Clouds!

Hooray for clouds. When it came to the style of my clouds I knew I didn’t want anything that looked super realistic – I didn’t really think that it would fit with the paper style that I was using, so I decided to go for something a little simpler. The main reason behind this is due to the fact that they will be in the background and may even be barely seen on the screen. The biggest influence for the style I have chosen is my mouse mat.

I then drew some simple shapes on to some off white and grey card, by using the two colours and creating some shadows I can create a good amount of depth to the clouds. I genuinely don’t know why WordPress keeps changing the orientation of my photos, I’ll bare this in mind in the future and just take everything landscape in the first place!

Designing Trees

Now that I’ve been to Hobbycraft and stocked up on some brown card I can make the main bodies of my trees. Similarly to how I came up with my ideas for the leaves I have had a look at different styles of trees: TREES. As I have already created my leaves I specifically looked for tree trunks that would match the style of my leaves. I printed out the styles I found and cut them out to see how they would look on their own.

I have decided straight away that now they are cut out, I don’t really like the styles of 3 and 4. They’re too squat and the branches were a little too fiddly. As most of my branches are going to be covered up by leaves I want the visible ones to be strong. I love the twisted style of number 2, it’s very interesting and I will definitely use something like it. However, I like the roots of number 1, although they are fiddly they are very clear. The roots are going to be covered up most of the time but I need them for a close up on Section 3 so this will be a good style to keep in mind. I also like how the branches overlap on tree 1 as copying this will give me some more depth in the scene so it is something I will like to use as well.

I then set about to create some trees in a similar style to 1 and 2 in the picture above. I have made three trees and a tree trunk for the close up scene.

I’m pretty proud of how these have turned out but I want to add some tree-like details to them so they look a little more realistic. Nothing over the top as my leaves don’t have any detail but maybe a couple of tree knots. I’m going to test this out on the back of the pieces first to see if I like it.

So, I then tried it out with a brown pencil, and I’m glad I did it on the back because I’m not a fan of how it looks. I am going to refrain from putting any detail on for now as I want to keep the illustration simple. However, this is something that I will keep in mind to experiment with when everything has been put together.

Grass and Leaves

A little update. I’ve started drawing everything out onto my paper and card and cutting it out. I have chosen to use paper and card because of the difference in thickness. I believe that this will be able to add another level of texture to my piece.

I have four different shades of green to add some variety to my grass. I drew grass blades on each of the pieces and cut them out. Then I did the same over the four colours for the leaves on the trees.

I had a look at different shapes of leaves to see the sort of style that I was after creating and put them all together: LEAVES

I chose to use a droplet shape for the leaves because it means I can practice and perfect cutting out smooth, rounded lines. It is an easy shape to change size and angle while drawing. I thought for a while about the different types of leaves that I could use for these trees and thought about the environment. I originally wanted it to be a jungle but I thought a forest would be better and would make more sense in the context of the poem.

This is my pile of finished grass stalks and leaves, ready to be scanned. I have also added a small selection of quills in three different shades of green to add to the grass as I think they will sit nicely next to the trees and around the animals. However I need to figure out a way to scan them without squishing them.

This is the sheet of paper after I’ve cut my leaves out. I feel like I should be collecting them for some reason because they might come in useful later on. But I have no idea why I think that.

I’m currently working through scanning all of these pieces in to the computer. I’m then going to carry on with the next pieces to draw and cut out – the trees trunks.

Pecha Kucha Presentation

This is my presentation for my Pecha Kucha. I have created all the slides as single pictures. But in order for it to be understood outside of the presentation I have added notes to each slide to explain what meanings behind the pictures that I have chosen and what they represent.

PECHAKUCHA

Listing the Parts

I have made a list of the separate pieces that I need for the first three sections of the poem. Sections four and five use elements of the first three so, where possible, I am going to reuse them. By creating this checklist I can keep track of all the pieces I have made and what I still need to do. In my time plan I have assigned two days for drawing out the basic designs (everything that isn’t 3D) so this will be my next step.

Organising Colours

I have gone through my original storyboard and coloured it in. This has allowed me to identify the different colours that I will need for each section of the poem, I have made a list of the colours and had a look at which ones I already have and which ones I need to go out and buy.

Doing this has allowed me to ensure that I am fully organised before I begin working on creating the imagery.

Revised Time Plan

From my tutorial with Chris Pegg last week, he suggested that I make some changes to my time plan, to make it a bit more in depth. To list the jobs day by day as opposed to week by week.

TIMEPLAN

I have now also received permission from the publishers of Spike Milligan’s poems so I can now get cracking on making everything.