3d boxer

This is the 3d boxer i will be using for the flat vs 3d illustration. I added the highlight detail using shapes rather following the original image as i wanted to stray from photo realism.

Background and Foreground

I've been looking at a few images again, especially in relation of adding objects into background and foreground and have seem some interesting techniques that i want to play with.

Tonal colour: as i use a lot of black and white in my work, i can also use shades of grey. What i have found look really nice is to use different shades of grey to seperate objects and also to make them appear closer or further away. Then theres gradients which you can use to bring things back into the foreground and make things appear from another object.... all part of making a more seamless image rather than bunging stuff on top of each other.

Size: This one is a pretty obvious one, using size to my advantage to make things appear closer or further away, or of course exaggerating something to make it abstract or just to make it stand out more.

And finally what to put into your image. I think its important to make most if not all objects in an image relevent to the subject. But also adding slightly abstract geometric shapes can add to the feel of the image and also be using is background/foreground images to break something up.

Plenty of stuff to experiment with here!

Abstract vs Literal

Final illustration for Abstract vs Literal.

I used all the initial sketches for this image, there was actually many many versions which i havent shown just using different geometric shapes and colours and playing a lot with composition just see what works and what doesn't until i was finally happy with the image.

I do like how this image has turned out and i think elements such as the bee/butterflys work better when in the context of this illustration rather than on its own.

Theres still not enough going on in the background for my liking and thats a direction i want to steer into. It still looks a little sparse to me. I am however really happy with how the gradients turned out and it is a lot trickier than it looks!

Abstract vs literal WIP

Here's a few WIP images from the Abstract Vs Literal illustration


Another idea for an abstract boxer, this time using a dogs head to replace the boxers head. The dog is a "boxer" dog.. See what i did there? haha..

Anyway, i quite like this image think it works really well and fits in place.


So this here is an image for the literal boxer, i purposely left him quite plain as i intend to use him to fit into parrt of an illustration and want to experiemnt with joining objects together, using the mass of blacks i normally use as an advantage.


This here is a WIP image of how the illustration looked at one point. I intially just laid it out like this as it made sense at the time, and added a little bit of background.

Abstract Boxer WIP

Part of an illustration for the series of wrestling match ups i am doing. This particular one is absract vs literal, and using boxers for the 2 headings (yea theres a contradiction there already!)

So this is my take on an abstract boxer... though i think its kinda hard to see my idea when there is no colour. The idea was to illustration muhammad ali for the literal boxer, and using one his most famous quote to represent an abstract boxer:

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

Does it work?

How to Iron Outcomes

So heres all my outcomes so far for the how to iron brief, i can definitely see how i progressed throughout the brief.

I think the main point i learned here is to not be lazy with reference images, and to really push the idea across.

How to Iron experiment

Another mockup i did, just playing around with gradients to take away the flatness of the picture. Also interesting to add something to the skin again just seeing what i can do to take away from the flatness

How to iron v3

First version was this, without the wires drawn in.


I decided to add the wires in as i have done throughout all the versions. The unplugged reference is supposed to further communicate the idea of ironing the wrong way, as the irons would obviously not work if they are not plugged in.

Hopefully this attempt will make the grade

Photo-realism

One thing I've been wondering about lately is why I do i draw what i see? I use reference images for the my illustrations i tend to reproduce what i see... with montage pretty much being the only process I use to change what is actually there. While it works for me right now, I think I'm holding back a little and perhaps being a little "safe" as i am still getting the grips for the software, and a whole load of other excuses but the point is I should really push this forward.

One thing I have stated is that i never really wanted make my illustrations too literal and that is partly my own fault. I do a lot of work in monochrome or at least with very minimal colours, with huge areas of black to cover detail I don't want to show (and also being a general aesthetic quality I like) , and I've been thinking that I could really use this as an advantage. With so much black space and area, I could quite easily manipulate one illustration blending into another. Why should I illustration a whole person when I could quite easily draw the top half of that person to get the same message across? I've mentioned I like pattern and shape and they are all elements I could incorporate into my illustrations to make them that much more interesting and unique but still within reason and of course being appropriate.

The Peacock and the Crane (Reworked 2)

This is the reworked version of the middle image. I replaced the head for an actual crane head as it communicates better than the original, but still gets across the idea of an angel and a crane.


This illustration is for the final section of the fable, nothing much to say about this really, had to apply the clothing seen in the first image onto the reference image for this illustration, so it doesnt look as good as it could i don't think but the overall idea and feel is there.