2nd Bronte print

This image isn't as strong as the last one but is related more to the text. In the section this is based on Lockwood is put into Cathy's old room and has a dream about a childs hand stretching through the window. The image is not a detialed or as accruate to the text as I wanted it to be. It could have been much stronger but I gave myself three days to rough , develop and print this using the same colour palette as the precious image. As a set they work but it is a shame this image isn't as strong as the previous one. Comparing the digital and printed, the digital is stronget. The mood is reflected clearly through the colours and the smaller elements of the image are sharper. I didn't really use a base lino print for this becuase when I tried with the lino print eariler it was really restrictive trying to incorporate that into this image so decied to scrap that and just create the room dgitially. One thing that is bothering me slightly about this mini series of images is that I am spending a lot of time developing and preparing the images for screen print , and if I was to digtially print I would have more time to spend on developing the image. The reason I am not doing a third image based of Wuthering Highs is becuase I have done a lot of image based around this time period and need to move on. I need to have greater diversity in my protfolio but I have loved making these image and I now know how I can push other images further. Also my narrtive skills ahve improved quite a bit and it is somthing that I need to keep pushing becuase I want to be stronger and more ambitos with the image I create.

Bronte Second print , digital developments

 Im not sure about the composition of this image. I don't think the doors are needed or if i keep them in they will need to be simple like the door shapes in the image below. I quite like the image below, could work well as a scene in a short animation. The pattern on the wall paper is certainly bolder but I tried this against the shadow hand and it was too much so darkerned the pattern to blend into the wall a bit more.

This was an intial idea but I decied against it because it is quite restricive as a compositon and didn't allow much room for telling the narritive , but it would be used in other images later on.

I create this print intially but found that it really wasnt working as I was trying to incorporate different elements into it and the print was too restrictive and so decied to start from scratch digitally.

Final print of big house

Its work ! I also lighted up the blue to lift the image more as the duller blue made it feel flat. Overall happy with this outcome. I feel like I tried to push myself with this one to be more daring with composition and colour choices. This image would work for both editoial and publishing. It isn't realted to any spesific piece of text in Wuthering hights but gives a gernal overview of the story. I am not so sure about the colour scheme. I could have made it more dynamic and dark , but for the purposes of this image being both and outcome and experiment it will do. A couple of things to consider for further projects is , digital brushes . good for adding in backgound tone but not so good for finer details. These bits are best done seperatly but hand and scanned in. I find that I have more control and it is quicker than trying to digtially recreate that. The other thing is lighting. It has worked well for the base of this image but could use with being impelmented at the top too. This again would have enhanced a darker atmosphere. Development of the characters in the illustrations is somthing else that I am going to need to consider too. I am reusing the same characters a lot in different outcomes. I the next breif I am setting myself I am incorporating a challenge, to add the print effects in digtially and not screen printing it but digtally printing it. I am integued to see how this worked and alters my working compared with screen printing it. Screen printing it starting to become resitictive and details such as the characters shillloutes are being lost. But digitally printing too I might be able to add more subtel detials and a woder verity of tone and colours.

Screen print 1

Colours have come out wrong ! This is a 5 colour speration was orginally 6 with the black but decied to try and overlay the pinky red and blue in the hope that it would be black but it hasn't worked. Also had a few problems with the pink. As the print room was warm the ink dry too quickly and so didn't print consistantly. So im going to reprint and incorporate the black aswell to make the head and hand of the man stand otu more. Also the backdrop of the white women.

Bronte final digital mockup.

Overall really happy, think that this is going to be a strong print. Interested to see how the digtial brushes turn out printed on a large scale. Could be too much? but they help add depth and tone. Worth experimenting with this later on, digital vs hand made brushes.

Bronte positives and negatives

 This is just a break down of the different layers. There are a lot but it is quite a complex image. however using colour reduction more effectivly in future needs to be considerd.

Bronte initial Lino

 Intiall Lino that was scanned in and digitally built onto.

Bronte developments digital

I think out of these to I prefer the blue. It has the colder atmosphere too it which relates better to the book. Using the lino as a basis and digitally refining and adding too, is a much quick and more effective way of building the image up. Never really though I would be working with digital vectors again but this seems to be working well. Also I have to bear in mind that it looks flat on screen but when printed the tectures should elevate it slightly. This is a hard composoiton to try and navigate as it is a perspective I havn't work with much before but so far it's sucessful. Adding in lighting too helps the atmosphere massivly and is another element that I can play around with. Both composition and lighting are two things that I need to take into consideration more and develop on. I can see them being useful in the future.

Research images from vast the Bronte Parsonage.

 This trip was really helpful in understanging the history and asthetics of the time. Also to see how sertain objects are shaped , the smaller details , how light falls e.c.t.

You get a strong idea walking through the house of  how they lived and how confided it was. But also where some of the infiences come from, especially in relation to there brother an the house shape and feel.

I also got some ideas for a colour scheme based on the colour of the house walls and colours of the clothing and other objects such as charlotte brontes paintings. Light blue wall image below.

Manchester Art Gallery finals

Setting myself a deadline for this project to be done by has really helped. It makes me call the project to a halt. I could have spent more time in this but having the earlier deadline takes a lot of the stress out of meeting the actual deadline, plus means I can keep on top of everything. Think about the colours in the final piece, the colour pallet is okay but I need to move away from red and blue. With the next brief/ short project, I will change this. Working with graphic, bolder shapes has worked well. It gives the image variation and breaks it up, rather than having an image with intense detail. The image is much more readable for the viewer. Predominantly aiming this image at children, I think the content, visual style and colours are appropriate. The amount of detail would be harder for younger children (example on black and white outline image below) but if the images were broken up into there motifs then these would be easier to draw. I struggled to decide the composition of the final image. I don't think it looks too crowded but the grass could have been aligned with the rest of the image better. 

In the final stages of the image, I added techniques that I hadn't used before in order to speed things up. Cut paper scanned on for simple shapes works, also cut paper and gouache. The paint creates a different line texture ( used on the flowers.) For adding subtle details it's perfect. Overall I am happy with the colour image but feel that parts of the black and white outline are not as strong. Printing out digitally too was obviously quick and more accurate than screen printing but it does take away the human/personal element of it. But given it was printed this way to meet the brief requirements there was no need to screen print. But this debate between digital and the handmade is something I can investigate and discuss further in this module.    

mega crit feedback and interim evaluation - 2

The feedback in the mega crit was really positive but would have good to get more critical feedback as I feel like I’m not make that much progress. It was good however that people recognised a string progression in my image making. Key points where that I should carry on capitalising on print and telling narratives through this. Also that the delicate and refined aesthetic the images have is something people find appealing.

However, there are still areas that need development. for example, moving the people into full figures with features rather than just silhouettes. Also, I want to print big. Potentially A1? But so far the I have made image up to A3 so pushing this further would be good. Now with regards to the project proposal plan, I have gone off on a tangent but it seems like a natural progression. I am making more prints and images, challenging aspects such as composition and ideas. Still following the concept of narrative but I haven't started developing that onto fabric. However the more I am developing images the more ideas I am getting about how I could do this. It might be that I produce a series of images based on stories and from the images made, take certain motifs and add these onto fabric. I worry too much about creating the product still, rather than the image. If I keep but making loads of images  I think the different image/pattern ideas for the fabric will come into place. Pushing how print can be used rather than trying to just make one thing.

But one problem is still bothering me in that I am really struggling to think of the of the image in a fabric or product context. I have I good sense of how I can improve and develop them as images for say a publication or editorial but can’t see them as a pattern. I am still tackling dark subjects or stories and I enjoy this more than the trying to find something more light-hearted for a theme. I am starting to consider weather not to carry on the idea of making silk slaves with narrative in them. I know I need to focus less on the product and much more on the images. And if this is the case then am I better just focusing on the illustrations and let them take the natural course as see if they fit better in another context?  I did enjoy making the Sherlock images a lot more than designing the pillow covers for ohh deer. They were of a higher quality and I felt that more passionate about the series. Also, I would know how to move the images further and be more ambitious with them.

5 mins pitch

Test prints of image features for Manchester.

 These colours will be changed but I needs to see how the image would look printed with the crossovers with the detailes. The prints are not the best quality. Had problems with the screen but they will do for tests. Because the product is aimed a childern it was important to make sure the images weren't too dark in mood and they had a lighthearted feel. I think I have achieved this but the creature (above) could do with being refined further. I think , the plan is to send a digital version of the image with the outline version to the gallery. Then screenprint the final outcome for myself for the portfolio.

Roughs and Linos for old lady with the parrot

It was a quick process where I roughed the idea for a couple of pages and then started making. The making took a day and a half and but through that there was contiuned experimentation with composing the image. As I did part of the making over the weekend and didn't have acess to the print room I used cut paper for the more soild objects, this saved time and money. But for  objects that needed the detail lino was the best option. I tried cut paper but the level of detail was hard to achieve and I had more control with the lino tools. I used a wacom too and this was used to draw part of the lady and extra small details on the bird.

New print experiment

This print was made in the space of a couple of days and is based on the title of a story I found that is about an old lady and her parrot.
The intention of this image was to just get my brain working again. I have had a serious block in my thinking and finding a narrative resource to work with.  But the making of this image wasn't hard and it came quite naturally. This surprised me as I have been seriously struggling but I think working with no pressures of the image being for a certain thing and making it purely for the enjoyment helped massively.

Overall I am happy with the content of the image. It helps to keep making images like this as I can see how I could be more adventurous with composition and areas that need more development.e.g. the old women in this instance.
However, I am starting to question weather screenprinting this image is worth it. Particularly with this images, the colours are off in the print but in the digital version (2nd down) they are bolder and there is a clear difference between them. But with digital it does reduce the print aesthetic. Print makes everything a bit looser and if the colours matched makes for a richer aesthetic and appeal. but with digital, you have a lot of control over the process.

Changes that need to made lie in the colours. I used the same colours for this as I did with the Sherlock Holmes simply because I had them ready to use. I would change these colours to more pastel pinks, yellows, and purples. Much softer as the colours to make the image look less dark.

Action Plan for over easter

Research images and sketches from Manchester art gallery.