Tag: composition

Exercise: Image development

For this exercise, I was asked to cut to L shapes of card or stiff paper and use them to explore formats to zoom in and out of compositions.

The image I chose was a family photo from a holiday a few years ago. I spent a long time trying to find an image as I am very into photography and most of my photographs were already zoomed in and framed so a lot of these were not going to give me enough room to play with. I really wanted to use one of my own photographs however as I thought this would make the subject fun when it came time to draw it.

I created 10 edited versions of my image trying to retain the content, but presenting it in different ways and in different formats.

  • Composition 1
  • Composition 2
  • Composition 3
  • Composition 4
  • Composition 5
  • Composition 6
  • Composition 7
  • Composition 8
  • Composition 9
  • Composition 10

Although I found it quite easy to create different compositions with this image I found it difficult to find a way to create much interest within the composition. Although I had my main subject matter, which is the girl posing in the pool, it was hard to compose the image in a way that created much interest or focus within the image, without cutting out my main characters of interest. I found that the compositions that had the other people in I liked more, as it created more interest and with the way the framing is, it tends to lead the eye down the image to the main focus and helps set the scene. I feel like some of the compositions become more interesting due to the way they are cropped, particularly composition 9 which is a panoramic view, which creates more drama.

The image I have chosen to draw, is composition 10, where some of the characters are cropped out. Although I like the image better with the other characters and more scenery in the image. I think that in order to convey this as an illustration, I needed to use an image which was zoomed in more, otherwise my main character will be too small to stand out as the focus. Especially as the characters to the left are closer to the camera and therefore appear a lot bigger.

Once I had started to gather my materials and look at the composition more closely, I realised that it would not be very appealing, as an illustration, as the main character still looked too far away. I therefore decided to crop this photo even more to create a new composition.

Final composition crop – No. 11
My illustration

For my final image, I decided to move the characters closer together as they felt a bit too far apart and separate before. I also left out certain elements in the background as it was quite busy and did not add much to the scene. Some of the things in the composition like the third character and the ball. I also removed, as the third character can barely be seen and I felt like they were doing nothing for the scene and would also perhaps look awkward in the frame.

For this image. I researched cartoon women, including Disney characters to see how they drew facial features and hair. I wanted to keep this image quite simple and this is not a finished piece. My goal was to focus was on learning about composition rather than doing a technical drawing. Therefore, I chose to draw in a cartoon style as this was something fun to try and is not something I have done much of. Although I struggled to get a composition that I liked out of these photos, I enjoyed doing the illustration and the exercise has been useful for understanding composition and understanding what does and does not work. I also feel that it showed me the importance of moving things in different places in the image and trying different layouts as then I could improve the composition by moving the focus to elements of my illustration that I wish to bring to the forefront.

When I got to the end of this exercise and started to add to my learning log I read through the instructions again to check I hadn’t missed anything, and I realised that I had misinterpreted the brief. I remembered that I needed to make an illustration of my composition, but I had missed the part that had said a poster with text. I realise that my illustration does not lend itself to well to a poster, as that is not the purpose I had intended for it. I added a border and thought about the word and what text would work for this and decided on the word ‘stressed’ with a question mark. The word is contradictory to the scene as the characters look very happy and relaxed. Therefore, ‘stressed?’ Is intended as a question to the viewer, suggesting that perhaps if they are feeling stressed that this is what they need, i.e. a holiday.

I feel like overall this image works with the text as it does convey a meaning and this scene is eye-catching. I think if this was to be worked as a poster I would need to do lots of different sketches and mockups and play around with the colours and text a lot more. If I was to develop this image further. I would redraw the image as it is not technically sound and look at other colour options and mediums.

Exercise: Illustrating Visual Space

For this exercise we were asked to; use Internet searches or our own visual references for each of the following: a tree, a child running or walking, a building.

We were then asked to photocopy them in black and white in different scales and sizes, so that we have several versions of each image. Cut them into individual items with which to work.

Working the square format, arrange some of the cutouts to create a representational image. We may use the distortion of scale of one element compared to another to create an image which is interesting visually.

For this exercise I decided to try using Illustrator for the first time with my tablet as this is software that I would like to learn. I used a photograph that I have from my Lisbon trip and used it as a template and traced the tree. I really liked how the tree was coming out. However, I realised for this exercise that, as I have to cut out the tree I needed less detail. I saved a copy of what I had done and then on a new file, I filled in the gaps on the tree. Once I was done, I printed this out in different sizes. I then did the same with the boy and the house. However, these images I found on Pixabay.

I originally started working on a large format, but then realised I would not be able to scan these into my computer so I changed to a smaller format. I also realised that I had not fully understood the brief and that the images were meant to be black and white, not black on white. However, this still seemed to work okay for this exercise.

  • Test 1
  • Test 2
  • Test 3
  • Test 4
  • Test 5
  • Test 6
  • Test 7
  • Test 8
  • Test 9
  • Test 10
  • Test 11
  • Test 12
  • Test 13

When the figure is smaller than the other elements. It makes me wonder what he is doing. It makes my eye travel across the page with him and adds a sense of intrigue. The figure may seem less significant and this gives the building and the tree more of an impression of grandeur and therefore they become overpowering in the image. In some instances, such as test 12, the figure would need to be a lot smaller, so that he would appear to be very far in the distance on the horizon. It was difficult, however, to print him so small, perhaps a tiny drawn figure would have worked better in this instance. When the figure is smaller, it looks as though he is perhaps just jogging or playing through the land around and pass the house. In contrast, when the figure is large as in ‘test 4’, he almost looks like he is running away from something. The large size of him seems almost to create a sense of urgency. Although, of course, he could simply be running for fun as well.

When the elements are right differing angles to each other and at an angle to the frame. This changes the dynamic. I struggled with this as I could not find a way to place my images that made sense. As in ‘test 6’, where it could perhaps suggest that the house and the boy are on a hill. However, I found that in this particular image, it just looked very odd and did not particularly give that impression. I imagine that with different elements such as a tall building that perhaps this would be more effective. However, I believe in test nine that giving the element a slight incline did work better and created the sense of the house being on a hill. Having elements at differing angles could also incite a sense of chaos or perhaps a different world.

When all the elements are completely horizontal and vertical in relation to the frame, the dynamic is one of being grounded and realistic. This makes sense to me and feels familiar to the and therefore does not suggest a different world to our own. Nothing seems out of the ordinary and a sense of realism is suggested. A sense of calm and order.

My favourite composition is ‘test 1’. I like the spacing in between the elements as I feel that this creates a sense of depth to the composition. I also feel like it adds to the story as it makes me wonder where the boy is going and if there is significance to the house and the tree in the background in relation to the boy’s story or if they are just passing elements. I like that the boy is the focus of the frame and I really like the way the tree is overlapped in front of the building to create a sense of dimension and interest. The tree and the building that I chose for this exercise are references from Portugal. I chose these as I already had the image of the tree that I thought was a very appealing shape so I wanted to match the building to the place to set the scene. I do not think that you can tell where this image is based on these elements, however, I do feel that it creates a more interesting composition when the elements are more varied in their shapes and this made it more fun for me to work with. The are a few other compositions that I like to, such as test 2, 4, 7, 10 and 13. I feel that these layouts are also interesting or at least work, whereas the others I am not particularly keen on as I feel they are a bit bland and uninteresting.

Reflection

By doing this exercise, It has made me realise that there are a lot more options that I can and should be exploring when I am coming up with compositions. And that by trying out different compositions, I may find one that works better than my original idea. It may also be that by exploring my options, I may find the composition that I was going to go with, reads in a different way than I had intended. Therefore, by experimenting more, I may find a better composition that presents my story in a more effective manner.

I think that I understood the brief. However, I feel like I was missing an opportunity to explore interesting compositions as I was not quite sure how to go about this with just my free elements and the particular shape of the building. I had, I do feel perhaps if I had had a different element will shape building, or perhaps a much smaller size of building that maybe then I could have created more compositions with the elements being at differing angles to each other and to the frame. I am glad that I got to use this exercise is a chance to start to learn Adobe Illustrator and I am feeling like I am learning a lot of different things at the moment, which is very exciting and I look forward to being able to incorporate the things I am learning into my future work.