And Illustration Begins.

Aside from blogging being something completely foreign to me, Illustration is entirely new as well. Jumping into a class is definitely intimidating, but so far, so good.

For the first 10 pen and ink drawings, I was a little confused by the vagueness of the assignment, but what I came up with turned out fine, I suppose. Drawing is probably one of my weakest aspects of art (that could be my lack of training...).

I at least felt I'd been adequately trained in the past on the concept of contour lines and using line to create value.

But afterward, when we were supposed to trace photos rather than just using a photo reference I felt much more comfortable, despite my make-shift light table I created out of a clear plastic drawer and my desk lamp.

Though, pen and ink does leave something to be desired: when you mess up with pen and ink, the only way to fix your mistake is to thicken your line or start over. That's what led to the inconsistencies within my drawings, such as the bike tires or slats in the bench.

 

But none of the issues with pen and ink can even dare to compare to those experienced in photoshop. To start it off, I'm not at all familiar with the idea of drawing on the computer, whether it be with a tablet or a mouse. I couldn't keep my lines straight and I couldn't manipulate different pieces of my work in the ways I wanted. 

Especially with this bike piece, I felt as if my finished product looked like something a small child would come up with, with such varying line weights and such. At this point I realized that this much variation in line weight was not good, so I moved on in hopes of creating something better.

I did start to like the more stylized and cartoon-ish vibe that I got when I started using more blocks of black than I have done in the past with pen and ink. And let me tell you, if you even need anyone to draw you a trash bag, I'm your girl. Experimenting with the different tips and sizes allowed me to get some really neat textures on the bags, as well as create more depth within the entirety of the piece.

I really like comparing what I did by hand in the second pen and ink assignment compared to what came out when I illustrated on the computers. It really is neat how a different medium can create such a differing style.

In the end, I was glad I did this assignment, as annoying and tedious as it was, because I felt like I did legitimately familiarize myself with something that was necessary to learn, and I'm not just saying that because the person assigning my grade with probably eventually read this, I'm saying it because it's legit.