This morning I went into uni for a tutorial with my personal tutor, Louise.
I hadn't seen Louise since week 3 of the project so I had quite a lot to show and explain to her.
Overall it went well and she seemed pleased with everything I've done. I've had a bit of difficulty in my last couple of tutorials in trying to explain exactly what it is I'm doing (in the sense that every character will be on each page, and you can re-read the book again and again for each individual character) and how the final thing might look. So the evening before my tutorial I quickly started to put together a few of the elements I've been drawing into a rough scene (without characters as I don't have any illustrations in the correct size or format yet for that). I gave it a bit of colour just to show how it might look, but the colours I've used will not be the final ones, and the whole image will be coloured whereas here I only had time to colour the background:
I think this helped me to explain to Louise how the final images might look and how it will all be laid out etc.
These were her suggestions:
- The trees along the back are all quite similar in size so try to break it up with maybe one or two large trees.
-There is quite a straight line along the bottom of the castle which doesn't help to make it seem part of the scene (it seems more like its been stuck on) maybe add some leaves or flowers growing from the ground and up the walls to help blend it in a bit.
- Definitely try using the textures we have discussed previously. Especially watercolour and drop colour textures laid over the digital colour.
- Perhaps think about one or several of the images being laid out as though you are looking at the scene through some trees (i.e. frame the scene in some of the images).
I have already started to draw some flowers and other foliage to add to the walls of the castle (which will vary between seasons) so that is something I can quite easily improve. I will be experimenting with textures and colours in a couple of weeks once I have completed all of the drawings, and I really like the idea of watercolour textures.
The last suggestion is the most difficult one as it may restrict how much I can fit into the scene, but it is definitely something I will be trying when it comes to piecing together all of the final images.
I'll be seeing Louise again on Thursday with Jonny for my formative assessment, so I should get even more feedback then. For now I am going to be sticking to my timetable and drawing the rest of the houses and cross-sections.