Stage 2- Five full page illustrative sequence

For stage 2 I chose to illustrate an instructional sequence using 5 full page illustrations. I chose children as my main audience because it best suited the style of illustration i could see for this project.

I am really happy with the result and i am really glad i made myself use photoshop to colour the images (even though i don't consider myself very good) because the more i used it, the more i understood how it worked and how i could get the best out of my artwork. It was strange at first using digital means of colouring etc. because i am used to using traditional media for my work but i do not think i would have got such a good effect if i hand-rendered these illustrations.

22 Panels Comic Art Show

As part of the 22 Panels Comic Art Show in Falmouth this year we (just a few of us) took part in an interactive comics installation and workshop : Town. 
First we did some warm up comic exercises, creating characters and 'filling in the blanks' on some comic layout sheets provided by Jack Teagle!

This was a really fun exercise and having some panels filled in already made it quite easy to create a narrative (a task i usually find quite difficult). It was also really handy having a comic illustrator there for advice!

This is a character i created from three two adjectives and a noun chosen by other people! This was a challenge but a fun activity to get the creative juices flowing!

This is the summative comic i created from my character and based within the town we created in the afternoon.

To establish back stories and influence our comics we made a small (and rather odd) cardboard town!

I had a really good time in Falmouth and the work we did was really helpful in my understanding the structure of comics and different ways of generating ideas for creating sequential images and narratives. We got to meet some interesting people and because our group was quite small we were able to talk informally and get some valuable advice for our artwork and practise.

Quick Comics...

To get used to the structure of comics and begin the sequential image making module we created these quick 6 panel comics based on the word 'lunch'!

I had a bit of extra time so i thought i would see what my comic would look like with colour. I really like the overall affect, in particular the colour palette, and it was really good to see it looking more finished. It feels like a proper piece of artwork now, not just a quick drawing. 

Zoetrope Workshop

This is my final outcome from the zoetrope workshop. It took a while to get the movement right but after adapting my frames the animation turned out quite smooth.

Below was my first attempt of creating a zoetrope animation. I used collage from magazines to create a character, traced over it and used this to make the movements. It was only a practise one (hence the felt tip pens!) but i think it worked surprisingly well for one i just made at home!

Comics etc...

First project of our 2nd year : Sequential Image Making.
We went on a trip to Ashburton, predominantly to visit the comic book shop Gnash! but also to gather resources to create a 6 panel comic. It has been challenging but really fun, i completely changed my idea because i just really couldn't get into it before, i am much happier with the outcome now.

'Oh Deer'. Created with watercolours and collage.

From the trip, and following work, I have come across some new illustrators (new to me!) which have been really inspiring, especially after looking at their websites etc.
From Gnash! I bought the summer activity special edition of Anorak magazine. Although it is for children, the illustrations are fantastic and, like before, i have discovered some more artists to reference at a later date.

Note to self: create a list/glossary/archive of illustrators and their websites for future reference!

Ermina Takenova