I tried a lot of subjects in the Illustration Diploma Course. I think each topic is interesting, such as drawing comics based on text, creating picture books, or creating illustrations of your own choice of lyrics. In my opinion, the creation of graphic novels is very helpful for beginners in comics, especially for me who is not able to create a complete story in terms of scriptwriter ability. It’s very similar to the business of illustrating a novel or adapting a novel into a comic book.
As a complete novice in graphic design, I have collected a lot of brand logos and symbols and watched various documentaries related to design. But just from the aspect of painting, the final image is not terribly bad. I am also very grateful to my tutor Steven for his suggestions on the modification of my finished products. And he also approved my final design case.
I think the part about trying new ways is the most fun. For example, I used to think that the product renderings made by designers were very far away from me, and it was very difficult to create similar effects. Actually the draft parts, just as in a small size illustration, try to do simple shapes of point, line and plane, scanning into the computer and finally I can find a tutorial on the internet. Others have made a good mockup which is open access it can help me to see what the LOGO I designed will be when applied to the product, and improve the completion degree of the whole project. I’ll find that although the final product has been very close to my ideal effect.
When it comes to the assignment creation process for this course, I basically follow the same approach: first draw a rough draft on paper. If I think the final result needs the real pencil and paper painting effect, I will choose to refine my draft on the paper to the ideal effect and then scan it into the computer. If not, I will directly use the computer for digital painting. I do most of the coloring on the computer with digital brushes in Photoshop. My operating tools are Wacom Intuos 5 tablet and digital pen.
Sometimes I may have drawn a lot of illustrations with a high degree of completion in the draft stage, and I will only choose one to refine and become the final work. These assignments focus on the creative process, and my tutor often points out that some of the ideas in my drafts are really good, and he looks forward to what the discarded drafts will look like when they’re finished. I come to realize that being derived in the process of creation thinking and creativity is very notable. Perhaps in the future my work will have to carry on a draft in the creation of ideas and finally develop a set of works that are no longer flat, static illustration, may try to make small sculptures, badges, character design and background design, as a complete ecosystem.
Eva Chen
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