Evaluation

Throughout the practice unit the main part I enjoyed was concentrating on creating detailed illustrations. Although I think that they were successful as drawings I found it very difficult in the development process to be able to create designs for a fashion outcome. Towards the second half of the practice unit I realised this and my work became very illustration led as apposed to designing for clothing. Because of this I really wanted to try something different in my unit x work. I made the decision that I no longer wanted to work with fashions or fabric and focused my practice on my paper based illustration skills. During the unit x project, I found not only illustrating a book but writing my own book to illustrate very interesting an engaging. I feel that by writing it myself from scratch really let my creativity out and I was able to have full control over my own work. However, I feel because I spent so long in the initial process by writing and designing at the same time. This may have inhibited my time that I could have used to create more samples. Although I feel I could have tested out more processes I think that it was important to spend my time developing and perfecting my story. During the project I felt like I gained a lot of new skills especially developing my digital drawing skills. Before starting this project, I had never used the paper print room which is something I regret not doing earlier as I really enjoy this way of working and think this technique really suits my style of working. To make the book I have created more special and selective I chose to hand paint each page. This was one of my favourite parts of the unit as each one is unique.

If I was to do this project again my main aim would be to manage my time better to ensure that I give my self long enough to explore each part of the project as I go. I feel that I may have spent longer on some aspects that I did others which overall had a knock on affect at each stage of my project. I am disappointed that I didn’t have a chance to get some laser cut paper samples ready in time for hand in. Although I am looking forward to going in and creating some samples ready to assemble my final outcome for the degree show. I would also try and be more experimental with techniques and processes that I have used as I feel I stick to my own safe drawing style. This is something that I aim to work on in the future to help push my practice to the best of my ability.

Overall I am pleased with the outcome of my project and I have surprised myself by all of the new skills and techniques I have learned. I feel that by making the initial decision to stick to paper printing and not designing for fashion is one of the best decisions I could have made throughout this project. Especially that I made the choice fairly quickly meant I didn’t waste any of my time trying out different media.

Digitally printed prototype

After creating a wide range of samples and perfecting my digital designs, i have created a digital mock up of my finished book so i can get a better idea of what my final product will look like. This has really helped me as it has fought me new skills such as using InDesign software to help me layout and format my documents. As i will be printing my final outcome by hand this is just a test for me to check out the layout and design for the pages. Through this process it has really shown me the importance of scale between my text and illustrations, and how important the use of space can be within my work. 

Material and Colour testing

To ensure that the final outcome i will be producing is to the highest standard possible, i have created a whole range of samples to test out paper qualities and materials, colours, embossing and hand painting. Through sampling these things i have come out with a greater knowledge of the materials i am working with and selected the ones which were most successful and suitable for my own style of work. 

Illustration Development

Whilst developing my illustrations i have focused on using digital drawing techniques to ensure that the work i am developing is symmetrical and accurate. This is an important aspect of my work if i want to create a professional looking outcome. Using my graphics tablet and Photoshop software i have been able to edit and refine all of my initial drawings to help me with the development process. I have used simple techniques such as mirroring my hand drawings and adding components from different drawings to create more developed motifs. I feel that this has been a successful way of working for me as it has not only improved the quality of my work but i have developed my computer skills.

Initial Drawings

I started creating my initial drawings by hand using pens and inks. My main inspiration for my initial drawings has been looking at stories and fables with a fantasy/fairytale genre. I intend to develop these drawings using a variety of digital drawing techniques to achieve the style i am happy with.  I feel that combining both hand and digital drawing techniques shows my skills as an illustrator in a diverse and interesting way. The style i have chosen to create my initial drawings in is a single line pen style. This has heavily been influenced by etching and traditional hand printing processes. This is the direction i am intending on taking my own work.