Category: Assignment 4

I struggled a bit with this assignment. To be honest I’ve usually found still lifes boring, but I know it’s an area I need to work on in order to improve as an artist so I was eager to tackle the assignment.

I spent some time thinking about what theme to choose. I found them all a bit challenging. In the end I chose discovery. I’ve been watching a lot of re-runs of the reality TV show Survivor recently and I guess the props from that show influenced my decision. I came up with doing a still life with some objects like a key, a compass, a map… hopefully all of these would coalesce into the theme.

I collected items that I could find that I felt appropriate and started playing with composition. The process I used was the same from the exercise on viewpoints, but I allowed myself to move around the objects as I went, searching for an effective layout.

The items I ended up with were a key, a pocket watch that I was going to pretend to be a compass, a small lantern, a glass bottle with a message inside, and a decorative shell. I decided I could draw in a map at the base afterwards.

I tried a few thumbnail sketches to try and get an even better sense of what composition would work.

Next, working at A3, I did a detailed drawing of my setup.

The perspective is off in places and I’m not 100% sure about the composition I settled on. Although I do think there is potential in the items that I’ve collected, I think they adhere to the theme pretty well.

I think the way the items build toward the theme is pretty compelling. The key in the foreground I think is best suited to be the centerpiece of the arrangement.

I didn’t have my scanner or printer handy, so I just tried to copy my sketch as best I could and prepare to do a tonal version. I wasn’t quite sure what I needed to do here, but I thought to get a good representation of tone, I would just use one colour of paint and try to recreate the still life.

Throughout all of these exercises I tried to keep my representations relatively loose and allow myself to get a little messy with it. I liked the idea of “discovering” the meaning of the illustration, first through an expressive representation and then through piecing together the meaning of the objects. I think the tonal version is pretty interesting but I was looking forward to developing it further.

Next I needed to create a line visual to set the basis for my finished piece.

I used a dip pen on cold press paper to do the line drawing. I think after a few iterations I was getting a better sense of how to subtly move the objects to make a better composition. I think the introduction of the map really helps to tie the whole image together.

I decided to finish the piece with watercolours. I felt like they’re a very naturally expressive medium and complement ink line drawings very nicely. They also contribute to what I’m going for, of moving the image slightly towards abstraction to encourage the viewer to kind of search for the meaning. I thought the lines would help to keep the drawing representative and keep the items distinguishable.

I’m not in love with the result. I think overall the colour choices are pretty poor. Everything kind blends into very neutral colours. This is why I have trouble with still lifes in watercolour in general.

I thought that rather than leave the assignment on a bum note, I would have another go at producing a finished illustration.

I decided to work digitally and experiment with a style that I’ve worked a little bit with in the past.

I found this video very interesting, the second portrait really. I notice in my own work as I work towards developing a unique style, I tend to really like harsh angles, straight lines and distinct geometry. I wanted to try and do my still life in this style. I thought that it would be a more faithful exploration of trying to develop a personal style and doing something a little interesting and unique.

The idea is to digitally paint using only the geometric selection tool. You build up different layers of shapes using different blending modes. The shapes don’t necessarily conform logically to what you’re trying to represent. They just contribute to making something graphic and fun.

I’ve experimented with the style before here, which I did earlier in the year.

Here’s the timeline of my digital illustration.

I started off with a line drawing.

Then I started filling in the colours. The layers that I used were a normal layer, a layer with soft light blending, overlay and one with multiply.

Next I continued to develop the image with colours.

Once I had gotten the image this far, the fun part! I removed the layer with the line art.

The result is something very punchy and fun. I made some finishing touches and played around a little bit with some colour correction.

I really like this piece. I hope that the theme has been successfully conveyed, and that removing linework and representing the entire image with overlapping geometric shapes creates something compelling. I’m glad I decided to keep working after completing the watercolour piece.