VisComII

Final Continued

2010-05-05T12:17:00.000-07:00

Product Illustration: This is 8x10 and rendered in watercolor. I chose to illustrate Daisy perfume bottle. I exaggerated the colors and used different watercolor techniques to achieve the reflections.

Glamor Article Illustrations: For the last assignment I wanted to do something really stylistic. I feel like this style definitely represents me better than some of the other pieces. I love using nontraditional colors and crazy watercolor effects.

Final Continued

2010-05-05T12:01:00.001-07:00

20x30 Watercolor: I referenced a black and white photo so I picked my colors according to the values in the photo. I really explored the different watercolor techniques (wet on wet, wet on dry, dry on wet, dry on dry, etc) in this piece. The implied shapes and vibrant colors create a sense of structure.

Memory Portrait: This illustration is 8x10 and also rendered with watercolor. The assignment was to illustrate a portrait of someone from memory. I chose to illustrate the little boy I babysit, because his bright eyes and chubby cheeks are hard to forget- unlike others, I did not use photographic reference.

S of I Poster: This Illustration is 16x20 and I wanted to do something a little more stylistic. My whole idea was to illustrate a realistic portion of the face and have it transfer into symbols that represent ideas and creativity.
It looks Salvador Dali-ish... which is the feel I was going for.

Final Portfolio

2010-05-05T11:58:00.001-07:00

Abe Lincoln: I chose to have Abe walking through the steam of the train, because I wanted to do something dramatic. On my first attempt I chose to use chalk as my medium, but this was problematic when I got to Abraham Lincoln. The size of this is about 10''x15'' and the scale of him just wasn't big enough to render with chalk. In this revision I chose to lay down the line work first and then go over it with water color. I wanted to go for an impressionist feel so I have a lot of implied shapes. I added bright colors in the train to add dimension to the piece.

Article Illustration: This illustration is 10.5''x7'' and was for the newspaper article "Farmers survive the winter" I chose to do this in pen and ink because I had been struggling with structure in previous assignments. I chose to illustrate this because old farmer and the straw hat look like they've been trough a rough time but survived.

Life and Death: These are two separate illustrations both 8x10... I chose to do a whimsical design with a lively color tree on the right and the dead tree on the left. I started with laying down a layer of pen work and then did watercolor on top of it. I had most trouble with the feet on the skeleton and little boy but resolved the problem by adding a little more structure.

S of I Illustration

2010-04-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

This Illustration is 16x20 and I wanted to do something a little more wacky than my usual... My whole idea was to illustrate a realistic portion of the face and have it transfer into symbols that represent ideas and what's going on in her head.... It looks Salvador Dali-ish... which is what I was going for... I am going to put it into context of the poster.

Abe Original Marker Comp

2010-04-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

This is a little overdue, but this was my marker comp for Abe

Life vs Death

2010-04-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

This is two separate illustrations both 8x10... I chose to do a whimsical design with a lively color tree on the right and the dead tree on the left. I started with laying down a layer of pen work and then did watercolor on top of it. I had most trouble with the feet on the skeleton and little boy but resolved the problem by adding a little more structure.

ABE rev 2

2010-04-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

For this assignment I thought it would be cool to have Abe walking through the steam of a train. On my first attempt I chose to use chalk as my medium, but this was problematic when I got to Abraham Lincoln. The size of this is about 10''x15'' and the scale of him just wasn't big enough to render with chalk. The steam also looked a bit muddy with the chalk as well. In this revision I chose to lay down the line work first and then go over it with water color. I wanted to go for an impressionist feel so I have a lot of implied shapes. Also I added in non traditional colors in this piece so it wouldn't feel so monotone.

Memory Portrait & Number 11

2010-04-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

OK so since I haven't blogged FOREVER, here is #11 and memory portrait. For the #11 project we had to illustrate the #11 in a creative way... After doing 10 different color comps, Rusty picked the one with the 11 point buck. Painting deer is not really my thing.. so there will probably be a redo of this in the near future. I am pretty happy with the second memory portrait (the 1st one got blue airbrush ink all over it. Annoying.

MidTerm Portfolio

2010-03-05T08:24:00.001-08:00

Line work on top of Watercolor:

I really liked this technique of doing the line drawing first, and then going over it with loose watercolor. My goal on this piece was to emphasize the left side of the image by putting more detail in the line work and using more vibrant colors. I used a wet on wet watercolor technique so the red in the umbrella bleeds on the blue curtain. I wish I would have painted the negative space at the top of the arch instead of coloring it with marker, other wise I am really happy with the piece.

20x30 Watercolor:

I think this is my strongest piece so far this semester. I referenced a black and white photo so I picked my colors according to the values in the photo. I there there is nice

wet on wet implied shapes going on in the bottom of the painting which imply the wet street and reflections. There is not much structure in the piece, but I think the implied shapes with the colors really work and create a sense of structure.

Postcard:

I am including this piece, because I wanted to emphasize further my sense of color. I used a black and white photo for reference and based my color choices on the values in the photo. I wanted to jazz up the postcard by using colors that typically wouldn't be thought of being rendered for a field - but I think the colors I pick work because of my attention to the dark and light values.

I realize the figures in the piece need work which is something I am currently working on. I had trouble rendering the shadows on the faces because of the small scale. My colors kept bleeding together. I am going to go back in with a small pen and add detail in the faces and overalls. I think it will solve the problem. Overall I think this piece adds variety to my portfolio with the use of color which is why I am including it.

Product Illustration:

I think this perfume bottle works quite nicely. I think I rendered the highlights in the glass well and the bronze ball at the top along with the bronze on the flowers. I think because of the highlights the glass reads as glass and bronze looks like it is shiny. I dropped splashes of color throughout the piece, such as the flowers, to add dimension. I used a variety of techniques such as wet on wet, wet on dry, dry on wet, etc. I added line work for detail.

Cowboy:

This was a homework exercise. I have included it because I think the rendering of the jacket and hat turned out really nicely. I used the wet on wet technique for the shadows and I think this created a really cool effect. I added line work to add a little more detail.

More Montage

2010-03-03T08:01:00.000-08:00

This montage is definitely an improvement from the last one. I am getting the hang of picking out the highlights. I think I have some cool things going on with the colors as well. If I went back in added another layer with more details, especially with the guy singing, the piece would work a lot better. Also, the composition with the 3 images isn't the greatest. Overall, this piece is better - but still isn't quite there.

More Watercolor

2010-03-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've blogged... Here is the big water color...I think its 20'' x 30''? I think my color interpretation really worked out well in this piece and as well as the implied shapes - but I also think some of it is a little too implied and a little more structure would be help out....

gouche gouche gouche

2010-02-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

I hate the gouche pick-out method. I am struggling with structure and getting bright highlights. I attempted to pick out highlights in the sky, the water, her hair and I picked a ton on the face. I struggled to get bight whites using this method. Hopefully the next one will go better. And, if I do a portrait on the next, I won't give the person lip injections.

Final Revision

2010-02-15T08:31:00.000-08:00

Heres the final revision of the previous marker comps. I used micron pens for the Whyte and Makay whisky bottle with the ice berg behind it and I used watercolor for the perfume bottle. All in all, I am really pretty with how the perfume bottle turned out. The whiskey bottle, however, needs some help.

Initial Comps

2010-02-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

The line work on the Whiskey Bottle represents a story I read in USA Today about archaeologists finding an ancient case of whiskey in the arctic from an explorer... They whiskey was Whyte and McKay so I illustrated the bottle with an iceberg behind it. I am going with an etching technique for the iceberg and I need to put more value in the bottle.

The assignment for the perfume bottle is to illustrate a glamour shot of a product. For my final of this I will either use watercolor or gouche with pen.

Morrrrre Watercolor

2010-02-03T08:02:00.000-08:00

I think these are better than my past watercolors... I spent most of my time on the cowboy. On these I really tried to pay attention to highlights. I also tried to exaggerate color. I also wasn't so worried about controlling the paint and I went in after the paint dried with micron pens and added detail.

More Watercolor

2010-02-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

So, I think these are getting better, especially the ones I did in class (the parrots and the portrait of myself) I still need to add the line work to the parrots for some more definition.

I am pretty happy with the portrait of myself... I was soo scared to start it.. but it turned out much better than expected. I had the most trouble with the hair- but I think the line work really helped out...

The ice cubes are my 1 out of 10... the rest were a lot worse...

I hope this gets easier!

2010-01-29T09:27:00.000-08:00

Watercolors are not my friend... I need to practice a lot more.. My problem is that I blot too much and I don't let the water and pigment just do its thing... On these three out of the 10 I am kind of getting the hang of it.. On the cherry blossoms I went back in with pen and added a little detail- I need to do the same with the other two because they are lacking structure...

The first watercolor attempt

2010-01-22T07:37:00.000-08:00

2010-01-15T08:01:00.000-08:00

Here's the 8.5 x 11 version of the Illustration. With this Illustration I was trying to place emphasis on the left portion of the picture with detailed hash marking and by playing up the different values. The right portion of the drawing gets a little noodlely but- I didn't want to over do it- because my goal was to focus on the left portion and to have it stand out. I need to experiment more with this technique more so the right side of the drawing doesn't look under-rendered while still showing emphasis on the left side....

2010-01-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

Illustration

2010-01-13T09:16:00.001-08:00

Last but not least..

2009-12-16T15:53:00.000-08:00

I spent 20+++ hours on the Red Barn campaign. I took the back ground photo of the barn. I wanted to go with a fun, rustic, 70's theme. I really think this design represents what the Red Barn Festival is all about.

I spent about 15 hours on the Society of Illustrators self mailer. When folded up the cover is the Lion with "Take a walk on the wild side" in the mouth. I think the "Wild" concept demands attention and I carried it out through out the entire piece.

I think I have really improved a TON over this past semester. Looking back, I did some pretty crappy stuff at the first of the year. My layouts improved dramatically. Once I started utilizing a grid and spending time to come up with unique concepts, my designs got much better. VisCom boot camp was not easy but it definitely paid off. Thanks for a great semester.

Final Portfoilio Pieces continued

2009-12-16T15:40:00.000-08:00

I spent around 20 hours on the 6 pack design. The majority of the time went to constructing the box again and again..... and again. This has been one of favorite projects and I am really happy with how it turned out.

I spent about 10 hours on The Great Gatsby design. The majority of the time went to the Illustrations. I spent so much time on the six pack so I didn't have as much time to spend on the CD. I am really happy with how the design turned out with the aged texture mixed with the colors and drawings.

Final Portfoilio Pieces

2009-12-16T15:12:00.000-08:00

The Stressed Out piece is an 11x17 spread, four color job with bleeds. I spent about 12 hours on the projects going through the different revisions. I found it difficult dealing with the type heavy layout but I think I over came the challenge and came up with a design solution that will catch the eye of the reader.

I spent 6 hours on the Red Dress layout. It is also 11x17, four color with bleeds. The challenge with this was I had a narrow photo to work with and hardly any type. I reversed type on the Intro to white and the type has plenty of room to breathe.

I had a difficult time getting inspired for the Rapla Ad. I spent about 15 hours total on this project and redesigned it several times. I wanted to play with negative space on this one and have it carry the reader from the left page to the right page.

I spent about 16 hours on Time in the Woods- I spent the majority of my time shooting photographs for this project and creating the contact sheet.

Aimee's six pack

2009-12-06T19:18:00.000-08:00

So, it's a Friday night and you're shopping for the alcoholic beverage for the great night ahead. You see a six back of pocion d' aime and soon realize you've been looking for love in all the wrong place.

I wanted to tell a story with this design so I thought it would be best to do show it through love birds. The front and back panels have the birds looking at each other and the name of the beverage. There is love in the air with the fun heart pattern with the hypnotizing bull's eyes. The side panels have the enviornment as the front panel but the birds have moved and are now kissing.

I'm cheesin' it up big time on this one.

2009-12-06T18:55:00.000-08:00

This is a self-mailer piece that I designed for the Society of Illustrators. I wanted to get across to the recipient that the S of I is a fun organization and considered an honor to be apart of. I decided to go with a jungle theme with the main tag line being "Take a walk on the wild side." The cover with the lion illustration along with the fold out poster both say this. In this design you will find wild texture with the animal prints and jungle patterns. On the panel with the zebra print I wanted to slightly camouflage the headline to play off "Take a closer look.." And on the last panel I wanted to leave the viewer motivated to apply to be in the organization and become "The next king of the jungle."

Take a walk on the wild side.

2009-12-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

Red Barn Campaign

2009-12-06T18:18:00.001-08:00

For the Red Barn Campaign I designed a web banner, poster, newspaper ad and a self-mailer brochure. I wanted to create a design that really showed what the art festival on the Kirksville square is like. I incorporated a barn texture- the photo I took myself and then manipulated it in photo shop to bring out all the colors- with a tree. I wanted to show that there are a variety of crafts and activities at the fair and I did this by bringing out the other colors besides red in the barn and the colors also go with the over all '70s feel to the design. The tree represents the growth of the festival over the years. The expression "fab" short for "fabulous" also comes straight from the 1970's. I think the overall design really represents the Red barn festival. It gives the rustic feel of Kirksville while still being modern.

1st Rev S of I

2009-11-02T05:55:00.000-08:00

This is a direct mailer piece for the Society of Illustrators. I am going with a jungle theme. This will fold in the middle and three times for the panels. The cover panel says "Take a Walk on the Wild Side" in the Lions mouth. (On the real layout the lion panel and the "Welcome to the Jungle panel will be upside down for folding purposes.) I think the top two animal prints aren't really working with the print on the bottom because it looks too realistic. The mailing panel obviously needs work still. The inside of this mailer is going to be full size poster of a Zebra by the same Illustrator who did the lion...

Time in the Woods

2009-11-02T05:40:00.000-08:00

This is a 11 x 17 magazine spread for Missouri Conservationist. I shot the photo and just divided it up in squares in my layout so the image flows through all of the squares.

Portfolio Continued

2009-10-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

How Safe is a 14'' x 17'', 4 color, full bleed spread. I chose to look at the root of the problem stated in the article which is with crops. I think over all the layout is eye catching.

Stressed Out! is an 11 x 17 spread, 4 color, full bleed layout. I chose to use a photo of the most frazzled lady I could find... and, I think she works perfectly for the layout. I had trouble making this layout not look boring due to the large amount of text. I think the pink pull quote that bleeds off the pages works really nicely and jazzes things up a bit.

The Alice in Wonderland poster is a 13'' x 19," 4 color, full bleed. I was going for a mystical feel on this one. I chose to make the photo into vector art because it shows that life through the looking glass is not ordinary.

Portfolio

2009-10-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

The How to Look Fierce spread is an 11 x 17, 4-color, full- bleed. I think the photo goes perfect with the article. I am using a 5 column grid on both pages. I chose to make the intro to the article in white. I think the red box on the second ties the layout together.

The Rapala ad is a 13 x 19, 4-color, full- bleed. I have revised this one A LOT. I like the photo a lot and how the headline is coming from the fish's mouth. I am using the orange color pretty aggressively, but I think it really helps the layout flow from one page to the other. I think the negative space looks really nice.

I chose to include the Native American poster because I like the over all layout and the Illustration of the Indian. I think the duotone in it is very effective. I think the play on words ("bow") is something everyone will understand and find humorous. This was is an 11 x 17'' poster, with a spot color, no bleed. I spent a good 3 hours on the Illustration and probably another 3 hours on the entire layout.

Last but not least..

2009-10-13T09:57:00.001-07:00

Last but not least is the Stressed Out! spread. I think is is one of my stronger pieces. The photo really makes it.

Portfolio

2009-10-13T09:25:00.000-07:00

These pieces I am going thinking submitting for my mid-term portfolio.

The first is an advertisement for Folders. I chose this piece because I think it is conceptually clever. The girl in the photo is wearing a red dress- which is Folders signature color. I wrote the intro on the second page which supports my concept. The rest of the copy letting the viewer know about the different flavors of coffee Foldgers offers.

I chose the Native American poster because it is one of the few pieces where I use a drawing instead of a photo and I liked the concept behind the poster... I think the Native American in a bow tie is eye catching.

Next is the How Safe layout. I think this one still needs a little bit of work... I think the left page of the spread is working pretty well.. I went a different route on this one than most. I went to the root of the problem which was crops...

The Alice in Wonderland movie poster is next. I thought this piece added some variety in my portfolio. I made the photo into vector art and altered the colors. I wanted the poster to have an eerie or "unknown" feel to it. My whole concept is "Discover what is through the looking glass." -In Through the Looking Glass, Alice ponders what life would be like on the other side of a mirror and then she is carried away to a far away to a completely different world. I chose to use to use a mystical font and I think the vector art works really well for the poster.

Next is Rapala. I have been through several revisions on this one... I think this spread works the best but might still need a little work. I really like the photo and I like how the headline is coming from the fish's mouth. I'm not sure about the pull quote or the placement of the lure.

1st Rev of 3 layouts

2009-10-12T19:02:00.000-07:00

Rapala revison

2009-10-07T06:46:00.000-07:00

So, I feel like this layout has more of a concept. I like the photo better, and I like how the headline is coming from the fish.... I think the left page is working better than the right. Any thoughts?

Fishy Spread

2009-10-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

So, the top spread was the first layout I did... I think the photo of the guy fishing works, but thats about it... The bottom layout is my revision. I like how the headline goes over to the second page. I still need to edit the text... And, I'm kinda thinking the second page could maybe turn into a seven column grid instead of five, and doing three blocks of text and not having as much negative space. This layout needs help!

2009-09-25T09:24:00.001-07:00

So, I definitely think the "How Safe?" layout needs some work. I don't think the concept is that great and the layout kinda sucks. I do however think the "Health" layout is working much better. I like my photo of the oreo pie and I think the green is a nice accent color. I need to add a pull quote on the 2nd page.

Final Stress Spread

2009-09-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

I took Rusty's advice and moved the pull quote with the yellow box in the middle of the second page. (Thanks Rusty!) It works much better and makes more sense. Overall I like the final product, I think the photo is eye catching and the pink and orange really pop.

Stessed Out!

2009-09-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

This magazine spread is stressing me out! I think the spread on the right with the yellow is working much better than the ever popular baby blue. The yellow definitely pops more. I think the page with the frazzled lady is working well, but I am not sure about the other page. I tried to jazz it up by adding the block of yellow.

Just Dance!

2009-09-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

My concept for this poster comes straight from Van Morrison. My goal with this was to attract attention with a flashy "Wild Night." I thought it would attract attention and bring the viewer in because they would just be dying to know more about the wild night to come.

Warm-Up poster redesigns...

2009-09-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

Soo, these are all pretty crappy. Conceptually some are stronger than others...I personally think the "Speak Greek, not Math" poster in the left corner has the best concept out of all these, but apparently I forgot what a good layout was over the summer. (I also forgot how to take a good photo.)

Getting Better?

2009-09-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

I have been looking at this poster for entirely too long. I duo-toned my Indian which I think really made it pop. I moved the "bow tie optional" to the side and made it a little bigger. The spear in the drawing is pointing at it and the yellow arrow brings the eye to the bow tie. I think this is making my concept stand out more and creating more of a headline other than "Native American Heritage Month.

I can't tell if the "bow tie optional" overlapping the "N" is an ordeal or not...?

I think it's getting there....

Revision #1

2009-09-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

So, I made a few changes to my poster. First of all I extended the Truman State presents..... across the word Native, added the A to American, and put a little orange in the bow tie.

I still have a few issues. I need to use the orange color a little more aggressively and I'm still lacking a headline!! I like my overall layout and I have somewhat of a concept, but I am having trouble making it a little more obvious.

Oh, and apparently "How white man" is offensive. Who knew? Whoops.

Native American poster with poop orange and a bow tie.

2009-09-09T07:48:00.000-07:00

My concept with this poster was to have an Indian in a loin cloth and a bow tie. I drew the Indian with pencil, went over it with pen and then scanned it in my document. The bow tie is a vector graphic I drew in Illustrator. I wanted to play off an Indians "bow" and I also think it creates an old movie poster feel.