Have accidentally been drawing the figures slightly too small compared to the first few character poses I did. Having to go back and thicken/lengthen where needed!
Finishing the character poses for my aeroplane instructions!
Some of my experiments with engineer characters for the plane instructions, to compare with the references a couple of posts ago.
Aeroplane instructions — inspiration
Before I start work today, some references I’m using for the small engineers building the plane…
The Numbskulls (of Beano/Dandy fame):
Cpl. Clott:
Keith Haring:
Tony Hart’s ‘Morph’:
And some blueprint instructions I found pictures of, from an old American balsa wood model kit (from the 50’s I think):
Those above are from here.
I think they’re great. One thing I might take influence from is the hand-lettering, which is like Architects hand-lettering techniques.
Aeroplane instructions — finishing the drawings (built up in layers), using the lightbox to compare forms.
Update
Have managed to do a fair few drawings for the plane instructions, but it’s taking longer than expected because of how accurate I feel they should be. Here’s a photo of the latest, in front of the lightbox:
Also made this lightswitch sticker a few days ago, but forgot to put it on here. Linked to my ‘Poetry of Modern Life’ book and ‘Awe for the everyday’ project…
Blueprint tests
Scanned in one of my pencil drawings earlier, to test out the later stages of replicating a blueprint. In Photoshop, inverted colours and altered contrast + levels. Then used ‘Selective Colour’ to make the black background blue instead (and the neutrals more white). Works fairly well I think!
As I was hoping for, the imperfections and smudges add to the sketchy blueprint look. The crinkles work well here (though at later stages, when I’m merging a number of layers together using blending modes, these crinkles may prove too much and have to be removed).
Here’s a version with the isometric grid added:
Still, going to try and get as many of those component sketches done tonight as I can!
Isometrics!
Have been working on the aeroplane instructions; have been breaking the isometric drawings down into sections that can be built up as the model’s built.
These are some developmental sheets:
The past 3 or 4 days I’ve been approaching the project in the following way:
1. Separate the ‘steps’ of my instructions into one-off drawings and base drawings (of which there are 5 base drawings: fuselage, wing before , rudder etc). The base ones are built up from a number of layers. A bit like Lego instructions I suppose.
2. Make an isometric grid in Illustrator and printing this A4-size.
3. Draw a to-scale isometric drawing of the model (free-hand, because tracing or copying a photo will be affected by perspective and so won’t be isometric) (took a while!)
4. (I’m here at the moment) Use the drawing from the last bit to complete all of the ‘base drawings’, which are made up of separate components (so as to highlight some layers as more important at each stage). Using a lightbox is helping!
5. Decide on engineer-poses needed, and draw these.
6. Draw tools and objects (glue/knife etc) going by the engineer poses.
7. Draw the isometric grid to go underneath everything else, and any floor details, walls, menus/interface elements…
8. Bring everything together into Photoshop, and then make ready for web (divs, text boxes to open up for each step, discussion sections etc).
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That’s the plan anyway!- Looking to finish this project soon, as I’m keen to get back to my other projects (have had a few more ideas for Awe of the Everyday).
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Have realised also that much of my hesitation when working on projects comes from uncertainty about the format or medium. Where, once, I’d have gone with the most natural or accessible, I’ve now learnt to question aspects like that. I think it’s just taking me a while to adjust, to be okay with asking questions and then answering my own criticism with decisive choices about what’s relevant for a task.
‘It could be anything’ comes to mind; a phrase that came up quite a bit when working with Emile last year, and then when he worked on a group project. At first it was an optimistic phrase, saying that an idea can have more iterations than the first one that comes to mind… But it’s developed into a bit of a monster, because while it gives you hope it also makes you indecisive; you’re chasing perfection in a way.
Certain decisions should be made early on then — I should ask ‘what is the most relevant or strongest form for this piece to have?’. And then I should stick by that.
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Gonna try and finish these isometric base drawings by the end of today!
Easter progress so far
Slow Website:
“Explore how a piece of writing could take form on the internet; slow a reader down somehow, and contrast the click-happy nature of most of our use of the web”
-> Have very nearly finished the text, which is my own piece of writing about humans eventually rejecting technology and knowledge, regressing to a more primal way of life. This is something I’d wanted to explore for a while, but it seemed relevant to the technologically-current medium of a web-page.
-> Being that interactivity is one of the web’s main advantages over a book, I wanted my website to feel tactile… I’m planning on making use of mouse-over states, where an image will change when the cursor is hovered above it. I’m also wanting to get far away from defaults of any kind, like navigational menus for example. The experiments mentioned in earlier posts were concerned with stranger, less obvious methods of navigation.
-> Design-wise, I was intrigued by the metaphor I’d used in my writing of systems of knowledge and technology becoming ‘crystalised’, which offers quite a vivid mental picture. Echoing how the text develops, I want the visual to be modular first of all, and crystalised, to then be broken apart and replaced by far more organic forms. I did experiment with paint, but at the time it felt quite flat. Photography and video seem more viable I think, and I’ll be trying those next.
-> Will soon be posting my experiments with pixellation, which I think is a good way of representing the systematic side of things.
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Aeroplane Model Instructions:
“Somehow improve the model construction process by producing revised instructions”
-> I decided that the best place to start here was to look at what was wrong with my two iterations for this project last term: Mainly, I think the problem was that I hadn’t spent long enough on the final pieces… I’d also decided from the start that I’d produce a piece of printed matter, when the instructions didn’t necessarily have to be.
-> I’d been quite pleased with my Hawker Hurricane model, and felt that where I’d succeeded was in having patience, and putting time and effort in. Especially with young teenagers (the target audience of my instructions), this would be a real issue—so I’ve decided that my instructions should keep them interested.
-> For this, I’ve decided for the instructions to be web-based, as I feel that’d have more likelihood of holding a 12-year-old’s attention. I’m hoping to include a discussion board for each step of the build process, as one of the main things I found when making my model was that I invented my own methods that were in some cases better than those recommended in the original instructions.
-> I’d also been looking at home for things that used to hold my interest at that age, and came across my old PlayStation magazines. I remember that at the time, any mention or hint of a game (like a screenshot for example, or a TV programme…) would instantly have my attention. Consequently, I’ve decided to make some sort of link to videogames with my instructions, if only subtly. As part of this, designing a number of components that can be re-used (similar to ‘sprites’ in games) seems like a good idea. As mentioned before, I like the idea of presenting a miniature world…
-> The idea I’ve developed… In-keeping with the videogame feel, I’m using an isometric view of an aircraft hangar, in which engineers are seen to build the plane in stages, alongside text instructions. The stages can then be scrolled through. I still like the idea of blueprints, so am currently experimenting with ways of mimicking blueprints on-screen.
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Memories of Home:
“Give a personal piece of writing a relevant and engaging form”
-> The writing and illustrations need to be finished, for the ten or so rooms I’ve not yet done. I then want to bind the sheets into a booklet.
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NUDE Magazine:
“Produce magazine spreads for an article on the ‘Primitive London’ soundtrack. Also: LIVE BRIEF… Collaborate with Will Biggs to produce spreads for an article about cassette tapes, for NUDE minimag”
-> Have finished the ‘Primitive London’ spreads to a level I’m happy with. Meeting up with Will when we get back after Easter, to design the live brief spreads (Val reckons it should take less than a week to do; she feels it shouldn’t be over-worked).
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Awe of the Everyday:
“Share an epic view of the world. Inspire awe from everyday objects and experiences”
-> Have so far produced 5 or so experiments, but I now want to produce a final outcome of some sort.
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Blog Writings/Things I’ve Learnt/Advice:
“Chart the journey of the creative process + progression”
-> Still need to decide what I’m doing here, but I’m favouring the idea of making more of a collection of things I’ve learnt. I suppose I could treat my journey over the past 3 years as a story, which I then somehow present.
-> I did have the thought that this could be the framework of my portfolio…
Cyanotype prints: This might be worth a look if I’m still hoping to do a blueprint for my aeroplane instructions…!
MICROMACHINA by Scott Bain
Bain’s made a world. He gives us a glimpse of an imagined reality, and that hints at the rest that we can’t see. We marvel at what else could exist in this world.
