Illustration visual space - analysing the brief

Have enjoyed a week away from studies but not from illustration as I have been practicing more portraits for a few days - just pencil sketches in a big A3 pad largely from Instagram as still not out and about fully yet. All good practice.

Today is Sunday and I am aware of the clock ticking down to the next Assignment hand in so feel like I want to get back to it and make a start to here I am showing up to study again.

This feels like an exercise I don't want to do but equally one I need to do as something I don't feel strong in. I think I have a reasonably good eye for recognising elements of good composition from my time practicing street photography but to actually lay out a deliberate meaningful composition is something I definitely need to develop. I think I can make something somewhat pleasing to the eye but with no idea of how or why and certainly no depth to a deliberate attempt to guide the viewer around a composition.

The brief

This is all about how we organise, arrange and handle the visual content which we have gathered to form the basis of our image. A complex process, this process brings together skills of composition, pictorial development and an understanding of pictorial approaches.

In arranging our content we are creating an illusion of visual space. How and where we position aspects of the image and their relative position to other elements on the canvas. By doing so we are also creating relationships to and between other elements and the space they occupy.

• Select an image of each of the following
  • A tree
  • A child running or walking
  • A building
• Photocopy / print them at different scales and sizes so you have several versions of each image
• Cut them into individual items with which to work
• Create a square format canvas - one in black and one in white.
• Create a second canvas - one in black and one in white - slightly larger than the first to create a frame
• By moving / adding / subtracting some of the cut-outs, create a representational image

"Representational art refers to art which represents something, whether that be a tree in a landscape, apple in a still life, or figure in a portrait. Or in other words, it is art which is clearly identifiable as something which already exists in life". (Scott. 2018)].

• Use some of the compositional pointers from the project and exercise text:
  • Horizontals and verticals - sense of balance / order / calm / strenght. Consider drawing or creating a horizon line and its position within the canvas.
  • Diagonals - suggest movement and speed.
  • Diagonals that turn into zigzags - has a dizziness to it, can suggest visual chaos, disorder and breakdown.
  • Without horizon - elements will float in space
  • With horizon - elements will be anchored and suggestive of space. Will help the viewer read where the elements are in relation to other objects and creates foreground and background.
  • Repetition of an element - can be shape, colour or an actual object. Will lead the eye in a direction. Viewer will follow the clues to try and connect similar elements and take them on a visual journey across the canvas area.
  • Objects that leave and re-enter the frame - create a sense of visual movement. Can make the viewer move around the canvas even more.
  • Objects that only graze the frame - can create visual awkwardness if this is a sensation you are looking to create. Be aware of the space between the objects and the frame and be in control of its use as a visual device
  • Remember
    • Scale - the relative size of one element to another
    • Position - the relationship of components to each other and the frame.
    • Contrast - How much tone, texture and colour each element has relative to the other
    • Shape - the two dimensional form that an element takes
    • Space - the visual distance between elements

Sometimes it may help to reduce the content into the simplest form - 2D solid shapes without detail with exaggerated tonal values. This can help examine the success of the composition and establish hierarchy. Perhaps this is a second stage to test out the final selected compositions one the experiments above are completed to make a final test of the success of the composition and to guide the next stage of rendering the image tones and colours.

Questions for the learning log:

• How does the sense of the image and its meaning change when the character, the child walking or running, is smaller than the tree and building.
• If elements are at differing angles to both each other and the frame, what dynamic is suggested.
• If all elements are completely horizontal and vertical in relation to the frame, what dynamic is suggested. What is your opinion about this image and what it communicates.
• Which is your favourite composition - why do you feel that.

References

SCOTT, D. 2019. What is Representational Art. drawpaintacademy.com [online]. Available at: https://drawpaintacademy.com/representational-art/. Accessed 15th August 2021.