Select one of the texts (in course materials on blackboard) as the starting point for the consideration of the illustrator as the interpreter of literary meaning. This module is designed to encourage experimentation and exploration of the role of the illustrator as reader, interpreter and communicator. You will be working non figuratively in order to visually communicate text, Image and narrative more effectively by the use of a range of other means developed on the module.
Together We Stand
Here are notes from past lectures. I found Drawing Systems quite interesting and came to the conclusion that having an established rule will make my final outcome more coherent.
I also adore the zines brought in during a vistor's talk. It's very inspiring and encouraging to make a zine myself.
Jon McNaught
Working in London as a very successful illustrator, Jon McNaught has collected quite an impressive list of clientele such as Penguin Books, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker and BBC to name a few. Although he works primarily with lithography, I really admire the artwork to the right, made with watercolour. It inspires me to work with a more limited colour palette with watercolours or inks.
That said, I really do admire how he reforms mundane moments of everyday life into his artwork. This works so beautifully with his comic-book-style layout. His book Pebble Island is such a peaceful tribute to his childhood home and the memories he associates with it.
I find this story-telling format completely charming and have delved into a bit before. However, I'd love to experiment more with it in throughout this module. To initiate this, I played around with some different formats.
Rene Magritte
Rene Magritte, a Belgian artist born in 1898, was a hugely influential figure for surrealism and conceptual art. I was quite interested when he was mentioned in a previous lecture, at just how much of an impact his work had. Through his art, Magritte preached that appearances are deceptive. He strived for his art to be uncanny and puzzling and contradictory in nature.
I would love to take his boldness and vibrancy into my work. It's admirable how captivating and peculiar his work is, along with such heavy meaning behind it. He expressed his solitude in art and went so far as to call it a 'refuge' for his anxiety caused by his service in the military.
Wassily Kandinsky
Kandinsky, born in 1866, grew to be a painter said to of created one of the first purely abstract modern works. His colourful and dynamic works are truly refreshing to see. The vibrancy of his artwork is something I would like to influence mine. I also love how textured and imperfect his work looks.
Some art historians suggest that Kandinsky's passion for Abstract art began when one day, coming back home, he found one of his own paintings hanging upside down in his studio, he stared at it for a while before realizing it was his own work
The medium I find most interesting in an abstract piece is ink. I find the vibrant colours and watercolour-like texture so mesmerising. Here I tried to create outcomes based on Anna March's text, using coloured inks. I may have focused too far on colours instead of the shapes and meaning. The red ink signified the conflict and anxiety seeping into the relationship.
I wanted to portray the struggle and disconnect between both Anna and Adam. Upon reflection, I may of not made this as clear as I had intended. For me, the blue ink is Adam and the purple is Anna. Although they still leak into one another, they are withdrawing from an extremely complex relationship.
With the idea of creating a set of rules,I wanted to pay note to having a clear, key and set colours for each character in the story. I maybe bordering on the line of figurative work, as I use shapes to simplify the story and resize the shapes depending on the prevalence on their life.
I've used an ink drawing as the background and have scanned it in to draw ontop of .
Below is my final 12 images, portraying the story of Together We Stand in an abstract interpretation.
EVALUTATION
Initially, and quite honestly throughout the module, I had a very difficult time with this task. I struggled more than I thought I would, simply trying to maintain an abstract outcome. I kept springing back to figurative interpretations without really realizing how far I was straying from the brief. I also did not produce as much work as I would've liked. However, the deadline pressure and lack of support for my study abroad experience has felt very overwhelming.
Together We Stand by Anna March steps further than just a romance novel. Throughout her text, she declares her emotional trauma and the weight it has on her abnormal relationship with her partially paraplegic boyfriend, Adam. In quite an intimate way, she speaks about presumptions other people have about their relationship and 'how noble' she is to date a disabled man.
I thought the animations in the Youtube video were very intriguing. The colour palette and shapes both seem easy to digest and aid the audio wonderfully. After also listening to the podcast Modern Love - Finding My Own Rescuer, Anna March gives some context and reveals the two separated. Although she still speaks about Adam with fondness and respect, she also speaks about the grief of losing loved ones.