Assignment 1 – Say hello

The brief and objectives

The brief for this assignment was quite broad and represented an interesting creative challenge.

Key words from the brief were:

  • ‘Greetings card’
  • Telling your tutor about yourself
  • Interests
  • Inspirations
  • Materials
  • Notes to accompany the making

It seemed to me that the response to this brief was as much about documenting the creative process as the finished artwork itself.

Generating ideas

I found it a challenge to come up with an interesting idea – my initial thoughts were too obvious. I started down a couple of different routes and by chance ended up taking bits from each to develop the final solution.

The following sketches, thoughts and mindmaps cover my initial ideas and thinking.

Research

I scanned through several reference books/magazines for inspiration. I came across a number of examples of approaches that I didn’t want to follow but was struggling to work out what I did want to do.

I took a trip to the coast to take reference photographs based on ideas in the second mindmap.

Visuals

The ideas I initially developed were loosely based around juxtaposing different aspects of my life into a single picture. For example, the visual juxtaposition of city verses country, flocks of sheep verses crowds of commuters, corporate banking verses fading seaside amusement arcades/slot machines, crammed and cramped underground platforms verses bleak and beautiful landscapes. I wasn’t happy that this approach would adequately answer the brief although I think there is a germ of an idea in this that is worth pursuing.

At some point when I was sketching I had the idea of creating an image that talked about the creative process itself in the form of a simple narrative using a comic strip format.

The following pictures show bits of the artwork and reference materials at various stages.

The final artwork and why I decided to portray what I did

I think the final artwork answers the key points in the brief in an interesting way. Hopefully it gets a laugh too.

I really like the work of Adrian Tomine and took inspiration from his comic books and illustrations.

The structure of the final artwork was based around a simple narrative in three pictures that outlined:

  1. The problem I was up against
  2. What I did about it
  3. The solution (or not in this case)

The final artwork was constructed from pen and ink drawings collated into a single image using Illustrator.

What I learned from the assignment

I found this exercise the most challenging so far. I already know that I need more structure and discipline around how I generate and develop ideas; this is one of the reasons for doing the OCA course. My usual approach which is to take the first thing that comes to me is not enough.

I’ve had a sneak preview of PART 2 of course which looks like it will explore this in a bit more depth.

What went well

  • I like how the artwork came together in illustrator
  • I like the final result. It represents my humour, what I’m interested in visually and the materials and techniques I’m starting to work with
  • I created a colour swatch before working in Illustrator – This was a lesson from the previous exercise that saved me a load of time
  • I’m pleased with the layout – this is my first serious attempt at a comic strip.

What I could differently/better

  • More practice. Drawing, drawing, drawing!