ILLUSTRATION AND VISUAL NARRATIVE/ TASK 1:EXERCISES

||  04/04/24 – 09/05/24 
||  Sun Jia Yi / 0370449
||  Illustration and Narrative / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
||  Exercise 1: Vormator Challenge (Project 1) 

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LECTURERS 

Week 1

Mr Hafiz gave us some brief regrading the module and assignments. The lecturer introduced us to module information and prompted us on what we should expect from this class in the future. 

Week 2

The lecturer introduced some basic tools in AI (Adobe Illustrator)such as Selection, Direct Selection, Pen Tools and Stroke. About our exercise, the lecturer began a simple tutorial on how to trace objects through mini games by using a pen tool. 

Mini Games Link: 

1) https://bezier.method.ac/?authuser=1

2) https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/games/pen-tool-game/

Fig. 1.0 The Bezier Game, Week 2

About task 1. the lecturer taught how to create the new file and use the "Place" . in AI. Also how to use pen tool to create these Vormator shapes and make it feel more smooth not rough. As well as taught the difference with selection and direct selection tool. 

Week 3

The lecturer taught us the shapes and pathfinder. how to use adobe illustrator to create the different shapes. And introduction to Character Design. We were taught the principles of character design, which are shapes, colour, emphasis, contrast, harmony, expression/poses, and also what makes a good character design. 

Stylisation gives a unique look to the character and makes them stand out, be memorable and iconic, easy to digest.

Iconic: 

Stylized designed characters are often iconic that you can immediately recognize them even in black silhouttes.

Simplicity:

Simplicity of the design allows viewers to digest and understand the purpose of the characters.

Unique:

Unique characters makes an impact on the viewers.

Fig. 1.1 Principle of Character Design , Week 3

Fig. 1.2 Principle of Character Design , Week 3

Shapes are important to identify a character from one to another. 

Fig. 1.3  Shapes in Character design, Week 3

Colours plays an important role in determining and separate the basic

characteristics of heroes, villains and even background characters.

Fig. 1.4  Colours in Character design , Week 3

Week 4

Mr Hafiz taught us the basics of Adobe Illustrator during our practical. Specifically focused on the pen tool, knife tool while creating a chiaroscuro pear. 

About our Virmator assignment Mr Hafiz taught us to recolor our character. First go to the window - workspace - essential classic. And then select the color group and edit the colour add the new color group u already download in the adobe color. Finally go to the edit- edit color- recolor artwork. 

Fig. 1.5 Recolour Character design , Week 4

In this week, we learned about Chiaroscuro, it is the process of giving the appearance of three-dimensional volume on a flat surface by contrasting light and dark. The goal of chiaroscuro is to heighten the dramatic tension in the scene by employing colour or light contrast to emphasise the subject's significance.

Chiaroscuro can be applied in many ways:

• Highlights contrasts with a predominantly dark setting.
• Focus point or subject of a scene is brightly colored
• Focus point or subject of a scene is contrasted with a dark background.

This method is an excellent lighting choice to differentiate positive and negative spaces

Fig. 1.6 Positive space V.S. Negative space , Week 4

Chiaroscuro is used in visual narrative because it:

• Increase dramatic tension
• Create sensational effect
• Attract attension
• Make tasteful composition

Fig. 1.7 Why Chiaroscuro is used in visual narrative ,Week 4

Week 5

In this week Mr Hafiz taught us the composition in animation.  Specifically focused on the pen tool, creating the mask to create the man with shadow. And then Mr Hafiz introduced what should we do in our task 2. 

This week's lesson covers composition theory, which is the study of how the visual elements are arranged. Every time we snap a picture, we find ourselves deliberate about what to include and what not to.

The tricky part of composition is figuring out how to efficiently organise the visual elements. These components must be arranged to highlight their meaning. 

These are some basic composition visual rules:

Visual narrative: Composition should complement the subject focus and reflect the narrative.

Visual flow: Composition also determines the path of a viewer’s eye through the visual.

Visual balannce: Even though we can’t know the exact path a viewer’s eye is going to take, you can nudge things one way or another.

Visual hierarchy: The way we visualize and focus our subject matters can have huge effects on the composition the artists make.

Fig. 1.8 Basic Composition Visual Rules ,Week 5

Different types of shots:

      Establishing: Wide shots are used to establish the setting, location and spectacle and enough information to the viewer

Fig. 1.9 Establishing ,Week 5

        

      Bird's Eye View: Also known as overhead shots, is when the POV is placed directly above the subject.

Fig. 1.10 Bird's Eye View ,Week 5

       Frame within a Frame: It is used to fracture screen space, add depth, and creare visual interest in the cinematic compositions.

Fig. 1.11 Frame within a Frame ,Week 5

           Medium Shot: Also called a three-quaters shot, which is the standard camera angles used to frame a character.

Fig. 1.12 Medium shot ,Week 5

           Close Up: It used to "catch' emotions in order to invest in the characters' well-being. It is used to emphasize emotions.

Fig. 1.13 Close Up ,Week 5

           Worm's Eye View: An intimate moment to look into the character's mind. It is used to emphasize emotions too.

Fig. 1.14 Worm's Eye View ,Week 5

Practical 

1.1

In the practical we were to use the pen tool, knife tool and shape builder and pathfinder tool to design a pear shape and colour it. 

Fig. 1.6 Pear Chiarosuro Design - Sun JIa Yi , Week 4

2.2

We are also instructed to trace the character by seperate it into light part and shadow part by using pen tool and Curvature tool. 

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INSTRUCTIONS 

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VISUAL REFERENCES 

Fig. 2.1 Visual references, Week 3 

Fig. 2.2 Visual references, Week 3 

Fig. 2.3 Visual references, Week 3 

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Fig. 2.4  Visual references, Week 3 

Exercise 1: Vormator Challenge 

1. Sketches 

Fig. 3.1 Character design sketches, Week 2 (3/5/2024)

From the initial sketches, my idea was to create a cat-like creature that looks both cute and dorky, with a wide body and pointy ears. As for the head and eyes, I drew inspiration from the aforementioned references. And for the body, I referenced the shape of a cactus to make the character look more interesting. I struggled a lot during the rough sketching stage because the assignment limited us to using only Vormator shapes. I wasn't happy with how the sketches turned out, which affected my motivation and ability to design a variety of creatures. It also hindered my ability to design the creatures I had in mind. After a lot of experimenting and combining various parts, I finally designed my own creature. However, there were still a few tweaks that needed to be made, and I decided to continue to use the sketches and improve on them.

Final Sketch

Fig. 3.2 Character design final sketch, Week 2 (3/5/2024)

For my character design, I wanted my creature to have a unique physical outline (a bulky body) but an image that was cute and dorky. Therefore, I designed a large body with clunky limbs and a body reminiscent of a cactus. I also added claws to add dimension and realism to the creature. The silhouette of the creature consists of many different shapes - rounded and unangled horns and a straight body. I decided to use this pose for my character because I wanted to portray the creature as bulky and dopey.

2.Digitalisation Progress 

Fig. 4.1 First draft in Adobe Illustrator , Week 3(5/5/2024)

After Mr. Hafiz tutorial, I started designing my final character in Adobe Illustrator. First, I traced the shape of the Vormator in Illustrator with the pen tool and then began to assemble the character's shape. Figure 4.1 shows the basic shape of the character. And use a pathfinding program so that each shape becomes a complete individual and does not merge together.

                                             Fig. 4.2 Further Development , Week 3(5/5/2024)

After that, I copied my shapes and merged them together with pathfinder. Ready to start coloring. Figure4.2 is my final creature shape and its details.

3.Colour Study

Fig. 5.1 colour variations , Week 3(5/5/2024)

Once I finalized the shapes and details of the character, it was time for color. When coloring, I used the gradient tool and surprisingly, it created a cool effect for the eyes. These tools were taught by Mr. Hafiz Zamri in the second and third week of the hands-on class. Variants (right) used gray, red, pink, black and a gradient of pale yellow. The image on the left shows the Vormator shapes used and their arrangement.

The colours are predominantly yellow, which is what I originally wanted for my character's look. I wanted my creature to look like a cat, with the figurative characteristics of a cat with a hint of dorkiness. I wanted to portray a character that was neutral, good natured, but would become vicious when agitated or threatened. So the ivory colour represents the creature's kind and friendly nature, while the red and black represent its threatened state.

Fig. 5.2 Arrangement of vormator shapes and with the colour , Week 3(5/5/2024)

Fig. 5.2 Arrangement of vormator shapes and with the colour 2, Week 3(6/5/2024)

I have apply the colour palette I found from Adobe Color. But the outcome is not good, So I changed to the original color. 

3.Final Character Design 

Fig. 6.1 Final Vormator Character Design , Week 3(5/5/2024)

After that,I started working on the background. These are some reference and the elements I recreated based on the reference. 

Fig. 6.2 Reference for background , Week 4(24/5/2024)

This is the Pokemon card template I found in online:

Fig. 6.3 Pokemon Card template , Week 4(25/5/2024)

Fig. 6.4 Vomator Character with background , Week 4(28/5/2024)

Fig. 6.5 Pokemon card-Sun Jia yi, Week 4(28/5/2024)

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FEEDBACK

WEEK 2: Possible beginning colour study. Explore different color variations. Good expression of gesture in character modeling.

WEEK 3: Make some colour adjustments.

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REFLECTION

At first, I struggled with sketches and ideas because I didn't like the idea of creating a creature using only given shapes. Eventually, I got over that and enjoyed digitizing the character because I spent a lot of time perfecting the lines with the pen tool and I liked the feel it gave my character. Having to give it up and stick with just shapes didn't give me the look I wanted for my character, which is hard for me because I always want my designs to have a specific look.

Creating a character in this way can be quite challenging, although it's good practice and an effective way to train designers to utilize limited resources (in this case shapes). I've found that using a limited set of shapes can actually create interesting and unique characters, it just requires a lot of thought (brain damage) and confusion. Overall, it was a good experience. I may not have had a lot of fun in the beginning, but I learned how to utilize a limited number of shapes, tried other ideas and methods that I personally didn't like, and began to familiarize myself with Adobe Illustrator.