So I know that it's always good practice to look back on your work and reflect on the finer points and the the parts that need work, so i'm going to give a quick summary of my summer work. I swear this will be the last post on this set, i'm sure you're all sick of seeing it by now! Here goes!
For this piece I had to think of a cool way to show foreign animals that were being transported illegally to the UK. I quite like the idea that it was in the animals interests to come over for itself and thought it would inject a little humour into the story if i personified an animal, so came up with this panel. I do quite like how it ended up, because the turtle looks like quite cute and old, but in hindsight I should have tried using a snake as that animal was in the title of the story.
The Meatball Shop was one of my favourite little editorials because it was just so exciting to hear about such a place! It made me think about what a child might think about if someone said the phrase to them and came up with this. I tried to limit the colours, maybe i could have done that a little more, but i'm also happy with the side buildings that represent NYC. I tried to find a background colour that represented fun and New York but proved difficult so ended up with this bluey colour. This is one of my favourites from the set.
I had fun drawing Santa in the sun, it's not often you get to do it! I'm usually quite avoidant of drawing actual people, but drawing Santa was refreshing. I made him bubbly, encouraging the audience that he enjoys the sun just as much as we do,, so added typical features to him like flip flops and sunglasses.
The concept behind this piece was the fact that it was the US planning a space mission. As this was only a poll as well i went off the readers comments, and found responses mainly to do with using robots instead and how Americans wouldn't get the job done. So I played on the responses and came up with astronauts mixing with the robots, none of them getting the work done (so the picture didn't take sides) and playing baseball, the traditional American sport. I also added as much red as i could to emphasise the American flag. I think this one answers the brief really well.
I have to admit, I love comics so as soon as i found an article that would let me start drawing a superhero I wasn't going to let it go! I had to think of superheroes doing their daily chores, and i love the idea of Iron Man ironing! This was the first time drawing him and I think he definitely looks recognisable as well as me adding a slight artistic licence to him. I had a few problems with the angle of the iron but it works ok, and the colours on the ironing board were going to be green to contrast Iron Man but i ended up using similar colours which i prefer because it integrates into the picture better!
This is based on the story of Amir Khan being excited for his boxing match n Las Vegas. I was really not up for trying to get Khan's iconic face right and showing him boxing so i substituted people for Las Vegas tropical palm trees, which i think adds some excitement. However, i'm disappointed in the background, where i came across a problem. These colours obviously represent the beach, but the audience would have been more familiar with the casino strip. It would have been just too complicated with the style i was working with so had to settle with the beach look.
My original idea for this piece was to try show using new cloudburst technology in frond on no. 10 downing street to ensure that the audience knew it was all about the government form a single glance. Then i did some research and i had no idea how big the building was! I knew it would have been difficult to create a strong piece as the building would take away the concept of the cloudburst technology so i opted for the Big Ben, a place close to the sky, and i was extremely happy that i did because i think i came up with a successful piece here! My only thought on hindsight is that i should have found a way to show "clouds bursting" as such, and not just out of the way of the rays!
Luxurious bath. Foamy, comforting bubbles. Bottle of water for tap? This was based on the fact that although the article said "the worlds most expensive beauty treatments", i read on and found that these treatments could be solved with just bottled water, so i wanted to play on that, and that's shown in this little scene. I had trouble with colour mainly in this piece, trying to find the right tones to represent luxury and comfort, but i think i came up with a good selection in the end.
With this set of illustrations i also had the task of making sure i stuck to one particular style. One problem i was having in my second year was sticking to a style, i was constantly on the lookout to try something new without considering what i'd just produced and what i could have taken away from it. I'm quite fond of the style i injected into this project, thick lines and bold, bright colours, and keeping it as simple as possible, i think it worked on the whole, especially as a set where it all sort of glues together. However, they are very 2 dimensional, and maybe next time i want to consider using less colours and more textures to tell the story, as that would invite the audience a little more.