Research
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For inspiration for the front and back covers of my comic, I looked at Graham Humphreys' work. I'm a huge fan of his work for varies movies and television shows as his use of colour as well as texture creates an retro look to his work synonymous with classic horror posters. Humphreys uses a wash of gouache, creating a vivid base to work into and add the detail to his portraits.
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I chose to look at Mike Mignola's work as I liked his use of block colour as well as lots of solid black for intense shadows. I found his simplified style and colour palattes helped create strong yet different atmospheres thoughout the volume,
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I looked at the Bojeffries Saga illustrated by Steve Parkhouse as I liked the use of line to create tone and texture throughout his work.
Week 1
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To begin the project, I wanted to get down all of my initial ideas before I focused on a specific route to take. I focused on the main factors that came to mind when I thought of my 'Out of Lockdown' period.
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I experimented with different styles to use to illustrate myself throughout the comic. I was unsure whether I wanted to make the features or proportions stylised or realistic.
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I made rough visual layouts of my comic, thinking about how to be use the panels to my advantage and make it visually interesting. I decided on making the comic an anthology of the different aspects I found interesting or most prominent during my experience.
I roughed out some panels, trialing different placements and layouts that would help visualise the story best. |
For the front cover of my comic, I played between two ideas. My first was to create a moody illustration on myself in the style of Graham Humphreys, or to make it look like the cover of a textbook which was inspired by flesh.png's work shown to the right. After completing the photoshop project I was inspired to create more digital works to look traditional as it is something I have always found intriguing. In the end, I decided that the textbook look didn't fit well enough for this project as I wanted to focus on my drawing rather than showing any other skills not related to the brief.
Week 2
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The bottom up view has fascinated me lately so I decided to try and use it to create an interesting perspective. I feel that it is a unnerving and uncommon perspective so it helps express my emotions of uncertainty that comes along with lockdown and the unpredictable 'new normal'. I wanted the front cover to show me in my room during lockdown, looking out to the new horizons that came along with 'Out of Lockdown' which leads into the beginning of the story narrative through the comic. To mirror this, I wanted the back to be my view from the front cover and give a sense of new beginnings after everything. I decided to keep the angle and posture the same as the uncertainty follows into the present. The pose was inspired by the movie poster for 'The Thing', however I wanted my stance to be more hesitant and unsure rather than alert by making the hands more frozen in uncertainty of what to do next, or whether they actually want to do anything, while in awe of the view of the future.
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On my first page I wanted to express my indifference to the 'lockdown being over' as it is more just a metaphorical state since the pandemic won't truly be over for a very long time. Most restrictions are the same, as are the effects Covid has made to everyday life.
For my second page I wanted to have myself walking past empty shelves in the supermarket, something that was a prime visual indicator to the impact Covid had made. We may not be able to see the virus but we can certainly see the decreasing supplies.
I think that the long panels on the right work well but the formation on the left feels too static and boring as it similarly has four panels.
For my second page I wanted to have myself walking past empty shelves in the supermarket, something that was a prime visual indicator to the impact Covid had made. We may not be able to see the virus but we can certainly see the decreasing supplies.
I think that the long panels on the right work well but the formation on the left feels too static and boring as it similarly has four panels.
During the year, a prominent part of it was spent watching movies and television shows as I have a huge interest in them and find they are a big source of inspiration to my work. In total I watched 98 movies in 2021 (as of November) and logged them all using Letterboxd, I only count the ones I watch all the way through with rapt attention so there were many more not counted!
I came up with the idea to use a film reel to show all the different ways and places I watched them all, be it the cinema when they opened again, or on my iPad with my mum. I wanted to collage the different movies I had compiled and rated throughout the year as it is a sort of visual diary of my year.
I came up with the idea to use a film reel to show all the different ways and places I watched them all, be it the cinema when they opened again, or on my iPad with my mum. I wanted to collage the different movies I had compiled and rated throughout the year as it is a sort of visual diary of my year.
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For the page on the left, I wanted to capture the paranoia that has been very prominent during the pandemic. I made the panels slash vertically across the page to try and make it dramatic and intense.
On the final page I wanted to conclude the strangeness of the lockdown with a more lighthearted view of it all. I wanted to draw myself out with friends again as places are starting to open again.
On the final page I wanted to conclude the strangeness of the lockdown with a more lighthearted view of it all. I wanted to draw myself out with friends again as places are starting to open again.
Week 3
Page 1 & 8
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Page 2
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After the group critique, I tested out different ways to panel the page until I found one that worked to give the right emphasis on the middle panel.
I decided to change the style used to illustrate my comic as I wasn't happy with how the original looked and felt a realistic approache would allow me to add more detail.
I decided to change the style used to illustrate my comic as I wasn't happy with how the original looked and felt a realistic approache would allow me to add more detail.
Page 3
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Page 4 & 5
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After the initail critique, I decided to choose one movie that stood out to me most that I watched this year and picked 'The Lighthouse' directed by Robert Eggers. The film is shot in black and white so I wanted to replicate that in my illustration of me watching it as a way to show my immersion into the movie. However, the background of the middle image shown was too dark so the page had little contrast as well as the title being too big and bright making it clash with the rest of the page. Despite these changes, I think the page still looks too plain and all blends into one.
Page 6
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I decided to combine the third and fourth panels since my other pages consisted of four panels as well, making it seem too repetitive. I also wanted to have my illustrations reach out from their panels and overlap each other as I think it makes it more engaging and interesting.
Page 7
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Week 4
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I decided to have the background burning to symbolise the change to the 'normal' we had during lockdown, being stuck in our rooms, as we are now able to enter the world again with lessening restrictions.
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I made sure to make my illustrations more colourful as the flesh tones previously appeared too washed out and greyish.
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I ecided to add cobwebs to the empty shelves as I didn't think it was clear enough and felt that an exaggerated situation added more visual interest.
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Following advice from the critique, I decided to add more tonal range by introducing colour to help add contrast between the different layers within the illustration. I decided to use block colour as I wanted experiment with coloured lighting and thought that was similar to the way black and white movies would be painted over to create a vivid world. I think that this change is the most stark and greatly improved the previously boring or lacking illustration and helped bring life to it. The waves reflect those seem in the movie 'The Lighthouse' and symbolised the immersion I felt when watching the film. I chose to use green light as it reflects the unsettling and queasy feel that the movie creates as well as my interpretation of how I viewed it. Despite the film being in black and white, when retrospectively thinking back to certain scenes I found that I had subconsciously associated specific colours with them.
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After the feedback session, I made sure to improve the colour I used on my panels as they were too washed out and boring, making the pages murky. I used an 'overlay' layer at 39% to use different and more vibrant colours to add more warmth and character to the shading. I also changed the colour of the background in the final panel to a warmer and happier shade, making a journey from a cold blue to an alarmed red to then a softer orange when everything is 'safe' again. In addition, I attempted using a pencil brush to add texture and more colour to the illustrations which I think helped stop it from looking too smooth and flat.
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For my back page I wanted to do a reverse shot of the cover. I tried out using the same perspective as well as straight on as I wasn't sure what I preferred. I ended up liking the option that replicated the cover. I made the background a bright blue to symbolise the unknown yet hopeful future we are approaching after the pandemic. I think that the use of a solid colour gives a blinding effect and is inescapable, much like the future.
I decided to combine page 6 and 7 together into a double page spread so that the hand could cross over to the page on the right. It also allowed me to properly view how the pages would look next to each other as they would in the actual comic. In doing so, I realised that the line width on the right page was much too thick in comparison to all of the other pages so I redrew them all so that they would match.
Link to Final Comic on ISSUU
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The quality was heavily reduced when uploading so I've uploaded the original file to view.
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