Month: October 2017

Banksy is an infamous artist known by many for his graffiti work around the world. He works anonymously and doesn’t disclose any information about himself which adds to mystery of his work.

He often addresses controversial topics and showcases this publicly. His approach to showcasing his work has made him very sought after, Banksy’s works are now considered as attractions and people often flock to the locations that his works are displayed.

Above is a picture that pokes fun at the current youth of today, showing that all they care for is social media interactions and constantly need online attention. The graphic above the child’s head is representative of Instagram’s notification system.

Banksy’s work is very eye grasping, having controversial topics constantly provoke reactions which has propelled Banksy’s fame. Though the reactions aren’t necessarily positive, often people can be offended and not like some imagery, especially when painted onto a wall. Though this would be an approach I could use for my work, I would have to be careful especially if I am looking at a portfolio to enhance my working profile online.

Gorillaz

Gorillaz are a classic example of illustration integrated with multimedia.

The virtual band were the main inspiration for my ideas. There are a lot of techniques that they use that make it seem like the band are actually within our own world rather than just on screen or on paper.

The above video is an example of how the characters have been integrated within real life, the characters are affected by the environment and light and look like they are fully apart of the scene. I aim to use a similar technique to bring my own illustrations to life and fit them inside of a real world look.

Prior to this project I have attempted to integrate my characters into real world imagery. (Below)

I achieved the look by masking around the window wipers so the characters fit in behind, I used a curves tool to match the colour values to the values of the original image and I also matched the grain and blurriness to fully integrate them in. However, though I feel the final image came out well, I feel I could have more closely matched the lighting and I feel I can be more ambitious with the shots especially if I were to be creating my own world.

As to real world integration I want to take it further and try to use 360 pictures and maybe video and experiment more with making more real to life imagery to sell the idea that my characters are within the real world.

I’ve been looking into Instagram as the platform for my design work.

Instagram design is very simple using square based media, whether it be photos or video.

The Square image format can limit users to having a smaller canvas than they’d like. However there is techniques that people have used that help give the illusion of bigger pictures though it isn’t the case. To do this you split a larger picture into multiple squares and upload them in the right order to give the illusion there is a bigger picture on the profile page. (Example below)

For my idea, I’m going to use this technique to create a story canvas.

I think by using the separate pictures I can guide the eye through a story and use an Instagram account as a standalone story profile. I’ll use each picture to show a part of the storyline which will give value to each piece and a unique perspective for displaying a story.

This is just one aspect to my project that I want to bring, I also want to experiment with other techniques such as 360 photography and more.

Jim McKenzie – The Scarecrow

 

 

 

The Scarecrow is a short documentary of the process of creating ‘The Scarecrow’, an art project created by artist Jim McKenzie. The short film displays the process of McKenzie creating the sculpture while also cutting away to show the original drawings as well as inspirations for his ideas. I find this a very interesting way of showing how McKenzie has developed his project. It is very interesting to see the character come to life and I think this would be a great way to showcase my own work in this style.

It is also interesting to see the results from the pieces as they are being showcased to people. It gives an impressive presentation to his art rather than just seeing a finished piece.

Real life doodles

 

 

As my project very much revolves around using illustration and putting it into the real world. A great example of a popular use of this is real life doodles. In these videos, artists have placed simplistic cartoon faces upon objects in the real world in pretty common situations though the cartoon reactions create a funny reaction. These animations bring life and comedy to otherwise unfunny, lifeless moments. There are different techniques used to bring the characters to life, some are simple 2D faces imposed onto objects whereas some combine 3D elements as well to enhance the life-like effect.

Examples of Popular Illustration on Social Media

Adam Ellis

Adam Ellis has a massive following on Facebook from his funny comic-style illustrations.

Adam is a prime example of how he has used social media as a platform to showcase his work. Facebook is the main platform for his work and is constantly updated with engaging audiences that share and tag friends with relatable artwork.

Other Social Media Examples

Adam Ellis is shows great social media uses to distribute his artwork. Other artists often showcase their work through social media platforms. A similar page is Cyanide & Happiness.

Cyanide & Happiness is a dark-comedy comic strip which is featured on their website on www.explosm.net. An example of their success is through different platforms such as Twitter where people retweet and favorite constantly. This has led to further development such as animated shows on YouTube.

These are prime examples of established artists on social media. They have a large amount of followers due to the consistency and quality of the work they produce. To have a strong social presence, you’d need to produce consistent and quality content for followers to engage with.

Stylization of Character design

One big area that divides different artist particularly is visual style, the most common and obvious differences is within character design.

 

Above is a famous example from artist Kevin McShane who re-drew himself multiple times in many different cartoon styles that have been showcased in popular culture from the 20^th Century to present day. (Link to website: http://cartoonkevin.com)

Change of Idea development

As of now I was developing towards my idea for attempting to enable braille use using 3D Touch on touch screen smart phones. I have found that I am unable to carry on with the development for this idea.

I decided to physically play around with my own iPhone, using the 3D Touch and testing the vibration patterns when I put pressure down upon the screen. I found the the receptor patterns weren’t as I thought. The vibrations are distributed through out the phone and are based upon the metal edge rather than beneath the screen which I initially thought. The vibrations are sent towards the direction of the phone where you press, mimicking the effect of vibrations beneath where you are in fact pressing.

Due to this discovery I feel it’s best if I develop my secondary idea of using illustration as I feel trying to create a workable technology for braille devices isn’t feasible for my skillset and I won’t have the available resources to develop it further.