Editorial Illustration Experiments

Here is the final coloured-up version of my initial idea.  I like the illustration, but was unsure of the lettering.  The hand-drawn typography seemed a bit too informal for the subject matter.

So, in light of not liking the hand-drawn typography, I got rid of it entirely and left the illustration to stand alone.  Might as well let the article speak for itself?

A different slant, just an illustration of Hawking, and a scribbled down quote from the article.  I felt that this illustration had the same problem as the first, in that the hand-drawn writing was too relaxed for an article on something as serious as religion, especially in the The Guardian.

An experiment using different sized Times New Roman Font.  I think it looks a bit clumsy and messy and detracts from the illustration.

This time I tried keeping the font all the same size, but still not happy with it.

Much prefer just the plain illustration without words.  

Editorial Illustration Research

Here are some of the editorial illustrators i've looked at...

Ralph Steadman:-

Steadman is renowned for his political and social caricatures and cartoons and also for illustrating a number of picture books. Awards that he has won for his work include the Francis Williams Book Illustration Award for Alice in Wonderland, the American Society of Illustrators' Certificate of Merit, the W H Smith Illustration Award for I Leonardo, the Dutch Silver Paintbrush Award for Inspector Mouse, the Italian Critica in Erba Prize for That's My Dad, the BBC Design Award for postage stamps, the Black Humour Award in France, and several Designers and Art Directors Association Awards. He was voted Illustrator of the Year by the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1979.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Steadman

His work mostly uses black inky loose lines and when colour is involved, it is textured and varied as seen in the illustration below.

Joe Ciardiello:-

Ciardiello was born and raised on Staten Island, just a short ferry ride to Manhattan where he attended The High School of Art and Design and college at Parsons where he earned a BFA degree.  Over his 35 plus year career he has worked for most major magazines and newspapers as well as for corporate and advertising clients, book publishers and record companies.

http://www.joeciardiello.com/?section=about&id=7

Roz Chast:-

She attended Rhode Island School of Design, majoring in Painting because it seemed more artistic. However, soon after graduating, she reverted to type and began drawing cartoons once again.

Her cartoons have also been published in many other magazines besides The New Yorker, including Scientific American, the Harvard Business Review, Redbook, and Mother Jones. Her most recent book is a comprehensive compilation of her favorite cartoons called Theories of Everything: Selected, Collected, and Health-Inspected Cartoons of Roz Chast, 1978-2006. She also illustrated The Alphabet from A to Y, with Bonus Letter, Z, the best-selling children's book by Steve Martin.

http://www.rozchast.com/bio.shtml

Editorial Illustration

So, here are my initial ideas.  I've also thought of looking at giving Stephen Hawking a nice pair of angel wings and having him gliding through heaven on his little electric scooter.

Watch this space.

(I'm going to colour these up in Photoshop using the graphics tablet.)

Graphic Novel

Here it is!  At last...

Here it is!

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"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel."

Ahh, it arrived!

Better get reading...

Creating a Graphic Novel

OK, so it's the second week of the 3 week Easter holidays... about time I did some work.

Had a quick look about online for graphic novel info.

http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Graphic-Novel  <-- relatively useful-ish.

http://www.austinkleon.com/2007/07/03/how-to-write-a-graphic-novel/  <-- good advice.  Thumbnails all the way, baby.

I've ordered The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel.  Should be here by next week... I also sifted through all the graphic novels at the library and was pleasantly surprised and inspired.  My preconceived idea that all graphic novels are Manga/Japanese art and RUBBISH and uninteresting was completely wrong.  There are some mint ones out there.

The ones I picked up:-

• Owly, by Andy Runton
• Anne - Freaks [4], by Yua Kotegawa
• Fluffy, by Simone Lia
• Completely Pip and Norton (volume one) by davegraphics.com
• Top Shelf Under the Big Top, by Christine Shields
• Pentti & Death-girl, by Emma Rendel
• Bye Bye Birdie, by Shirley Hughes.

I also found this image that I love the colours of... I want to have this kind of effect with the different boxes/scenes in my GN.

Mmmmm pleasing.

I've started sketching out a plot for my novel... it's written on a long roll of receipt paper from work.  Recycling!

Sunderland-inspired Pattern

houses in Sunderland, in the football strip's colours... 

little boxes, little boxes :)

Pattern Pattern Pattern

Ok, so after boring myself silly taking photos of objects that look vaguely patterned I'm glad it's over with so I can actually look at interesting things and do some sketchbook work.

I had a quick look around the internet for pattern-related stuff.

Here's a man with a DNA-pattern knitted scarf, haha.  

more sciency dna patterns

...and again

aerial photo of Sunderland

The pattern of how human beings settle and build houses fascinates me.  It's a bit like seeing ants make little tunnels in sand boxes.  I have a friend at uni who studies town planning and he has to learn all about why people live where they do, what makes a successful town layout etc.  I like that it all goes back to medieval times and basic things like whether there's water nearby and how sheltered from the elements it is.

this one shows where the stadium of light is, and of course "Where Alan Grew Up"  haha.  I wonder who Alan is?

Houses.... little boxes, little boxes.

I have been thinking about doing a pattern of house outlines, done in red and white (the Sunderland football club colours) Hmmm.  Sketchbook work to be done, methinks.

Patterns (part 2)