Brief
Produce a line visual around one of these words:
Sea – Extraordinary – Building – Journey
Through brainstorming you may decide to draw from an object or selection of objects or work in a more narrative way around a scene or idea. Ensure that the line visual you produce through visual exploration and development is very clear, employing a line which is solid and definite – fine-liners over a pencil visual should give a clean edge.
Photocopy or scan your image so that it fits into A3. Using the invert function on the copier or computer produce an additional copy where the line has been converted to white and the white of the paper has become black.
Using the lines in your image as a guide, cut shapes from the black copy to collage into the white copy. Your ‘filling-in’ should be considered – are you going to suggest that there is light entering from one direction or use white in a decorative way to create a visual pattern? Work with the biggest areas first and maybe Blu-Tack your pieces down until you are confident about their final placing.
To refine your image re-introduce white shapes to the black areas where needed, by cutting from another sheet. There should be no lines left when this exercise has been completed. You are working with areas of black and white and the lines are the edges that you will cut around.
Keep standing back from your image to assess its readability – you are aiming for visual legibility and need to avoid creating a disjointed piece. As well as physically standing back, visual distance can be achieved by looking at an image in a mirror, by scanning and looking at it on screen or by printing out a scale different from the original.
When you have finished compare your tonal image to your line drawing. How has the use of black and white altered it? Where does the focus now lie within the image? Make notes in your learning log.
An image, which is simplified in this way, is often described as a ‘graphic’ image. Are there any examples of other illustrators’ work which you could describe as graphic?
Key words:
- Line drawing
- Work in a more narrative way around a scene or idea
- Photocopy or scan
- ‘Filling-in’ should be considered
- Visual legibility and need to avoid creating a disjointed piece
- Compare your tonal image to your line drawing
- Examples of other illustrators’ work which you could describe as graphic
Examples of ‘graphic’ illustrators
Lukas Frischknecht
Illustrator and Art Director from Zurich, Switzerland. By focussing only what is most essential, his modern and in part abstract art has a strong emotional impact on the viewer.
Yves-Antoine Lamy
Sketches
The word that I chose was sea. I started by making some sketches related to the sea to find the best composition for my design.
Design process
By using Procreate, I made my line drawing digitally in black and white backgrounds. Then printed off my designs. I cut out some parts from the black background and put them on white background like a jigsaw to find the best result. At the end, I glued them.
Final design
Self – reflection
The brief for this exercise was a bit vague for me at first. I had to read it couple of times to be able to understand what exactly I need to do. I used Procreate for my drawing, which made it easy to make both line drawings on black and white backgrounds. I didn’t make my drawing very complicated, as I thought I might have some problem in cutting the parts out.
Overall, I’m happy with the result. I tried my best not to leave any black lines. There were some lines from the drawing left, which I think they were unavoidable.
Resources
- Art upon. Lukas Frischknecht. At: https://www.artupon.com/lukas-frischknecht/ (Accessed: 18/08/2023)
- Art upon. Yves Antoine Lamy. At: https://www.artupon.com/yves-antoine-lamy/ (Accessed: 18/082023)
- Graphic mama. Black-and-white-illustrations. At: https://graphicmama.com/blog/black-and-white-illustrations/ (Accessed: 18/08/2023)
Maryam: OCA Graphic Design 