#exercise 5.3

Exercise 5.3: Travel guides part III (Final Work)

Book Size

Unfortunately, I did the drawings without thinking much about the dimensions of the books, I worked it so I did not need to do this again but there is a problem of proportion and composition on the three covers. Next time I will work the perspective and composition first.

Helsinki

The original cover was done in watercolour paper hot press A3. I chose a less well-known site on Helsinki. with a water reflection at night. I love it but I think it needs more work. 

Cover

This is a different cover than the rest in small details, the border is translucent, allowing the rest of the drawing to be seen. That was not needed in the other drawings because they did not have a background.

This was the first cover. I wanted the letters to be at the border but those present several problems (see picture below).

In general, I think it was very successful but perhaps it is a bit boring. 

Milan

The original drawing was done with watercolour (see the previous post) in an A3 hot press watercolour paper. I chose a classic building in Milan, that is very different from Helsinki.

Cover

This was a very simple, I used the same colour for the cover that was on the drawing so I did not add more colour. This is visually pleasing but I think a bit boring. I asked someone and it was described as sophisticated, I am not so sure if that is a sign that I needed more colour, perhaps I should have used a more dynamic building to draw. 

Istanbul 

The original drawing was done with watercolour (see the previous post) in an A3 hot press watercolour paper. The inspiration was a well-known mosque. I love the building and I thought that was a good challenge. The final drawing was not as beautiful as the original and I was too afraid to add a background or more colour...

Cover

This is my favourite cover, The colour is the one thing I love. The borders and the letters are perfect. It is true that the general aesthetics is a bit flat, I like the final result.

Final thoughts

Exercise 5.3: Travel guides part II

Art work

Pic 1 & PIc 2: This are examples of colour palettes and work done before start the illustration. I also collect different pictures from the cities to create the cover for the books.

SIze: The art work was done on watercolour paper 300g hot press, A3. This was a nice choose because I do not really like cold press texture but it take less water so, sometimes the washes has white parts. 

Watercolour: I have a combination of brands. I think the Japanese one HWC works for me better, but I must confess that I lobe Jackson’s art watercolour... They are very rich too. Gouache: I did not use gouache much in this exercise but in the Helsinki illustration, I used it for the highlights and it works but I think acrylic it is a better option. 

Work

Inspiration: I was going to do architectural drawing because this was part of the last assignment feedback and I like it a lot, so the matter was what used as an inspiration. That was a bit more difficult that I expected. I could not distort or change the images and preserve the basic idea... so I settle for a more traditional drawing...

Next

Exercise 5.3: Travel guides part I

Research

Base on my tutor advice, I went for an architectural drawing and watercolour so this is part of my research.

Jochen Schittkowski: illustrations have a few elements that I like, it is less constricted and square that architectural drawing normally is because the lines are less straight, the second element is the middle ground when we look at the details. The map in the right corner is also a plus, make the illustration interesting. I do not like the colours, I think they are lazy

Tastudio.com: I am not so sure this drawings come form the same person. The first one it is a nice combination of liners and colour. I love it. it has a great feeling and the way the artist create the background it is quite interesting. The other is an example of how I do not like architectural drawing... too square, the realistic, way to geometrical... and the colour are boring.

Clermont Ferrand: this artist is very interesting in the used of negative space. This help to focus on what it is important in the drawing ... it is quite the opposite effect as the previous one. This one is less busy. 

NOEL BADGES PUGH: I like the way he constructed the page and the negative space is also interesting but I choose it because of the texture and the colour. I think is really fascinating to see how you can feel the different materials and areas in the painting by texture and colour. 

James Richards: it is an interesting way of drawing, it is dynamic, the colour are fantastic. It seems like the city is alive... I am not so sure this is ideal for a cover buy I must said that is fun to watch. 

Chris Lee: This is a fascinating drawing, similar to Japaneses street sketching, I love the use of watercolor. I am not so sure about the white background though.

Akihito Horigome: This is a perfect use of colour for me. It is vibrant and fun.