Illustration & Visual Narrative: Task 2

Mr Hafiz gave us a brief about our upcoming assignment which was: Project 2- Decisive Moment. Long story short, we were instructed to read and research on urban legends around the world. We had to pick 1 urban legend story and create a decisive moment poster and animate it as the final task.

Week 6 Lecture Slides

Figure 1.1 Lecture 6 Slides, Week 6 (30/10/2023)

6 November 2023

Week 7 /Lecture 7

Mr Hafiz introduced us to composition theory. It consists of mainly 3 factors which are: Foreground, Midground, and Background. It is said that it will capture the viewer's attention when used correctly.

Foreground: Closest to the viewer

Midground: Middle

Background: Furthest from the viewer

Good Design flow is also known as good arrangement of visual focus. It can lead the viewer's eyes throughout the layout. The visual should be able to influence the way readers understand out work. Mr Hafiz played us a video which was "The Soloists" to help us with understanding better. We were instructed to write down our understanding of the arrangement of backgrounds and camera angles.

Figure 1.2 The Soloists, Week 7 (6/11/2023)

Link to YouTube Video here

Notes:

Figure 1.3 Scene 1, Week 7 (6/11/2023)

In this scene, I loved it when the background, midground and foreground was well designed. It is very pleasing to the eyes. Thanks to this, there was a very clear contrast. There are very unique animations that can be seen in this particular scene too. Besides that, the shadows and contrast was well used here.

Figure 1.4 Scene 2, Week 7 (6/11/2023)

In this scene, it is very clear that the 4 characters are the midground. Other than that, the lighting was very bright and clear. It attracts viewers to focus on the centre of the scene. It can be seen that the shadows (on the furniture) were nicely added as it is near/far away from the window lighting.

Applying textures and noise to designs:

Mr Hafiz taught us how to add texture and gradients to our designs using Adobe Illustrator. To apply texture, we have to click on the element and press CTRL C & CTRL F. After that, select Effects, Texture, and apply Grain or any other in the list. WE were also briefed on how to use gradients in our work to add depth so the illustration does not look as plain. We had to complete a short exercise which was to apply texture and gradient to one of the characters Mr Hafiz provided.

Figure 1.5 Texture design exercise, Week 7 (7/11/2023)

Week 7 Lecture Slides:

Figure 1.6 Week 7 Slides, Week 7 (6/11/2023)

13 November 2023

Week 8 / Recess Week

20 November 2023

Week 9 / Lecture 9

Mr Hafiz briefed us on Task 2 - Decisive moment in Week 6.
Editorial illustration are works that appear in journal articles, newspaper and more. It is to illuminate some element of the concepts for the reader. Our task is to develop an editorial poster illustration to represent the chosen text for the Urban Legend. Afterwards, we have to decide on the narratives decisive moment, and the climax (the turning point) of the narrative. It must be illustrated in Art Deco Style.

Secondary action enhances the main action, providing more dimensions to the characters. We were also briefed through the main details of overlapping action and over through animations. These secondary actions are added to emphasise an action or movement. Mr Hafiz also recommended to start exploring artworks by Rebecca Mock and Zac Gorman.

Figure 1.7 Limited animation example, Week 9 (20/11/2023)

We were instructed to create a limited gif animation for our own urban legend art deco poster, and identify the actions we can use to make it possible.

Week 9 Lecture Slides:

Figure 1.8 Week 9 Slides, Week 9 (20/11/2023)

He also provided YouTube videos and references to watch and learn how to use the Pencil Tool & Smooth Tool. The pencil tool is used for drawing freestyle line segments, which makes it easier to create curved and free-hand paths. The smooth tool allows adjusting paths to smoothen edges and curves. The pen tool is better at drawing smooth and precise paths while the pencil tool is better suited for crafting organic paths.

Pencil Tool:
- used for: Customising typography, drawing illustration & shapes, and can use as a rubber
- strengths: allows ultimate control & draw effortlessly
- weaknesses: tricky to use and envious of the pen tool

Figure 1.9 Letterforms practice, Week 9 (20/11/2023)

Figure 1.10 Icons practice, Week 9 (20/10/2023)

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INSTRUCTIONS

Figure 2.1 Module Information- IVN, Week 6 (30/10/2023)

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TASK 2: DECISIVE MOMENT

3.1 Mood Board & Research

After looking through several examples provided by Mr Hafiz, I have made my own research about urban legends from different countries. I decided to go for one of the most terrifying stories I have read when I was a kid, which is the "Lady of the lake" urban legend from Lake Lanier, Georgia, United States. This story was also mentioned in a movie named "Lanier" that was released in 2023.

I have read about this story on different websites and articles. While reading the plot of the story, I searched for the decisive moment in the story. The climax of the story is the part where a fisherman witnessed human remains that had floated to the surface of the lake. The body belonged to Susie Robert, the accident happened a year ago in 1958. The body was missing both hands and several toes. Besides that, she was in a blue dress.

Links to articles I used for reference

https://www.southerngothicmedia.com/lake-lanier#header

https://oxfordamerican.org/magazine/issue-113-summer-2021/the-haunting-of-lake-lanier

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/lake-lanier-deaths-history-black-town

Abstract of the decisive moment

Figure 3.1.1 Decisive moment in "The Lady of the lake", Week 6 (31/10/2023)

After reading through all the gathered articles and videos, I compiled a few inspiration photos from Google and Pinterest. I made a mood board and used the eyedropper tool to pick out suitable colours for my palette.

Figure 3.1.2 Mood Board & Colour Palette, Week 6 (31/10/2023)

3.2 Sketches

I drafted a few sketches as I progress throughout. For every sketch, I made sure to get feedback on each of them before finishing the final composition.

Sketch 1:

My first idea was to include the sedan car as the foreground, the lady of the lake as the mid ground, and the fisherman as the background. I also made sure to fill in the gaps with little details such as fishes, seaweed, branches, mountains and so on.

Figure 3.2.1 First Sketch, Week 6 (3/11/2023)

Sketch 2:

After getting feedback from Mr Hafiz and my friends, I have decided to make some small changes which was to change the car to the left hand side and adding more branches in the water. Besides that I also made sure that the drawing shows the details underwater and above the water. Which, I added land and mountains.

Figure 3.2.2 Second Sketch, Week 6 (4/11/2023)

Final Sketch

My last attempt was to make sure that the foreground, midground and background is filled with details, rather than having it empty. For this final sketch, the foreground includes a car, small layer of rocks, seaweed, branches, and fishes. The midground consists of the lady and some fishes. Lastly, for the background, I added a sun, some mountains and the fisherman on the boat.

Figure 3.2.3 Final Sketch, Week 7 (8/11/2023)

3.3 Digitalising Poster

I did some research on the art style of "Art Deco" as it was the theme that Mr Hafiz instructed us to follow. Attached below are some of the reference I found while digitalising.

twin-fish711: Create a retro-style travel poster under water featuring a coral reef with sea life, using an art-deco-inspired design with strong geometric shapes and patterns, Utilize a color pallet of bright pastels.

Figure 3.3.1 Art Deco Reference 1, Week 8 (14/11/2023)

Vintage Art Deco Posters | International Poster Gallery

Figure 3.3.2 Art Deco Reference 2, Week 8 (14/11/2023)

Disney Art Déco posters « David G. Ferrero – Ilustración y diseño | Disney posters, Disney movie posters, Mermaid poster

Figure 3.3.3 Art Deco Reference 3, Week 8 (14/11/2023)

After looking through many Art Deco styled posters for inspiration, I proceeded to digitalising the final sketch in Adobe Illustrator. Below are some of the progress recorded down while completing my poster.

Figure 3.3.4 Adding draft to Adobe Illustrator, Week 8 (15/11/2023)

I first added all 3 drafts into my Adobe Illustrator file, and begin to outline the shapes using the Brush Tool and Pen Tool.

Figure 3.3.5 Tracing Using Brush Tool & Pen Tool, Week 8 (15/11/2023)

Figure 3.3.6 Coloring in by filling, Week 8 (15/11/2023)

Draft 1

After doing the necessary, like colouring and outlining, the first draft for my poster is done.

Figure 3.3.7 Draft 1 of poster, Week 8 (16/11/2023)

Draft 2

I received feedback that the art style of the Lady of the Lake does not match with the car nor the background of the poster. Hence, I have decided to redraw the character.

Figure 3.3.8 Draft 2 of poster, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

Draft 3

I made a few changes which was to make the Lady of the Lake look more grey-ish pale, as there are feedback mentioning that she looks rather alive in the previous draft. Besides that, I added some fishes and branches to the foreground and midground of the poster.

Figure 3.3.9 Draft 3 poster, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

Final Draft

Draft 3 was looking quite plain and empty, so I added some texture to the background of the poster. I added a grain effect to the underground water, and the same effect to the sky in the background. Other than that, I thought the branches in the midground was too much, hence I have removed it from my final draft.

Figure 3.3.10 Final Draft of poster, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

3.4 Final Outcome

Attached below is the final outcome of the poster. The exported format was JPG.

Figure 3.4.1 Final outcome of poster, JPG, Week 8 (17/11/2023)

3.5 Animation

Before starting on the animation, I decided on the elements which requires movement and brainstorm to create a draft for each frame. This helps me with getting started on drawing each frame easily.

While completing the adjustments for the four frames, I made sure the movements are in synced and not weirdly arranged. Below are the four frames used for my animation.

Figure 3.5.1 Four Frames for animation, Week 9 (23/11/2023)

After importing all four frames into photoshop, I adjusted the animation to loop and decided on the timing to be 0.5s in between each frame. 1s was too long and I thought 0.5s would be just nice to catch the viewer's attention to the transformation.

Figure 3.5.2 Timeline adjusted in Photoshop, Week 9 (23/11/2023)

I exported the GIF through Photoshop by exporting using Save for Web (Legacy). Below is the final GIF animation of the decisive moment.

Figure 3.5.3 Final GIF Animation of the decisive moment, Week 9 (26/11/2023)

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FEEDBACK

General Feedback: Have several sketches before digitalisation. Apply rules of third and golden ratio when drafting and designing.

Specific Feedback: Add texture and change composition for several drafts. Art style matches with the requirements. Make sure to update E-portfolio.

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REFLECTIONS

Experience: Despite the online illustration classes, I managed to learn quite some skills from this program. Over the past few weeks, it was hectic to finish all the exercises as I did not have access to save or do without a laptop. Nevertheless, I tried my best to complete all the assignments using Adobe Illustrator independently. I have learned many tools and I definitely learned to think out of the box more often when it comes to anything related to design.

Observations: I have observed that Adobe Illustrator is a software that allows me to illustrate and design. It is important to always be creative and get out of the comfort zone when it comes to designing.

Findings: I have learnt to get more feedback from Mr Hafiz as it is one of the best ways to learn and grow my skills. It is also important to complete all exercises in time to avoid procrastination.

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Illustration & Visual Narrative: Task 2