ASSIGNMENT 1

say hello

This is my first try for this Assignment 1.  I have a few scanned drawings and paintings which I think I may use for this task.

A teapot painted with watercolour paints.

Old wallpaper that I bought in a charity shop a long time ago.

A sketch of my sister sitting on the floor.

This is my first illustration about myself however, I am not happy with result.

This is my second project for this task. A verry simple drawing of myself will look great with some more scanned paintings and small drawings.

 I still have to work on the layout....

This is it and I am very happy with my illustration.  I used a few different ways to describe my personality, my interests and media that I like to work with. I hope you like it.

sketchbook

After watching the first episode of “ Frozen planet “ I decided to take pen a draw a few illustrations.

drawings to exercise 1

I am going to create an image about mothers coming back to work after giving birth to a child and how it affects their pay.

I took my inspiration from an article in the magazine called “Britain in 2010“, an annual magazine of the Economic and Social Research council.  The title of this article is “Pay penalty for mums who work” from the page number 82. 

I did a few sketches for this exercise but I am still not sure how I am going to put them all together.  I would like to create an image of a mother standing on the road between two signs. She can stay in the same company with the same pay or go to a different one but with a possibility of loosing some of her monthly wage. 

I found a statuette of fox in my cupboard and I knew that it was a good idea for this project.  A mummy fox with a pram standing in the middle of difficult decision.

I used a pencil and A4 paper for my sketches.

the first illustration try

My background is bland and boring therefore, I would like to introduce some colour.

 second try

 I remembered that I had a small painting of a tree in my files and I decided to use it for my background.  I worked on it in Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 for a while and happy with my result I pasted into my illustration.   

this is my final result

This is my final image.  I like the idea of one part colourful and the other grey as it gives a clear picture of division of the decision but there is no good or bad.  Either she will stay in the old and maybe a bit boring job for her but with the same money or she will go into the brighter new job but with less money. I turned around a metaphor that money do not grow on the tree and created an image with money on the tree.

Part 1 Getting started

Exercise 1

The history of illustration

Edward Bawden 1903-1989

I was very happy to have Edward Bawden on the list of illustrators for this task.  I went to see his work in the Fry Art Gallery in Saffron Walden a while ago.

Edward Bawden had very difficult life as he survived I World War and II World War although he did not give up his dream about becoming an illustrator.  Edward took a diploma in illustration at the Royal College of Art.  Another step in his career was to create illustrations for London Transport or Shell- Mex, he was working also for Stuart Advertising Agency. Edward was one of the official war artists during the II World War .  

http://www.fryartgallery.org/the-collection/search-results/artist/6/Edward%20Bawden




Dave McKean 1963

 Dave’s life was so much different to Edward’s Bawden life. Dave got on the career ladder very quickly with a big success; he did not have to worry about political situation in his country as Edward did.

                             This is a leaflet that I got from Dave's ticher from his college.

http://www.mckean-art.co.uk/

http://www.graphicustouring.com/exhibition-retrospective.html

 Quastion 1 :

  Did the work of the illustrator that you chose from the list seem old-fashioned? If so what was it that made it seem so?

There is always a risk of becoming an old-fashion no matter what art you do. Edward used a technique current for his time but unfortunately less popular now when the computer took over the vast majority of art.  In hand- made prints many times there is a limitation in numbers of colours to use, that is the biggest reason why his work may look old-fashioned.

 
Question 2 :

  What was it about the work of the contemporary artist that attracted you to their work?

Dave’s artwork is always precise and well made.  He has a genius for getting a message across to the audience. His work is always vibrant, innovative with very characteristic way of drawing.   

Question 3 :

  How did each artist produce their illustrations , what tools and materials did they use?

Edward used mostly hand-made prints and watercolours while Dave creates his drawings on a paper than working on them in computer.  He uses pastels, acrylics, pencil, ink, photographs to create his work.

Now draw an illustration in tyle of each artist, Selecting similar subject matter and using similar media.

My first illustration has been inspired by Dave’s McKean work from a children book called: “The day I swapped my dad for two goldfish”.

 I did a collage on a paper and used it as the background than I draw a girl’s face and two fish on separate paper.  My last stage was to put all together on a computer and make a nice and colourful illustration.

My second illustration has been inspired by Edward Bawden work but with a modern twist.

I took my old drawing of flowers in the vase than I scanned it into a computer and worked on it to create a nice illustration in a style of old hand-made print.  I have to say that was not an easy task.