the mothers in a more function driven style and then go all out on aesthetic on the childs.
I planned a couple different ideas but I struggled to come up with a cognitive narrative. Also there was an issue with the length on it considering the amount of time I had left. I wanted to consider quality more than quantity.
Then I decided that to make it into a manageable sized project I could do a poster. To promote healthy eating but split in two, one function driven and one form driven. for the function driven one I aimed to used simple shapes ad to not over crowd the page and for it to be simple and straight to the point. The form one to be designed with my sketchbook work in mind, what I've learnt and patterns I've created.
My idea for the function driven one is to have the child character I worked on and have him in 3 stages of life; child, teen, adult. 2 sets: one with the style of the indoors sketches, wiggly dark lines and shadow. this will be the negative side and the character will become out of shape. I think I will have them all in the same position; playing a video game.
the other set will be the outdoor ones, in different positions and outdoor activities.
Trying out some outdoor activities for the child.
started drawing this one of him sat in a tree then I had this idea of having that one as a tree going off into the sky with three sections on it for the characters.
This is the character aged in the negative light. I decided to have a drink as a constant as well to link them together
For the function posters I tried to use elements from the form posters so that they would still work as a set. The heart is a way to simply represent the body and their health. For the negative one I decided to have a video game controller with the wire tightly wound around the heart. I put splatters in a circle around it because before it seemed to be bottom heavy and the splatters seem to balance it out without over crowding the poster.
For the healthy one I decided to take the strong nature based aesthetic from the form poster. To sum it up in one simple element I decided to have leaves and the heart blooming out the top like a flower signifying life. I added the circle of leaves so that it matched the other poster, and worked as a set.
The biggest challenge for the form posters was the sizes, I had sketched out my ideas before on a much larger scale. So i scanned in my previous drawings and resized them to use with the light box. For the top one I felt shape and pattern was important because the colours were going to be shades of grey/blue and wouldn't be that eye catching. I used a protractor and compass to make accurate geometric shapes because I wanted it to compliment the electronic theme, with the video game playing.
The form poster didn't have much detail at this stage because they're only the solid lines I'll be using, the colour will be put on later, I don't want outlines to define where the colour goes but to instead experiment right onto the page. I made these roughs measured out accurately to use the light box to trace onto the watercolour paper I picked to use as my final piece. I chose water colour paper because its thick and holds up but mostly because the paper is absorbent and when you colour using pen and paint it leaves the same flat finish for both, letting me use my pens for the smaller parts that would be awkward to do with a brush.
After working on my poster and getting all the black blocked out I moved onto colour and tipped my red brusho over the side of my poster. Its too late to start over so I've used white paint to block out the red blotches on the border. Then I decided to make the wire around the heart red too because it was already soaked in red.
Research references:
http://www.fisher-price.com/en_US/playtime/parenting/articlesandadvice/articledetail.html?article=tcm:169-20482
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05062011-114155/unrestricted/Parsons_AE_T_2011.pdf
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/12/10/little-big-books-gestalten/
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.94.9399&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Evaluation.
Strengths:
1. Measured accurately and balanced composition (on the function poster most)
2. Play at the beginning of the project in sketchpad, tried different media.
3. Wiggly line shadows on form poster, really like how that looks.
Weaknesses:
1. Time organisation, got a bit overwhelmed with the deadlines and let the work for this project slide.
2. Didn't do enough development fro the function driven poster, didn't consider the function side of form vs function until the end.
3.Neatness; the accident with the brusho could have been avoided if I kept my work space tidier.
What I've Learnt:
1. A project that is heavily concept driven needs more work on the research and understanding to inform the drawing, rather than just drawing for research.
2. Development work is important. Having it all in one sketchpad makes it easier when you get a bit lost because you can flick back and see where you went off track.
3. My organisation skills need work, in everything; time management and the state in which I keep my desk and equipment.
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