DVB102 Image Design and Production
Week 3 Images (11-15)
#oneperday2023
Images 11-15: Images That Tell Stories
This week's exercise consisted of constructing a micro story through illustration. As designers, students were to select a form of story telling through illustration (i.e picture book, comic book ect.) and tell a story of their own making using skills and techniques acquired from the previous weeks.
Materials
A4 Paper, Pencil, Fine Line Pen
Techniques
Drawing, Sketching, Shading
Process
After researching popular comic strips and their approach, a similar approach was taken where the art panels fell into the background art of a significant event in the strip (See Figure 1 below). First, the foreground image of an arm swinging at a ball was sketched in pencil onto A4 paper. A grid was then constructed around the foreground image in pencil, then emboldened using a fine line pen. Each panel was then filled in sinistrodextral order, with the first image in the top left panel and the last in the bottom right. The order of the comic was reinforced by the direction of motion of the player, as well as arrows that would ultimately assist the reader in viewing the piece.
Figure 1: Set - up (story telling through images)
Reflection
After completing some background research and having an interest in comics I felt confident storytelling in this form of illustration. This story was a real world experience as my brother had previously been selected to represent Australia in our favourite sport (Volleyball). However, this story was modified to make me the subject, as well as to fit significant detail into the 5 comic panels. An image of a volleyball player hitting a ball I found online assisted in drawing the foreground image proportionally. Pencil was selected to sketch the panel art as the most suitable illustration form for storytelling in this manner. The facial features of significant characters and details on background characters was intentionally subtracted from the image. I felt uncomfortable expressing emotion through facial expressions and concluded that not sketching these details would draw more attention to the action in each panel. However, I did feel confident sketching these images as I understood the elements in each panel well and was comfortable expressing my ideas in pencil.
Strength
Sketching in pencil by drawing shapes that resemble figures, shading areas to create shadow and adjusting the pressure in which I marked the paper to create depth. Filling each panel with necessary elements to resemble a volleyball match.
Challenge
I was not confident drawing facial features and this is a challenge I will face illustrating in the future. It became a challenge to sketch background figures that resembled people after removing their finer details and their facial expressions.
Weekly Reflection
These Images taught me to communicate ideas and events non-verbally and through illustration. As images progressed, the significance of each panel in the story grew and the meaning behind the comic strip as an inspiration/motivational story became more apparent. I now feel more confident expressing key information visually using pencil and pen. Additionally, with each image the time taken to create the necessary shapes and figures to fill the frame decreased and the confidence I had in my ability to visualise my ideas increased.
