UWM Illustration Sem1
In and Out of Focus
Colored Pencil
10cm x 15cm (each) December 2019 Exhibition Text
The Diptych piece "In and Out of Focus" was inspired by what I see when I take off my glasses (I'm far sighted so I can't really see anything right in front of my face) as well as the Studio Ghibli Illustration style. Everyone was doing a serious approach to this project, so I wanted to do something a little different and a little funny. I really enjoy every movie that Studio Ghibli animates because, well, I guess their directors and style give it the magical, realistic-looking feel to every movie.
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Planning
Inspiration
My inspiration stemmed from the way I see pictures without my glasses. The style is inspired by my favorite animation film studio-Studio Ghibli. What sparked my initial remembrance of Studio Ghibli was actually my friends talking about Disney movies they liked when they were little, and I, having not seen half of the movies they were talking about, thought of Studio Ghibli's movie Nausicaä of the valley of the wind. I watched Nausicaä of the valley of the wind on repeat when I was little, it was my favorite movie of all time and I would practically recite the lines as they were playing. The story is basically about this princess named Nausicaä's journey to find peace for her small kingdom. It has a very strong female lead which I adore, she is wicked smart and fly's through the sky on her glider saving everyone, she is a warrior princess after all. My family had always had me watch Studio Ghibli movies instead of Disney movies, so I think this embedded a love for magical stories, old victorian houses, and shiny little copper pots and pans. When I found out this was an illustration assignment I just knew I had to use the Ghibli style. The background style in particular has this realistic feel to it, and this where most of my inspiration came from. Since this was going to be a semi-realistic piece I decided to try and find an interesting looking Victorian house. The picture on the top left is the reference photo I ended up using. In the newer Ghibli films the backgrounds are very detailed and aesthetic, for example reference photo #1 and 3, but since I would be using colored pencil I went more with the style of reference photos #2 and 4.
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(Click on pictures for larger viewing and Citations)
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Planning Sketches
The first planning sketch is the one I ended up using. I really liked the idea of drawing a Victorian house, with all of the yellows and pinks they used when decorating a house of that era. I also wanted to add plants because its supposed to be a (secret) witches house, and she would need her herbs to make potions and such. It also gave me chance to make harsh shadows.
The second sketch is supposed to be a traditional Japanese courtyard, complete with a bonsai tree and zen garden. I chose to maybe do something like this because studio Ghibli is a Japanese company as well as I always being inspired my Japanese culture. This sketch wouldn't give me much chance to make dark contrast though because I would most likely do a day scene. Lastly my third sketch is more witchy than the last two, its supposed to be a witches herb room/green house. complete with aesthetic windows to lets all of these wonderful plants grow. This would let me do harsh shadows, but I chose my first sketch instead anyways. |
(Click on pictures for larger viewing and Citations)
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Process
Process
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(Click on pictures for larger viewing and Citations)
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Experimentation
I didnt really do any experimenting besides scribbling on the sides of the paper and trying to find a way to blend colored pencil. Blending colored pencil is probably the hardest medium to blend because of they are just so waxy. I ended up using mineral spirits because nothing else would work.
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(Click on pictures for larger viewing and Citations)
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Critique
I feel as though I could have done better. I hadn't taken into account all of the light sources because of the time of day change that I made sort of late in the drawing process. I probably shouldn't have made this change to be honest. I think I would have been more proud of my piece if I drew one of the other sketches, I really like the second sketch I drew, but whats done is done. I also probably should have used more color in my pieces. I do like the in and out of focus point though because I like being different than my classmates, as they mostly used deeper meanings.
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(Click on pictures for larger viewing and Citations)
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Reflection
Overall, I think I did pretty well. I know I could have drawn the in focus piece better and could have done more layers of blending on the out of focus one. I also do not like all the white showing through in the in focus one. I would also like to use more color, in the gouache painting portion of this project I will know exactly how to paint my light sources and harsh shadows. Maybe ill even paint more plants to add to my little witches collection. The out of focus painting will be pretty hard to do with a paint that acts like watercolor, I also have no experience with gouache, but I think I will do well.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
My inspiration directly effected my artwork in the style of which I drew the scene.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
My inspiration directly effected my artwork in the style of which I drew the scene.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?