Posts

Page Changes

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When making the PDF in InDesign I found I had to add pages to fill out my book to make it work for blurb.com, so i could get it published professionally, I found it very difficult with the pages as the website was very confusing as it kept changing the minimum page requirements from 22 to 24, I also had trouble with the sizing, for some reason even though I did the PDF in A4 it wasn't the right size for blurb. To help and change this I made sure I had 24 pages by including information pages and pages of my favourite illustrations. Fortunately on the website it helped my change the sizing and gave me a preview to help visualise it and check everything over. I have now ordered 3 published books.

Final Illustration

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My final Illustration was by far my favourite piece to draw, this is because I knew how gruesome and different I could make it look, I wanted it to look gruesome but also not too disgusting to stop people from reading. To add the blood I used a wet brush to give it a more stained blood look, I wanted the blood to be in random places but the most of it to be around the face. I wanted to add the eyes in as in the story it says the birds peck out there eyes, I thought it would add a more sinister look to it as it would connect more to the story. I made sure the saturation for this page was the lowest as it was the last Illustration and I wanted it to show the message and look very different from the start.

Middle Illustrations 2

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 When creating all these different Illustrations I wanted to try different layouts and poses as I didn't want each page to look the same. My favourite piece to draw was definitely the stepmother cutting the heels, this is because I wanted it to look as gruesome as it could but also loved how the layout looked. My least favourite piece is the Carriage this is because it looks very quickly done, it doesn't look as well thought out as a lot of my other illustrations. I would try and improve it by adding different textures and shadows to make it more fancy and professional.

Middle Illustrations 1

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 When doing a lot of the middle illustrations I kept some of them quite simple as I didn't want all of the Illustrations to be distracting from the text. My least favourite illustration is Cinderella in front of the fire, I feel like the door is just there and isn't really fit with the rest of the picture, if I could do anything different I would add a floor to make it fit in more. My favourite piece is the doves bringing Cinderella her dress, this is because it links into the cover well and i think the text will look well around the image. If I could change anything I would try and blend out the tree leaves more as it looks very sharp and not very blended. I love how through out the illustrations they are equally getting darker and less colour just like i had envisioned.

Second Illustration

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The second Illustration I did was the last page with Cinderella image, this was a strategy I had as I knew it would help me develop my work, I wanted the princess to look very different and Tim Burton styled, I also wanted Cinderella to look pretty but also very tarnished and bedraggled. I kept the royal horse exactly the same as the first illustration but I changed the colour to be white as it shows royalty and simplicity. I wanted the prince to look very regal and have a normal look that wasn't too distracting. After doing my illustration I lowered the saturation as I wanted the book to go from bright to dark, to show how life isn't always happy. If I could change anything I would try and add something into the background as I think its just very plain and missing something.

First Illustrations

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My first Illustration I did was difficult as I didn't feel confident draw a horse, as I didn't want it to look too realistic but I also wanted it to be in my own style, so I looked on google to and took some inspiration from pictures of horses and drew from them in my own unique style. At the start of this book I wanted Cinderella to look happy and normal to then change throughout the book. As for textures I wanted the slab/rock path to have a more rocky texture so I chose a dry blotchy circular brush and chose multiple shades of brown to give texture and definition. I wanted to shade and highlight everything softly to add a non realistic look to make it look more caricature.  If I could change anything I would try and add texture to the walls of the house, as it looks very plain and doesn't look like bricks, I would also change the pose I chose for Cinderella as I think her hand behind her looks out of place and doesn't work well. The Stepsisters and stepmother was the

Layout Designs for FMP

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After looking at different books for inspiration, I chose to do go through the Grimm Brothers Cinderella story and split the story into parts and write down what illustration I want to draw that links to that section. In my book I did quick drawings of how I would layout the pages as well as helped me visualise how the book would look. I didn't want to spend too much time drawing a perfect detailed draft as it was only a draft and I could always change my thoughts and ideas when putting the book together. While drawing my illustrations I chose to tick off what I had done to keep myself organised and keep everything neat and tidy. When starting my FMP illustrations I want to start with my first and last illustrations as they are the most different and I thought would help me change Cinderella's look evenly throughout the book and look professional.

Cinderella hair designs

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For Cinderellas hair designs I took tracing paper and over the head design I drew on multiple hairstyles from curly, straight, long and short. I wanted to see which hair would work best and show the character best. If I could change anything I would add different facial feature designs as I don't think I explored facial trials that much for Cinderella.

Step mother and Step sisters dress designs

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Step Sister 1 design Step mother designs  When designing the step mother and stepsisters clothes to be very elegant and rich with lots of embroidery.  I designed 3 different dress designs for each character and put a coloured spot next to the 2 dress' I chose for the final piece. For hair I sticked mixed up modern hair with the Disney Cinderella hair style, I am going to keep the hair colours original to the Disney film as I want my work to link in to Disney more without copying. Step Sister 2 design

Cinderella dress' final designs

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For the final Gown designs for Cinderella i took inspiration from Into the woods, Once Upon A Time and my designs based on different eras. I wanted to add different patterns textures and styles to see which I thought looked best. Although there was a lot of successful designs there were some that i thought were either too modern or they didn't fit my vision properly.  I tried to choose designs that were sophisticated yet different too any other Cinderella costume designs. I kept the idea of using the original colours from Disney's animated Cinderella film. If I could change anything I would trial colours using photoshop or watercolours.

Dominic Murphy Artist Research

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Dominic Murphy is a British artist who works in a very gruesome and dark art way. Lots of his work is based around Alice in wonderland. I like how he uses a lot of colour but in a monotone kind of sense, making the piece look more gruesome and horrible. All his artwork is very realistic which works well in his favour as it adds more of a weird and creepy aspect to the work. It has inspired me to use colour but in a neutral and with a low saturation through out the book.

book cover designs

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 After looking at many different designs and materials used to create a great book cover I started designing my own book covers. My first book cover design was illustrating the main part of the book which everyone recognises ( Cinderella loosing her shoe) I chose to colour this in using watercolours to add a different medium and see how it reacted with the image. Although I liked the outcome I didn't take into consideration the facial features as the illustration will change to be more gruesome and Tim Burton styled. For my second Illustration I thought about just drawing a simple shoe with a gradient blue fading down from the top of the page,I found it quite difficult to get the right positioning and sizing for the shoe. My Third and final design, is by far my favourite, it doesn't show the characters face which leads to the audience being surprised and shocked by what they find in the book. I also like how even though it has a lot going on it works the negative space well

Book Layout Research

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Before drawing out my Illustrated book layout I looked at a variety of different children's books, this is because I wanted the layout to be like a children's book even though my target audience was teenagers/adults, I wanted this to hypocrite the book as it is a book children should read and also how Disney's audience is many child based. The first book I looked at was the, "three little pigs", this book was a pop up book which means some of the illustrations pops out and looks 3D. This book was definitely more based on the illustrations instead of the story, I like how bright the illustrations are but I think the text is overshadowed by the illustrations. This has inspired me to use bright colours at the start of the book and then get darker and faded throughout the book. Cat in the Hat My second children's book was, "Cat in the Hat", this book is very minimalistic as it only has a use of the block colours: red yellow blue Lots of th

Once Upon A Time Costume Research

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Once Upon a Time is an American fairy tale television series on ABC. The show takes place in the fictional seaside town of Storybrooke, Maine, whose residents are characters from various fairy tales transported to the "real world" town and robbed of their real memories by a powerful curse. It follows the heroine Emma Swan as she protects the town and its inhabitants from various curses and villains, sometimes involving travelling to other realms. Most episodes involve flashbacks telling its numerous characters' stories. Eduardo Castro is the costume designer for Once Upon A Time. They import a lot of different fabric to get the right effects; they try to stay true to the Disney film for certain characters such as Elsa and Anna. One of Eduardo Castro's favourite pieces is Robin Hood’s costume, because of the detail and time that went into the piece. The easiest piece for Castro to design was Snow White's wedding dress as it was the fi

Into The Woods Costume Research

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Into the Woods is a 2014 American musical fantasy film directed by Rob Marshall, and adapted to the screen by James Lapine from his and Stephen Sondheim's Broadway musical. A Walt Disney Pictures production, it features well know cast members including Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine and Johnny Depp. Inspired by the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales of "Little Red Riding Hood", "Cinderella", "Jack and the Beanstalk", and "Rapunzel", the film is a fantasy genre centred on a childless couple, who set out to end a curse placed on them by a vengeful witch. Ultimately, the characters are forced to rectify the consequences of their actions. Colleen Atwood was the costume designer for the film, she based each character off a different era, and the fox’s costume that Jonny Depp wears is based of the 1930s illustrations. The baker’s wife’s costume was made to look hand made yet