I found this exercise to be more challenging than I had anticipated, however, once I found logic to the brief, I was able to navigate the process better.
Here we are tasked with approaching illustration with a limited colour palette. The method of limiting colours is something that appeals to me, perhaps this is somewhat influenced by my background in design. I enjoy looking at illustrations with few colours and seeing how they compose the images with the limitations in mind.
Whilst I was struggling to even think of objects starting with the same letter, because obviously my mind was blank to begin, I turned to Google, typically. Of course what I would find in the results were picture cards for children, learning the alphabet with basic visual reference. The results didn't give me anything more than what I had in terms of objects, however I did get an idea for something else.
I somehow settled on the letter B, giving myself a nice selection: Book, Boots, Bag and Bottle. I realised that it was only 4 objects after I had got it together, but for the sake of it, the 5th would be Brush had I remembered to add it at the time.
Just to cover the basics, I setup my still life with objects beginning with B.
The sketch:
Then the outline:
Adding the outline and blocking in some shade helped to create a 3D look to the objects within the empty void, albeit in a very 2D manner. This I found to be the most successful technique when working with a limited colour palette. The outline becomes part of the colouring, and when used in certain areas also helps to separate each object so that they can read. I actually quite liked this image the way it was with these 3 colours. I liked the texture in the middle tone that acted as more shading. I liked the darker blue outlines against the pink, and overall felt the combination worked well. The pink does feel different when viewing it as a Jpeg on a different screen, so if anything were to change it would be this.
I did one last attempt and tried a slightly different colour palette, this time aiming for just two colours.
In this version I tried to do more than just outline the objects. I added more shadow and colour in a few objects to give some contrast. I think it could have been pushed further perhaps, but I felt this was enough without going to over the top. Perhaps It would be interesting to see this with the dark blue in the background.
PART TWO
Now for the fun part.
So honestly, everything went backwards with my process for this exercise. Part two actually came first, but given the aim of the exercise I decided to save this for after the above "practise" round.
What I did was extend the exercise with a purpose - an actual brief. This illustration was going to be for a children's alphabet book (surprise), but through hide and seek interaction. This quickly upgraded to being a game of "I Spy". Each page would see you looking in a different room of a family home with many objects scattered around beginning with the letter. This will be interactive for children, challenging them to find all the objects they could, encouraging them to learn the alphabet in a fun way whilst associating common objects with those letters. I hadn't thought too much about the age for this, which you will later see to be a bit unclear given the complexity of the illustration.
The room I focused on was Bedroom. Following on the theme of books I wanted to have a character who would be reading in bed with a blanket. First I jotted down more objects that I could think, which was not limited now that I had an idea of what I was doing.
I started some thumbnails of what I wanted to do.
After sketching out some layouts, I settled on the last composition. The perspective of the room allowed for a good amount of floor space surrounding the bed where I could place more objects.
So now I had an illustration set, I then began to think differently about the colour. Perhaps colour plays an important role on how a child actually learns, perhaps their behaviour is effected based on the colours they see? Could this be valuable for this exercise?
As I had already used blue and pink, it was interesting to see what the article mentioned about those and how it can effect children. Both colours seemed to cause a calming effect, which given the subject I had set upon, did feel to fit nice. Seeing the slightly improved sketch in black and white above had definitely confirmed that I wanted to avoid using both of those colours in this. So I stuck with blue and pink to begin.
I realise this is probably more complex than it should be for a children's book. The details could possibly be overwhelming and some lines, such as that on the girl, can appear lost. Despite that, I do really like this illustration so far, but think the age this would be aimed at is muddy.
I threw in the pink to get rid of the white.
It was definitely a difficult image to see clearly. Although I like it, I can see that the girl is a problem in this image and somehow needs to be pushed further forward if this was to be for children. Perhaps the lines just needed to be bolder to match some of the others surrounding her, or the middle blue shadow should be removed slightly across her face. Maybe the pink was a bit off as well, but I was slightly torn on that.
I did want to bring a challenging element into this image, but perhaps I made it too difficult for wrong reasons. Some areas were more clear than others, for me this was a problem.
I attempted another version, this time making the lines bolder in some areas and cleaning it up in general. I also reassessed the colours as I think the choices here hadn't helped the clarity of the illustration.
Here it is with just two colours. I have taken the route of using the darker colour for mostly outlining, though have blocked in larger areas for shadow. I think this reads better, but it may still be a bit old for the purpose of the brief.
Here is the illustration with 3 colours, which for me is already an improvement to the blue and pink version. Changing the shadow on the girl has made her more visible. I just know there is more that can be done to make this illustration suitable for a children's book. Depending on the age, this would need to be drastically simplified. I think I would need to approach colouring differently, and perhaps not just work with light and shadow but also contrast some objects like I had in the final practise round in Part One. Where shadow is covering objects completely, this could be difficult for a child to recognise. When there is a combination of the peach and purple, the objects are more noticeable.
Images I collected for reference:
I remembered that I had a children's book purchased a long time ago that I seemed to remember being incredibly simple with the use of colour. I found the styling of the book to be very unique. Each page would bring a different combination of colour, whilst some were reoccurring.
Why I thought to include this here because it uses a very different approach to limited colour compared to what I had collected online. To start it didn't have outlines! I'm the type of illustrator that somewhat depends on outlines, it's a bit of a default for me.
I thought the use of the white page was very well done in this book. The white rabbits above feel hidden at first glance, though taking a moment to adjust your eyes, you can see how they are almost part of a pattern. This alongside the contrasting orange of the fox works so well! It is also a creative way to show the rabbits hiding from the fox, becoming camouflage in their surroundings in hope to not be caught.
I wondered if there was a way I could transform my illustration to be in a similar style. For it be as successful as the book, I would need a stand out character. However, my illustration isn't focused on the character, that just happens to be a situation in the room, what is the stand out "character" is in fact all the objects that begin with B. Wouldn't that make it too easy if I actually had the objects in a different colour? Could I use the background colour to my advantage similar to the rabbits in Coralie's book?
to try and create a more graphic illustration with a limited colour palette like Coralie, I need to strip the concept back to a more basic state. I wanted to avoid the usual outline style that I am most comfortable with and create a vector style with shapes. there is something about outlining drawing that might seem to age an illustration slightly, depending on the context that is. approaching the scene without lines feels as though it would be more intended for a younger audience, something more suited to a children's book like Coralie. I collected a few images to support this opinion, but also as more inspiration for simplifying the concept.
there is a 2 dimensional approach in some of the works that have no outlines. Unlike the examples I had first collected as reference, perspective seems flat. In the image above top left corner, there is a sense of outlines used as it is used sparingly across the illustration, though what had caught my eye in this particular image was the limited colours. I liked how black was used to not outline the entire piece, but tactically used to help add definition and contrast in some areas. It is a more complex composition compared to the others which I thought could be useful to consider in my version. However, I feel to strip mine even further to suit a 2D format.
I went for a 2D look down oblique perspective which is more common in RPG games. I thought this might help with making this feel younger, but could already feel the challenges when sketching.
I gave up on this piece as I struggled to see how I would lose the rest of the outlines. My mind wasn't processing the colour balance that would help make this stand out. I tried to keep it like the room but in doing so I doing believe I was successful in simplifying it. I certainly didn't succeed in making it more graphic. This was going to take a bit of practise, and a lot of cutting to achieve the outcome I am aiming for.
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After Feedback
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The feedback format was slightly different to how I had been used to receiving it. In Part one, instead of seeing a breakdown for each exercise, I received an overview that had considered the 4 main pillars for successfully completing the course.
LO1 evidence your engagement with experimentation through your practice
LO2 demonstrate how research has informed your practice
LO3 develop a body of work that is rigorous in its engagement with conceptual and practical skills
LO4 situate, reflect and critique on visual practices and reflect on your own learning
It was an interesting change of perspective, and found it to be insightful with learning about the work I had shared through my tutors view, side by side to the points. The recommendations considered in the feedback sought depth in what I had only scratched the surface on. It was refreshing to have the holes in what I had created highlighted, yet also feel that everything I had began to approach was valid. It was positive, supportive and encouraging. So when I had seen the recommendation on illustrator Louis Mendo for drawing and redrawing over and over, I was motivated to step into his shoes and explore his methods in this exercise.
I decided to stick with my formula of extending my blog entry with new work rather than update what I had previously sent for feedback, this would allow you to see how I first approached the exercise compared to what I would do differently. I didn't want to restart what I had done in this (or any other exercise here after) I just want to dive deeper and perhaps draw the exercise to a better conclusion after receiving some guidance.
After watching the video of Luis Mendo on this link:
I could see similarities in Mendo's work compared the images I had collected for reference originally. the colours he worked with were very similar, and the way the had used a light source to bring in the secondary colour in what looks limited. Something I think I could improve on with my illustrations is light and shadow. I really love these 3 pieces by Mendo for the fullness in his scenes and the way he bring light into it. The middle image below is particularly beautiful, and with the chosen colours you get a real sense of the environment, perhaps dusty with all the clutter and books, but cared for with a huge passion. The light doesn't appear to be coming from a bulb, in fact the light source doesn't seem obvious at all. I love the coolness in the blue grey tone compared tot he warmth in the light, my guess is it could be coming from a window, perhaps a high window.
Examples of the works I enjoy by Mendo:
I love how Mendo creates a scene. The details are stunning, and with each illustration above there is a narrative, a sense of purpose. There is often a character captured in an action, and it feels warm. When comparing my illustration of the room compared to either of these examples by Mendo, you can see that mine feels to be floating, where as Mendo frames his subject with a full edge to edge illustration. When recreating my scene, I will consider creating the piece in a similar format, looking at composition.
another point to consider when looking at Mendo's work is the accuracy in perspective. He creates very balanced, well composed scenery that is using perspective in a way that directs the viewer across the work. This, and the beautiful use of light and shadow takes the audience on a journey, to marvel the scene and find the main subject with ease. There's narrative in the direction of perspective, the light and shadow, the composition, and what Mendo does so well is place the audience in the drawing. Each example above feel to be at eye level, putting you in the illustration. The image on the right showing a man on a piano, with the colour palette, the composition, you can almost hear him playing.
One thing that had been mentioned by my tutor was exploring texture in digital illustrations. Something Mendo commentates is how he would explore the brushes that would be somewhat random in the way they behaved. He uses textured brushes which in his final pieces look to mimic the style of watercolours. I decided to do a few more variations of my drawing, to experiment with the repetitive action of drawing the same image over and over. Could I find ways to bring texture, perhaps even try a different composition so that my illustration feels alive, and dynamic.
To do this I used Procreate. I wanted to change the perspective slightly and shuffle elements around to create a more appealing composition.
I was quite happy with the composition on this sketch. I wanted to bring some objects to the forefront to give more interest in the visual, it also adds to the framing of the scene. Keeping to the theme of the letter B, I filled the room with objects that could be fun to search through. Blind, Bunting, Bed, Ball, Bone, Bowl, Bottles, Board game, Bag, Biscuits, Crush, Bulbs, Basket, Boots, Basket, Bunny, Blanket, Books. there was also more than one of the objects so could also be a game of counting; "how many bulbs do you see" for example.
In the next stage I cleaned up the sketch and added some colour. I opted for a more textured brush approach this time round.
I don't feel I was successful in channeling Mendo in this version. It feels very heavy and rough in the finish. The lines are not straight, the colours are too dark, and overall feels heavy handed. So I repeated the process, this time keeping the lines as consistent as possible and straight where they should be straight.
Once I had cleaned up and straightened up the lines, the illustration already felt lighted. The perspective, although not perfect, had improved hugely with the straight lines. I chose to follow a colour palette from one of Mendo's illustration which I think also helped with lifting the feeling. The blue used here feels far more serene and calm against the pinkish hue of the sunlight filtering through the blinds. I had added an extra colour, like Mendo, to give life to the light that creeps over her as she reads. I think this helps in guiding the audience to the subject.
I tried to improve the light in this second version. I wanted to be more considerate as to where the light might bounce, and whilst I still have work to do on improving this, I think this version was more successful.
Overall I am pleased with the result. The act of redrawing an image until you get what you are looking for is a great process that helps you to identify the areas that could be improved. It is also great for experimenting with colour, and how the use of light and shadow can be an excellent technique for limiting the palette. I could take this drawing into another stage, improve the character, add more details with clutter and texture, maybe even push the perspective further, I could even us the black more boldly with shadow, or even use a different colour for the outlines completely.
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