Style Research

Since i experimenting with the different materials for my characters, i was interested in the aesthetics that it offered- which was a handmade and endearing feel which i quite enjoyed!

I thought it would be useful to have a gander at how illustrators that specialise in collaging materials to make their images, were able to make their work so dynamic using this method.

im totally in love with this image from "T is For Taxi", illustrated by Kate Slater. The mixed use of materials really offer that homemade quality so with the shadows, makes everything look more 3-D- as if you could reach out and touch the image. The skill of cutting out sections and layering papers ontop of eachother to create depth and texture (i.e. in the puddle) is really imaginative! as is the string connecting the leaves together to give the illusion of wind. Very cute.

This image was illustrated by Christiane Engel. Although the style is quite simplistic, it perfectly depicts the scene, by just the small trees in the distance, a few nuts on the floor and a little tuft of grass. Although minimalistic, the rest of the background is left to the imagination. The materials used don't seem to be as varied as Kate Slater's (previous picture) but the colour's chosen are appropriate for the content.

This was from a blog of a former student of university arts college bournemouth. I stumbled across her blog which can be seen here. Not only was it appropriate content for what i'm doing, but i love the fact she used more diverse materials other than paper, such as felt, found images and found textures to make her own objects (i.e. the hair). I love the fact some of the cakes are more detailed in stitching and decoration and some are just shapes- absolutely adorable. Again, it just feels like you can reach out and touch the image and feel all the little treats on the counter :) This image alone inspires me to one day make an animation with little bits of cute stitched felt!

i found this image on google images- im not aware of who created this piece. But again, loving the simple shapes and the simplicity. The natural colour palette really pulls the whole composition together.

Having looked at some of the research i've found, if i had time to make my animation collaged (which i wish i did), the most successful and dynamic ones for me, used more materials, and through the clever placing of materials, were able to convey and mood through simple shapes. The choice of colours are also important to set the tone and atmosphere of the image.

Inspiration

Just doing some research to inspire me in terms of style, humour and effectiveness.

This following animation had my laughing, despite there being no dialogue, the story was simply told my personifying 2 inanimate objects. This pretty much relates in every way to what i'm doing since i too am trying to make inanimate objects enjoyable to watch.




Gumball Wars from Scott Thierauf on Vimeo.

This next one really reminds me of Ren and Stimpy- a cartoon i used to watch when i was younger. The humour is pretty much similar, and although the animation was pretty crude and Flashy, the expressions of the characters had me laughing all the way through :)
Not totally related to what i'm doing, other than animating food, but i liked it all the same.
 

Case Study: Recent Successful Advertising Campaigns

Animation in adverts is increasingly becoming more popular as they allow companies to convey their desired message to the audience, whilst creating the right type of mood. Without animation being introduced, the creativity and the messages they extend to the public are limited, and the mood usually relies on how good the actors are.

As I will be creating my own web-based banner advert, it is necessary for me to research on current material that is available, concentrating on what makes them so successful, memorable and how the styles and overall aesthetic is appropriate to their target audience.

Twinings tea advert has played around on the idea of how their product makes the users feel, with the idea that their tea makes the drinkers feel refreshed, relaxed and comfortable, hence opting for the slogan “Gets you back to you”. Emphasising and dragging out this emotion became the anchor point to the animation. It focuses on inviting the audience into the story of a woman struggling on an arduous journey to find herself. She is first found to be worried whilst rowing in windy conditions, then her journey is made much harder when she loses an oar. The boat carries her through the rough waves of which she has no control. Birds of sea foam carry her to calmer seas and the shore. She gets out and is greeted by herself with a cup of Twinings tea and at last, she is relaxed. The public will be able to relate to this story as the character is fictional, and many have experienced being stressed, which is easily relieved by a cup of tea. Playing on the idea of the emotion the product gives you is a clever aspect to play on, as it will also make the viewer want to possess the product and relive the feeling.

The style of the animation has been very effective in capturing the attention of their target audience- this being middle-aged and mature adults. It is done in 3-D, with a fresh yet muted colour palette and a watercolour aesthetic to offer a dream-like quality to the whole animation. It really appeals to viewers whom enjoy a finer tea, rather than your average “builders tea”. Being able to communicate and convey a message without any script is what makes this advert particularly sophisticated and effective.

Another successful advert is for the Toyota Yaris car. Their focus is on this new car design that is suited for the busy urban community, offering up-to-date functions and current technology. The series of these adverts compare the car to others that may think it is better than this new model. For example, this animation has an ordinary man, whom the public can relate to, in the new Yaris and he comes head to head with a successful looking businessman in a giant monster truck. The idea is that although the monster truck looks nice, it is totally unsuitable for everyday life, unlike the Toyota Yaris, that has the technology to nip in and out of tight parking spaces easily. Therefore, the seemingly ordinary guy in the practical looking Yaris, has the last laugh.

It has a very fresh and modern rotascoped style animation, with an urban vibe to add humour. The young actors in the animation emphasise that the new car is very current and “cool”, and with the lack of rotascoped adverts, this animation filled a gap and immediately grabs the audience’s attention of the product being perfect for anyone who enjoys new technology and a practical car, which is advertised throughout.

The catchy rap and beat of the music also plays a part of getting into the target audience’s head, meaning that this advert will be memorable, and even more so with the unique style the animation offers. 

Teehee ^_^

(www.threadless.com)- forgot to study. (lovin the doodlins)

Cool shizz

I found some quite inspiring images from which i got some ideas for various ways of animating things or interesting concepts... however, i'm not sure if i can actually use any of these for the given briefs but at least i can put them down for possible future use...

"Friends Forever" by S-S-J

I thought this image was sooo cute!! so simple yet effective. It carries the idea of finger puppets and the fact that if you think about your fingers as individuals, they are always together, just like best friends. This then gave me the idea of a kind of finger-puppet animation, mixed with pixilation, digital animation and some very cute costume designs :)

"The Junction" by jonnygoodboy

This image has used the fish-eye lens so cleverly, paths we wouldn't usually see with our normal vision, can be seen when the image is curved (duh!).. anyway, this kind of made me think that if i was a clock, this might be what i'd see (in reference to the clockmakers brief)... so like clock-eye view, right?? :P... so i thought this maybe an interesting theme to flow throughout a clock related animation.

"I want you with me" by Alephunky

I've kept this image for a while, just because it's very sweet and innocent... although it's just an image, it did give me the idea for animating in a live space using paper... i know it's not the most original idea but i do admire when people go back to organic simple methods :) it just made me smile.

I'm sure everyone's familiar with hearing about the IT Crowd on TV... well i saw the DVD in HMV the other day, and although i've never watched an episode, i fell in love with the cover of it and the little people on the front ^_^... they reminded me a lot of the people on Habbo Hotel which i admit, i played copious amounts of when i was younger.. shame on me.

Am I Late??

Phew! i was definately scared that i'd forgotten my resolution, but yes, thank god i've remembered to blog something that i like.

Today i've decided to rant, muse and fawn over this exciting image:

"Wallflower" by shadesofeleven [pencil, ink, ps]

This is one of the many deviantart images i've favourited. Not only is it really striking in the position and expression of the model, but i love how this contrasts against the soft neutral tones used- it really gives it a sort of delicate elegance to a very strong a bold subject.

I love how the hair kind of fizzles away into the corner, giving it an abstract balance to the image, but the way it blushes out almost gives the illusion of ink dropping into water- you know? the way it curls and reaches to the bottom? that's what the hair made me think of anyway.

I only wish i could make art like this!!

However, although i understand the long swan-like neck of hers carries on that elegant theme, i don't like where it ends. It's quite abrupt for the end of the model, i probably would have preferred some more suggestion of collar or collarbones, even just a wash of it just to continue the dream-like quality, but i guess this may have added a bit too much reality and stableness, since she does kind of look like a drop of ink.

Whenever i see this, it always inspires me to try some watercolour or ink type sketches- but i always seem to be too impatient or heavy-handed. I guess, amongst all the other things i wish to be good at, i think this should give me enough incentive to learn and train myself to use liquid media- because i do love all those life drawing images when you can captivate the movement by just the weight and curve of brush strokes. Beautiful.

Now, where have my brushes and ink gone??...

If blog's could be dusty...

I feel bad that i haven't been touching my blog- especially for the first term.
And i'm sad to have realised this near to the end of the xmas holiday- hopefully i'll be able to rectify this in the future <:D Anyway, i don't know why:

• But i ALWAYS find myself browsing on DeviantArt
• I find beautiful, inspiring imagery which i looooove
• favourite it.
• and then forget about it.

WELL NO MORE.

I will start blogging i think, even stuff that's not relevant to my project's in hand; simply because it's good for the heart.

So, today i found this on Popular Recent Deviations (i usually check on here the most, as well as checking in with my favourite artists on there):

"Hands Reference I" by Ninjatic

When it comes to life drawing, i have a massive problem with drawing the hands, especially when drawing the entire model. They always look like the "sausage fingered" things that have a big red cross through on the image.

When i saw this reference sheet, i could stare at this for hours. Literally. Why?... Because i know i'm nowhere near that level of skill. (Boys only like girls with skills. FACT.)

But it did inspire me to keep something in mind, next time im caught up in a hand-drawing frenzy: to always ALWAYS be aware that humans have wrists. I noticed on all the pictures that the tiny wrist makes a huge difference, it sounds simple, but im telling you, in my mind it's so easy to forget.

The simple shading aswell, SO SIMPLE! but why did i never think of it?! Just a little suggestion of shading gives it that POW! IM IN 3-D!!... Another thing i often forget.

And one last thing, the shape of a hand's palm has always baffled me. But that rounded edged, slanted square shape (lol awful description) i think, is enough to get the point across that yep, it's a palm in the middle of a huge picture of a naked man.

I know all the points that i've noted are tiny, and the fact i forget things like simple shading and the anatomy of wrists probably makes me sound like a crap artist (ha!)- but hey, at least i notice when im going wrong, right? :)

This has actually been a lot of fun annotating something that's inspired me today- maybe i should make it a new year's resolution, to try and blog something that's inspired me everyday :)... well, at least once a week ;P

-Chrissi x

P.S:

Just as i finished this post, i found something else that i may find useful for the forthcoming portrait exercises in life drawing:

"Eye Tutorial" by riefra

I wouldn't say this has inspired me AS much but... (don't worry i will keep this short and sweet) it has given me an insight into how some experienced artists build up the realistic element when drawing eyes, particularly in the shading, the light glare, and texture.

Not forgetting, the attention to detail when drawing the direction of hair growth on the eyebrows, something i find terribly difficult to pick up on. So maybe i should find a tutorial on drawing hair :P

So far, thanks to this blog post, i can draw a hand with eyes :)