Brief
The brief was to make a subjective drawing from a pre-defined list of objects. The object I selected was ‘hat’.
Keywords from the brief:
- Write a list of words
- Explore your idea visually
- Make a moodboard
- Use colours, textures and materials identified during your exploration
- Communicate the adjective you associated with your object
- Focus and exaggerate the quality that you have selected
Approach
The object I chose to illustrate was a chunky woollen hat. The key words associated with the object were:
The adjective that most summed up the hat for me, and what I wanted to explore in more detail was ‘woolly’.
For my research, I took several photographs in a haberdashery and used pictures from the internet and photographs from Assignment 1.
Following lessons I’d learned from previous exercises, I wanted to develop my ideas and thinking without committing myself to a solution/approach too early. In hindsight, I don’t think I succeeded and probably spent too much time on the final artwork and not enough on generating visual ideas.
Objective illustration
The final illustration was built from visual elements and ideas developed through the moodboards layered together in Photoshop.
What I learned from the exercise
What went well
- I think the final image does capture some of the qualities I wanted to communicate. Specifically:
- Chunky knitting knots
- Vibrantly coloured wool
- I wanted to contrast a textured and chaotic background against the regimented and ordered knitted hat to make the hat stand out. I think this is successful and I like the background.
- The halo effect which was copied from one of the reference pictures, provides a nice separation between background and foreground.
What I would do differently/better
- My intention at the start of the exercise was to push the ideas development as far as possible. In hindsight, I got ‘fixated’ on what became the final artwork too soon. There are several great examples of moodboard development from other student’s Learning Logs that I will to try and emulate going forward.
- I found it difficult to incorporate the very fine texture of wool into the picture.
Illustration 