Illustration and Visual Narrative - Task 1: Exercises
Week 1 - Week 6
Wu Ziyang / 0368325
Illustration and Visual Narrative / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Task 1: Exercises
This module aims to introduce the students to the process of creating visual concepts from ideas and its pictorial communication to an audience in the form of illustrations. Through studio assignments and demonstrations, students will understand the history of visual communication, the essential skill of telling stories via images and the work processes of professional illustration. A variety of relevant media, materials and techniques are explored. Lectures on the working methods of successful illustrators will support the practical aspects.
Task 1: Exercises (20% - Individual)
Time Frame: Week 1 - Week 4
Description: In Class Exercises. Digital and Analogue. To show competencies in; tacit making skills, digital proficiencies as well as analogous abilities. You will be provided with some techniques for exploration of the digital and analogue medium. Assessment is done on a weekly basis.
Learning Goals:
1. Generate and communicate design concepts and solutions through manual and digital skills effectively and skillfully. (LO1)
2. Use creative thinking skills and methodologies to explore, generate and test a wide range of conceptual ideas. (LO2)
3. Use information and communication technology to source navigate, select, retrieve and manage information. (LO3)
2.Lecture
WEEK 1 (25/9/2023): CHARACTER DESIGN BASICS
Character Design Basics
- Stylized Design: Interesting narratives and lore writing, Appealing characters.
1. Iconic: The audience can immediately recognize them even in black silho
uettes!
2. Simplicity: This is because the simplicity of the design allows viewers to digest and understand the purpose of the characters easily.
2. Unique: In return makes them unique characters that are not only memorable, but makes an impact on the viewers!
Principles of Character Design
1. Shapes: Think iconic. Add some weight to their personality.
2. Colour: Establish the basic roles of the characters. Think Colour psychology.
3. Emphasis, contrast: Exaggerate to memorise.
4. Harmony: Every element in your design should complement each other.
5. Expressions, poses: Expressive emotive characters, win the audience.
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WEEK 2 (2/10/2023): CHIAROSCURO
Chiaroscuro
- An Italian term which means 'light-dark'.
- In paintings, the technique refers to clear tonal contrast to suggest three-dimensional volume and modelling of objects and figures.
- Purpose: increase the scene’s dramatic tension by exaggerating the subject’s importance using colour or light contrast.
- The focus point or subject of a scene is brightly coloured.
- Contrasted with a Dark Background (Low-key lightning).
- Convey emotional image: Don Vito Corleone, a character rarely displays emotions, exemplifies this when he sends Sonny's body to the funeral home director, who owes him a favour.
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Reasons That Chiaroscuro is used in visual narrative
- This method is an excellent lightning choice to differentiate positive vs negative spaces.
- Positive Space: Refers to subject matter or object of interest in a visual.
- Negative Space: Refers to the filled space or background of the surrounding subject matter or object of interest in visual.
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Different Types of Shots in The Scene
1. Establishing: (Wide shots) used to establish the setting, portray spectacle, and provide ample information for audiences to fully appreciate the splendour and grandeur of a location.
2. Bird's Eyeview: Overhead shots (vertical shots), the subject's perspective is directly above the scene, typically at a 90-degree angle.
3. Frame Within a Frame: Can fracture screen space, add depth, and create visual interest in the cinematic compositions.
4. Medium Shot: Also called a 3/4 shot which, obviously frames three-quarters of the character.
5. Close-up: Capture a character's mind, emotions and thoughts within a larger context, enhancing the overall emotional investment.
6. Worm's Eyeview: When looking up, objects look tall, strong, and mighty while the viewer feels childlike or powerless.
WEEK 4 (18/10/2023): COMPOSITION THEORY 2
Composition Theory 2/ Perspective
1. One-point perspective: Draws objects from a single horizon point, shrinking as they approach the vanishing point.
2. Two-point perspective: Uses vanishing points on either side of the horizon. Enhances the sense of space and dimension.
3. Three-point perspective: A vanishing point, typically two on opposite sides of a horizon, combined with another high above or below it, is used to create drama and scale in a scene.
4. Isometric view: For creating detailed concepts of individual buildings, it’s more beneficial to use a simple isometric view, since it allows you to clearly present three sides of your design without distorting perspective or obscuring details.
5. Dynamic application: Perspective is versatile and can be applied to various illustrations or scenes, but it doesn't have to be rigid or strict; experiment with different perspectives.
3.LAB 1: THE PEN TOOL
Goal of this exercise: Learn how to use the Pen Tool to trace over pre-existing pictures, drawings, or hand-drawn artwork to turn it into editable vector graphics. This can be used to transform raster images into vectors that are high-quality and scalable.
Reflection: I learned how to use Pen Tool with the shortcut keys Shift and Alt.
.png)
Task 1: Exercises (20% - Individual)
Time Frame: Week 1 - Week 4
Description: In Class Exercises. Digital and Analogue. To show competencies in; tacit making skills, digital proficiencies as well as analogous abilities. You will be provided with some techniques for exploration of the digital and analogue medium. Assessment is done on a weekly basis.
Learning Goals:
1. Generate and communicate design concepts and solutions through manual and digital skills effectively and skillfully. (LO1)
2. Use creative thinking skills and methodologies to explore, generate and test a wide range of conceptual ideas. (LO2)
3. Use information and communication technology to source navigate, select, retrieve and manage information. (LO3)
Character Design Basics
- Stylized Design: Interesting narratives and lore writing, Appealing characters.
1. Iconic: The audience can immediately recognize them even in black silho
uettes!
2. Simplicity: This is because the simplicity of the design allows viewers to digest and understand the purpose of the characters easily.
2. Unique: In return makes them unique characters that are not only memorable, but makes an impact on the viewers!
Fig. 1.1 Stylized Design.
1. Shapes: Think iconic. Add some weight to their personality.
2. Colour: Establish the basic roles of the characters. Think Colour psychology.
3. Emphasis, contrast: Exaggerate to memorise.
4. Harmony: Every element in your design should complement each other.
5. Expressions, poses: Expressive emotive characters, win the audience.
.png)
Fig. 1.2 Principles of Character Design.
Chiaroscuro
- An Italian term which means 'light-dark'.
- In paintings, the technique refers to clear tonal contrast to suggest three-dimensional volume and modelling of objects and figures.
- Purpose: increase the scene’s dramatic tension by exaggerating the subject’s importance using colour or light contrast.
- The focus point or subject of a scene is brightly coloured.
- Contrasted with a Dark Background (Low-key lightning).
- Convey emotional image: Don Vito Corleone, a character rarely displays emotions, exemplifies this when he sends Sonny's body to the funeral home director, who owes him a favour.
.png)
Fig. 1.3 The Matchmaker (Honthorst, 1625).
- This method is an excellent lightning choice to differentiate positive vs negative spaces.
- Positive Space: Refers to subject matter or object of interest in a visual.
- Negative Space: Refers to the filled space or background of the surrounding subject matter or object of interest in visual.
.png)
Fig. 1.4 Reasons That Chiaroscuro is Used in Visual Narrative.
WEEK 3 (11/10/2023): COMPOSITION THEORY 1
Composition Theory 1/ Visual Types and Shots
- Arrange the elements in your visual effectively and the answer is to arrange them in a way that brings out meaning.
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Fig. 1.5 Basic Composition Visual Rules.
1. Establishing: (Wide shots) used to establish the setting, portray spectacle, and provide ample information for audiences to fully appreciate the splendour and grandeur of a location.
2. Bird's Eyeview: Overhead shots (vertical shots), the subject's perspective is directly above the scene, typically at a 90-degree angle.
3. Frame Within a Frame: Can fracture screen space, add depth, and create visual interest in the cinematic compositions.
4. Medium Shot: Also called a 3/4 shot which, obviously frames three-quarters of the character.
5. Close-up: Capture a character's mind, emotions and thoughts within a larger context, enhancing the overall emotional investment.
6. Worm's Eyeview: When looking up, objects look tall, strong, and mighty while the viewer feels childlike or powerless.
Composition Theory 2/ Perspective
1. One-point perspective: Draws objects from a single horizon point, shrinking as they approach the vanishing point.
2. Two-point perspective: Uses vanishing points on either side of the horizon. Enhances the sense of space and dimension.
3. Three-point perspective: A vanishing point, typically two on opposite sides of a horizon, combined with another high above or below it, is used to create drama and scale in a scene.
4. Isometric view: For creating detailed concepts of individual buildings, it’s more beneficial to use a simple isometric view, since it allows you to clearly present three sides of your design without distorting perspective or obscuring details.
5. Dynamic application: Perspective is versatile and can be applied to various illustrations or scenes, but it doesn't have to be rigid or strict; experiment with different perspectives.
Goal of this exercise: Learn how to use the Pen Tool to trace over pre-existing pictures, drawings, or hand-drawn artwork to turn it into editable vector graphics. This can be used to transform raster images into vectors that are high-quality and scalable.
Reflection: I learned how to use Pen Tool with the shortcut keys Shift and Alt.
.png)
Fig. 4.1 Outcome of the Bezier Game.
4.TASK 1: VORMATOR CHALLENGE
Goal of this challenge: Provide each designer with an opportunity to demonstrate his talent for producing a beautiful piece.
Reflection: I learned from this ultimate challenge to create artwork with creativity, every shape has the potential to build a creative artwork.
Reflection: I learned from this ultimate challenge to create artwork with creativity, every shape has the potential to build a creative artwork.
Fig. 4.1 Tracing Vormator shapes
Fig. 4.2 Experimental designs.
The Story behind the character:
When I look at the Bar ，I think of the monster's body. But I want to think outside the box.
I decided that I would do my mission to make characters other than the devil. So I use the Bar for my character's head, use the Chevron for its eyes.Then, I used the Badge for tongue, Cobra and Tentacle for arms. Used the drop for head, the zerk for mouse. At last, use the Wurst for legs, it is shown in dancing.
5 LAB 2: CHIAROSCURO/ LIGHT & SHADOW
Goal of this exercise: create a sense of depth, volume, and three-dimensionality in designers' digital artwork.
Reflection: I learned how to use the Pathfinder Tool. It is useful to create irregular shapes.
Concept of chiaroscuro: Means 'light-dark'. Refers to clear tonal contrasts that are frequently employed to imply the volume and modelling of the subjects portrayed.
Shape modes: Unite, Minus Front, Intersect, Exclude
Pathfinders: Divide, Trim, Merge, Crop, Outline, Minus Back
Compound shapes Hold down Alt when clicking on any Pathfinder commands to get a compound shape.
Expand button: Press when want to remove the compound shape to get the final shape.
Fig. 5.1 Chiaroscuro execise.
Fig. 5.2 Chiaroscuro execise.
6 Task 2: Composition
Objective: Place your Vormator character into a Pokemon card composition, incorporating foreground, midground, and background elements. You may also create a new shape not bound by the vormator rules or shapes. You may also come up with a new character that does is not bound by the vormator shapes.
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