ILLUSTRATION AND VISUAL NARRATIVE TASK 1: EXERCISES

26.09.2023 - 18.10.2024 / Week 1-Week 4

Emily Goh Jin Yee / 0357722 / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media

Illustration and Visual Narrative / COM61304 / Section 01

Task 1: Exercises

LECTURES

WEEK 1/ CHARACTER DESIGN BASICS

Stylized Design

iconic- can immediately recognize them even in black silhouettes
simplicity- allows viewers to digest and understand the purpose of the characters easily
unique- memorable, makes impact on the viewers

Shapes

used to identify a character from one another

Colour

to determine and separate the basic characteristics of heroes, villains and even background characters
gives impression of different emotions and is easily relatable by viewers

Emphasis & Contrast

a good character exaggerates on the emphasis and contrasting visual elements to make the design stand out by using colours

Harmony

every elements in your design should compliment each other
all shapes, lines, colours, motifs, patterns must be put in a tasteful manner

Expression, Poses

clear visualization of character behaviours, quirks, personalities make it easier to appeal audiences

WEEK 2/ CHIAROSCURO

Chiaroscuro

the use of light and dark to create the illusion of three-dimensional volume on a flat surface
the technique refers to clear tonal contrast to suggest three- dimensional volume and modeling of objects and figures in paintings (e.g. Leonardo da Vinci)
purpose: to increase the scene's dramatic tension by exaggerating the subject's importance using colour or light contrast
application in comic, film. digital works, focus point or subject of a scene is brightly colored

used in visual narrative because

positive space: subject matter or object of interest in a visual

negative space: filled space or background that surround subject matter or object of interest in visual

WEEK 3/ COMPOSITION THEORY 1 VISUAL SHOTS

Visual Narrative

composition should complement your subject focus and reflect the narrative
think of the look and feel the scene

Violet Evergarden, Episode 10: "Loved Ones Will Always Watch Over You" (Kyoto Animation, 2018)

Visual Flow

determines the path of a viewer's eye through the visual

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train (UFOTABLE, 2020)

Visual Balance

Parasite (Boong Joon Ho, 2019)

Visual Hierarchy

the way the subject is visualized and focused matters can have huge effects on the composition the artists make

Anne of Cleeves (Hans Holbein The Younger,(1539)

Different types of shots:

1. Establishing

wide shots- to establish not just the setting, but to portray spectacle and give audiences chance to take in all the splendor and grandeur of a location, while still giving enough information to process what's going on

Wizard of Oz (MGM,1939)

2. Bird's eye view

also known as overhead shots
when POV is placed directly above a subject
somewhere around a 90-degree angle above the scene taking place

The Avengers (Marvel Studios, 2012)

3. Frame within a frame

a well-composed frame within a frame can fracture screen space, add depth, and create visual interest in cinematic compositions
the technique can emphasize and highlight the underlying meanings within your story and break up the information in your frame for maximum impact

Mulan, Disney 1998

4. Medium shot

also called 'three quarters shot'
to frame a character
in between close shot and long shot

Titanic

5. Close-up shot

an intimate moment
emphasize emotions and thoughts within a grander context

Get Out (Universal Pictures, 2017)

6. Worm's eye view

filmed underneath the subject

The Avengers: Age of Ultron (Marvel Studios, 2015)

WEEK 4/ COMPOSITION THEORY 2 PERSPECTIVE

Perspective=The art of representing 3D objects on a 2D surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other

Types of perspective:

1. One-Point Perspective

objects emerge from a single point on the horizon line
images get smaller and smaller as they approach the vanishing point, until they finally disappear entirely!

2. Two-Point Perspective

two vanishing points on either side of the horizon
helps to create a greater sense of space in a scene and helps give objects more of a sense of dimension and place

3. Three-Point Perspective

usually consists of two vanishing points on opposing sides of the horizon (similar to a two-point viewpoint), plus an additional vanishing point that is either high above or below the horizon
to display more things in a single image, or to bring drama and scale to the scene

4. Isometric View

for creating detailed concepts of individual buildings
to clearly present three sides of your design without distorting perspective or obscuring details

INSTRUCTIONS

EXERCISE 1- VORMATOR CHALLENGE

WEEK 2: TRACING SHAPES

Fig T1.1 Tracing shapes, Week 2 (26/09/2023)

Fig T1.2 Exercise- shapes, Week 2 (26/09/2023)

WEEK 3: LIGHTS AND SHADOW

CHIAROSCURO- PEAR

In this task, we had to trace the pear, then cut them into slices with knife tool. Use pencil tool to draw the flesh of the pear. Lastly, we could change the colour of the pear by using 'recolor':

Fig T1.3 Chiaroscuro-pear , Week 3 (10/10/2023)

WEEK 4: COLOURS AND BLENDING MODE

CHIAROSCURO- HUMAN

Fig T1.3 Chiaroscuro-human, Week 4 (17/10/2023)

VORMATOR CHALLENGE FINAL

Fig T1.4 Final Vormator Challenge, Week 6 (03/11/2023)

FINAL OUTCOME

Fig T1.5 Final Vormator Challenge without background, Week 6 (03/11/2023)

Fig T1.6 Final Vormator Challenge with background, Week 6 (03/11/2023)

Pokemon card:

Fig T1.7 Final Vormator Challenge in pokemon card, Week 6 (03/11/2023)

REFLECTION

In the beginning, I thought that Illustration would be a stressful module since I am not familiar enough in using Adobe Illustrator. However, our lecturer is helpful and provide us recording videos so that we could repeat watching when we are unclear with the instructions. Unfortunately, I was stuck at the part where we had to clip mask the texture onto the chiaroscuro human although I had repeated many times of the video. I managed to do it after many hours of attempts but it wasn't really accurate. I felt that using the software isn't easy and takes much time to explore and takes many attempts to complete the steps. Other than that, I struggled with the part where we had to create a character for vormator challenge with the limited shapes, I find it difficult to come up with an idea and looking at the others' work, I really admired how the other could do so well. Eventually, I still got to design my own character although it seems pretty simple. Thankfully, I'm glad that I could learn many new things in Adobe Illustrator.

QUICK LINKS

TASK 1: EXERCISES

TASK 2: DECISIVE MOMENT

TASK 3: DIGITAL TRIPTYCH

TASK 4: SELF-TITLED

FINAL COMPILATION & REFLECTION