OUIL603 Extended Practice - Into the Woods/Pretty Nasty, Evaluation

Whilst i'm happy in how professional these look, and how well they're presented - I do think there is still something a little bit lacking about the way they look, or maybe its just the himalayan balsam one? I'm still trying to find a middle ground between my digital work, and my analogous work - and whilst i've wrestled with that process throughout this brief I do still think it's something I still need to work on in the future.

I came to this as my 'big kahuna' project late into the academic year, having done a wide variety of other collaborative briefs. My confidence in my abilities as a creator have been down the pan for a large part of the academic year, and a lot of the work i've taken on has been in part designed for me to 'find' a process, or an area of practice i've wanted to work in. 

A repeated criticism i've received in my work is that it isn't serious, or professionally rendered enough, which has been a point of obsession for me this year trying to find ways to create images that look refined and professional at their outcome. I feel like as a set - the work i've created for this achieves this, but I feel that it's almost gone too much the other way. In my efforts to keep refining it, it's become too processed and rendered, and I don't think it reflects my personality as a creator or as an illustrator much at all. 

My main take away from this brief has been to have confidence in the work I can make - because I know I can create good work, and when I enjoy what I make and i'm passionate about it, it turns out so much better. I had so much fun working on all the different processes, it reminded me of what it feels like to actually be a playful illustrator, and I've spent too long listening to what other people's opinions on my work have been without focusing on what I actually want to make. 

Overall whilst I don't think this has been my most successful outcome - I think i've had some really successful moments within it, and I want to take these and move on with it the best that I can. 

OUIL603 Extended Practice - Into the woods/Pretty Nasty, Part 12

Heres what I started with for the Giant Hogweed. I tried to replicate the layered 'look' of the gouache I'd used - but I couldn't quite get the opacities right, so It didn't create the intended effect. I also didn't like how wonky the stems looked, so I tried a few times re-pen tooling it to get it closer to how I wanted it to look.

I tried to approach this the same way that i'd approached the Knotweed - simplifying the silhouette of the flowers by making them circles. I also added a bit more detail to the stems, and darkened the leaves to give them a bit more contrast. The colour scheme for his was heavily inspired by the test sheets i'd done earlier, because I really like the green and white against the purple background:

Like the black on the knotweed - I gave the hogweed flowers little dots of green in the centre to give them a bit more definition - I also added a little bit of a gradient to the stem to give it a bit more of a shadow against the flowers on top of it.

Here's what it looks like mocked up and in pattern/tag form:

I like this one too - I think this one and the Knotweed one are a little bit more faithful to the look I wanted these to have. I like the way they look against the colourful backgrounds - The only problem with the hogweed is that it's a very odd shape, so it was a bit awkward to make it work in pattern and tag format, but i'm satisfied with how it turned out. 

OUIL603 Extended Practice - Into the Woods/Pretty Nasty, Part 11

For the Japanese Knotweed, I tried out loads of different silhouettes and textures until I got one that I liked the look of. By simplifying it as much as possible - flatter shapes, less realism - the more I got the sort of shape and bold 'look' I was wanting.

I tried out loads of different formats and typefaces to go with the card - wanting to step away from my older method of drawing the typefaces by hand. I actually liked quite a lot of them, and i'll probably use them more in the future (Except the 'cheeky bunnies' one, that one is a bit pants)

Whilst they're all very similar, I thought the line wight and the sizing of the 'Moon Flower - Regular' typeface fitted the visual 'look' that I was going for a lot more than the others did - it's a little bit lighter, so it steals less of your attention from the pictures.

This is what it all looks like mocked up and in a pattern - I also made a little gift tag out of the individual motif that could work as part of the set:

 

I think this is the strongest design i've done - it's really bold, closest to the feel I originally wanted these to have, but I do think they're still a little bit too 'static', and maybe lacking in a lot more character than I wanted them to? I think that is the sacrifice you make for digitising your work, because its a lot harder to retain the 'quirks' that typically come from making analogous work. 

OUIL603 Extended Practice - Into the Woods/Pretty Nasty, Part 10

This was the first design I did - using the Himalayan Balsam. I scanned in texture from some of my swatches and painted over them using Kyle T Webster's Gouache brushes, which although its got a nice texture to it, didn't have the intended effect. I didn't think this was bold enough for what I was wanting - not enough like the gouache I'd used before it, so I started to try out ways I could capture it digitally:

Trying out different approaches - one pen tooled with added texture - the other free drawn with the gouache tool. Whilst I prefer the gouache brush one (I think it looks more lively) - I think the pen tool one looks more refined, so this was the one I chose to use instead.

Testing out different coloured backgrounds. The caption was from the Japanese Knotweed set, not the caption I used for the Himalyan Balsam set. Here's what it looks like properly mocked up!

I think these look really professional - and I think they work together as a set. I do think though that the illustrations are still a bit too complicated, not enough like the Gouache I originally did. Im not sure if it's the colour combination, or the way the motifs were made but I don't think it looks as good as it could do. I'm hoping to get somewhat closer with the other two designs.