Saturday 30 October 2010

More animals

Due to popular (at least two people asked) demand - here's a flamingo:


Created by hand this time; sugar paper for the pink, watercolour for the blue, ink for the black. She needs a name though - answers on a postcard please!

I got a little carried away with my cut-and-stick and decided to make a tiger too. I decided I couldn't really resist creating my favourite animal, so here he is (again in need of a name):


I had fun accentuating the child-like nature of cut-and-stick. My initial sketch of a tiger was terrible, so it makes sense that the outcome of this was a little frayed around the edges too. Thanks for reading!

(Creating the tiger reminded me of a book I used to read at my Granny's house, called "The Story of Little Black Sambo". It was definitely one of my favourite boks when I was young. Here it is, along with illustrations: http://www.sterlingtimes.co.uk/sambo.htm)

Wednesday 27 October 2010

Dudley Zoo

Being on a design course, you know trips will generally be fun. So when it came to the option of a group tutorial or a trip to the zoo, the choice was obvious. We of course had to do some work whilst at the zoo, but that proved worthwhile.

I took my camera, but the speed of most of the animals made it tough to capture any decent shots. So the logical step was to get out the sketchbook... Strange decision I know, but I've frequently found that quick pencil sketches are definitely the best way to capture the true nature (and in this case character) of the subject. Some animals were hard to draw (monkeys, otters, turtles - speedy creatures like that), and some were easier - the orangutan below was a bit of a poser.



These are some of the favourite sketches from my moleskin. From there I photographed a few and edited them digitally at home. So, meet Cecil:


The turtles were surprisingly quick! Just as I'd settled down to draw, he moved and I was left about four lines into my drawing. However, I found that these were the crucial lines in order to recognise a turtle, and it makes for an interesting angle of an odd creature. I emphasised these simple lines, and used yellow and white to show the softness of the sand surrounding him. Anyway, enough of Cecil, here's Benji:


I loved Benji's mess of long hair, although it proved difficult to sketch. I highlighted this by having the added orange spill out beyond his arms, increasing the shagginess. It doesn't quite come through in my sketch, but he had a contented, almost dazed look about him as he stared out of the window at the strange creatures photographing him.

Finally, here's Arnie (Fi's suggestion of name, due to him looking "mean"):

Maybe my favourite - and I nearly gave up whilst drawing him. He's an African Hunting Dog, an ugly brute with whacking great ears. He kept running away whenever we went near him, so I was scribbling away from a distance. I added to this scibbly nature, and gave it a moody look by scratching away the blacks and greys.

So there we are! My own little zoo.

Wednesday 20 October 2010

Rabbits

Really poor quality photo of a single page spread produced for a children's book entitled "Moon Rabbit". Hopefully you get the idea!

Drawn in Promarkers and fineliners, to accompany the words "When the city became very busy, Little Rabbit would go to the park to read her book.". We were also asked to produce a double-page spread to accompany the words "Little Rabbit liked living in the city. She had her own place to stay, her favourite cafe, and so many things to see and do.". VoilĂ .

Again, poor quality (and quite small, so you may have to zoom) - but hey ho, every blog has to start somewhere. Overall I was fairly happy with my character and basic element creation, and with my rendering, but I struggled with composition. I'm hoping to scan my finals in order to produce a better image, and perhaps even faff around with text ('cos I quite like to do that.). Will post the results when/if this gets done!