OUIL505 Project Report.

Sam Metcalf OUIL505 Project Report.

 So I set myself the task of creating 3 designs that 3 different bands could use oa range of products from posters to garments to even using it as album art work. I was very excited by the unit a it gave me free range on the world of illustration. I knew before this unit I would like to try and do merchandise designs for bands as its something I have wanted to do for a long time, with me already doing brand logos and clothing merchandises for my self in the past this area is were I want to be taking my future practise. The reason I choose band merchandise is this is where I would also like to expand my practise. The fact that one design can be used over a number of different products to advertise a band, thought this would be a great way to see how by making one design I could make this work. Once I started the project I set off running but then other deadlines meant I had to put this brief on the back burner only working on it to take little breack from my other work. Even though I would of like to have been able to more of my time into this project I’m glad I did do little and often on the designs as with the dots method I used it was good to not sit they for stupid amounts of time trying to get the drawing finished in one sitting and properly ended up with it not looking right. So really it taught me not to rush the important drawing side of this too much and if I can in future plan to work in chunks it mite help me with me time management. I feel I should of explored the methods I could of used to create the illustration. I have been practising building images up with dots for a while now and I though that this project would befit from this method and how the final image looks. What I did not think about was doing 3 full illustrations in this way with a deadline fast approaching. As the methods take so long to archive a nice visual quality I did at some points start to panic I was not going to get all 3 done in time. Like I said before I’m just happy I did take the time to break off from other projects to tackle little bits of this brief. Another area I got too hung up on was the bands I was going to produce the work for, in the end I have just used one local band Treason Kings and two of my favourite bigger bands Raging Speedhorn who have just returned to the industry after a few years off and the Deftones who are one of my all time favourite bands who have just realised a great new album. Now I have finished the work I might send the work to the bands to see if I can get some feedback on whether or not they like the designs I have done. Even though I don’t have a huge body of work for this submission I have really like doing this brief as I have learnt a great deal about my own practise and the way in which I have started to develop my illustration. It has become very clear to me that I have started to use a similar system of working on the last few projects I have tackled. I have noticed my self doing he same methods and techniques over and over, this I feel has given me a real confidence boost over the last few months as I’m really starting to feel comfortable and happy with the work I’m producing. This is a big development as I thought I had lost it and it was gone forever. This really means I have enjoyed producing work resently and that I have been sitting down and working out areas I have had trouble with in the past. Also with the use of a computer, if you had told me that using Photoshop and the computer to aid me in creating work everyday I would of laughed at you but now its just part of my tool kit all the time. I’m too so much more confortable using the software and different websites for submission even tho I still think submissions are mighty confusing I think I have finally got my head around how it all works and what needs to be PDFed and uploaded to things.

OUIL505 Presentaion Boards

OUIL505 End of module evaluation

Sam Metcalf
OUIL505
End of module evaluation.


So with OUIL505 been a unit where I got to explore the area of illustration I wanted to heard my interest in. With me been such a big fan of music I attend quite a lot of live shows, listen to music most of my day and have a keen interest in the alternative music scene. So this is the market I am going to try and get involved in in my professional career, Its perfect for my as I like to draw the alternative things in life and skull are a massive part of the alternative scene and I love to draw skulls.
But with this brief I tried to bring my other interest in to the mix as I spend a lot of my free time outdoors ether walking/hiking or down the pond or lake fishing. I take loads of photos of the British wildlife and have for some time now wanted to bring it into my illustration work but for some reason I was nervous about doing this but with this project I have found the confidence to apply it.
For this brief I wanted to come up with designs for band that they could use across a number of different garment that could be used to promote and advertise the band at present.
I was thinking if I come up with the art work say for the album/record or advertisement image I could then use this t o try and brand the band and they could use the designs on a number of garments if they choose to.
Firstly coming up with the right idea for the artwork, the thing with band artwork is it has to be eye catching and aesthetically pleasing on the eye but also something that you could see that band in. So what I knew I had to do was create something dark but not offensive, as I want it to be aimed at a wide audience.
I was ask if I could do this project with out the use of human skulls with I did successfully do but I use the animals skulls, I was willing to give this ago but I found that to aim these products at the rock/metal music fans that skulls will sell and we all love a good skull.
The main concern I had whilst doing this project was the method I choose to do the illustration in. With me using dots, pointillism?  It takes so much time to do the designs that with a tight deadline this could be a real problem and I should really think about using this method. The end results with using this method I’m over the moon with and if I had more time would love to know the limits would be for me.  Where I have tried to uses the dots and the computer together such as the building of the scales background, I could do with some more practise. If you look closely at the scales you can see they go slightly off line from each other and if I was to do this process again I would send more time drawing and scanning more neater images so they lined up better at the final stages. This is something I will not loose sleep over but something I will consider next time around.
I feel like me confidence with how I have worked on this project and the way in which I build up a image has really become apparent to me on the project. I feel I’m starting to slip into a way of using my hand drawn images and the computer software to best aide me in making successfully illustration. It has become apparent to me over the last few projects that I have a way of first roughing and drawing in my sketch book and then by using Photoshop it is aiding to help construct and finish of my images to a more professional standard.
But with both my computer skills and my drawing skills be it just pencil or sending hours building up dots I need to put the hours in practising these skill. I think its said to become a expert in a field you need to study and practise for at least 10,000hours at it. So with this been said I feel I have many more hours of practise to do but im well on my way to this.
The area I need to work on is my drawings and taking more care into the early stages as marks and mistakes could cost me later on if care is not taken to correct these at the time.
Im happy with how this project has gone although I would of liked to have come up with more design s at the end it was down the to method I had chosen to produce the images that held me back so I just need to get quicker at that skill.

3 illustration to be used on merch

So i have finished up the illustration for my merchandise and branding of bands. I am happy with how all 3 have turned out each having strong and weak areas and places where i need to improve.

HEre are what the designs will look like on record sleeves and t- shirt s just to show a couple of ideas off. 

TEXT on merch

I dint realise it would be so difficult to make text look right on my images as i have only really dont custom text on illustrations. I tried to use the text and fonts installed on photoshop, but to my horror these clean cut well formed letters don't go so good with my hand drawn chaos.

I have shown a few examples of what i mean.  I wanted to use big in your face red letters as I thought it would just work. I soon worked out after a few people were asked for their opinion on the matter it would be easier for me to use small lettering near the bottom of the illustration. small but sweet and just big enough to read the writing.

Backgrounds for posters

Coming up with what goes behind a image is something i don't often do as spot illustration seems to be what i do most of. I had clear ideas what i was going to do with the backgrounds i just need to see how i was going to do it.
For the scales i first drew out a grid then shaped the scales to fit in a staggered pattern all over the page. Usings a measuring stick or ruler, some maths and a compass

A page where i was trying to work out how to best do the scales and worked out using a compass was best, botto left corner


Using my pen and the dots method i built up this section

Once i had worked out this way of creating scales i made this little section and the scanned it in to photoshop 

Using that one section i pasted it a few times and created this background. I am very happy with how its turned out. By using the copy and paste the little tile method meant i got it done so much more quicker then if i had attempted to do the whole sheet in one drawing. 

ON the frogspawn background I tried to do a similar method but insead of just doing  little section of the image I thought I would attempt to just draw the whole thing really small. This was a good and bad decision the good as i am probably most happy with this background out of the few i did, the bad just because its a small drawing does not mean its going to be quick to complete. This little drawing took me ages to complete.

This is a 10x10cm square and i used my finest pen 0.05

I scanned it in at the highest 600 dpi setting hoping this would help hold some of the detail. Then i stretched it into the size i needed a worked around the A2 size. I am vert happy with this as it does look like a section of a load of frogspawn and on its own i have considered using it for one of the illustration but time is now against me so i am just going to stick to the plan.

Feathers

Working with feathers worked out to be a lot harder then first thought. Gettin g them to make a patten on a background without it becoming too overpowering for the illustration in found is difficult. I had fun tho working out how to get it to work and in the end working out how i was going to make it work best.

Designs to be used on merchendise

I decided to work in all black and white as it is easier to edit and play around with once the drawings are done. Also it will be cheaper for the bands to print on garments as one colour screen printing is most of the time cheaper.

here are a few printing companies where this is the case. 

www.awesomemerchandise.com/Products/Apparel/Apparel-T-Shirts

http://www.merchasylum.co.uk/offers.html

https://www.monsterpress.co.uk/#home2

By making it cheaper and easier for the bands/Companies to get the illustrations  printed and hopefully mean they will return to use me again.

Just because it's only black and white hasn't stopped me from pushing my drawing abilities. I decided to go all in with the dots work and so far i'm already starting to think i might end up starting to worry about this decision. Trying to do the drawings bigger to try fit loads of detail in on the end image, this could be where i mighth need to be careful in future if i choose to use this technique.

This is the one that took me the longest as it is th biggest. I did try speed up the process by colouring in the black areas this did help as if i had tryed to do it in dots i would still be at it and daft. 

I had most fun working on this one as you can see it got fairly modified and i got a little carried away but it was worth  it as i really like how its come out and i maybe should of updated the other to see what i could of created. Again i might try this method again.  

Here i have tried to put together the dot process. needs more photos to be effective but needs must to fatten out the blog.

Development on Poster

So i have started working in the most time consuming way,  for some reason over the last few months i have really started to enjoy building up a image with dots,  tiny dots. This is something i never thought i would be able to sit and do as i cant sit still for 5 mins at any one time, but with this method i seem to relish the mental task i set myself while tacking my drawing this way. I tell myself i must finish a certain section on the drawing before i can stop for a break.

I start out by drawing a quick sketch/ outline of the animal then using the dots and a image for reference i just start building up the image. I try to pen in the full black areas first then working out from the thinning out the amount of dots used to give a colour gradient.

This is one of the first drawings i did using watercolour paint and fine liner. As the scales on the body is a idea for the background i thought i would just focus on the head for the main illustration.

Here i have added a background that is a open stretch of water and i added the fins head over the top in photshop using layers. I like the image but i just cant see it been used on a gig poster for a metal show. 

So using tracing paper and isograph pens i traced my image and built up the shadowed areas using dots. I could then scan it in to photoshop and just by altering the levels have a black and white image i could use. 

feathers i found on my walks and drawn for ideas for background imaegs i could patten. 

Drawing different skulls from different creatures of the wild, i very much enjoyed this and will definitely be drawing more of these and practice until i can use them on moore designs and logos. 

Just hanging around.

Gig posters and ideas for merch. early stages.

So I have set  out to try and come up with some band merchandise designs that can be used on a number of products. First I decided i was going to use british wildlife as the base of this project, this is due to been a very outdoors person and i love what I see when i'm or walking, fishing or away with my wife and dog in our  campervan. I take loads of photos when i'm out and about so I tried to go though them and see what i could use for ideas and inspiration.



Here are a few of the ones with wildlife in, these are taken on my compact digital camera.


At one of my tutorials it was said i should try and do this project and i should attempt to do it with no human skull illustrations in my final product. From the moment this was said the only ideas i could come up with where based around skulls, to help me continue on this project i decided that to try get the skulls out my system i would use the animals skull in the drawings. This works great for me as i love drawing skulls and bones and this gave me the oppertunity to expand the different types of skulls in my arsenal.

After this it was decided that the skulls would be a great addition to the alternative music fans i was aiming these designs at. getting my brain into gear to get on with this project is something im struggling with. Trying to do so many projects at once is something i do not enjoy and i'm finding this is the project that is getting neglected.

Here is some pages from my sketch book i go though a range of different ideas and in here you can see the starting stages of my poster construction test.