Exercise G

(exercise A revisited)

Looking back at what I had written at the beginning of the course, I'd say much of it still stands.

To sum up my experience of the course: it didn't so much address existing problems I had with the techniques I'm accustomed to, as open me up to a broad a whole new world of possible techniques and ideas. To put it more simply, it wasn't necessarily what I expected, but better.

The focus of the course served to clarify the idea I have of digital illustration as a field, and definitely piqued my interest. The various assignments pretty much forced me to abandon my usual frame of mind and the mannerisms associated with it, and look at things in a new way. It's been interesting, and certainly useful.

Task 2

Here it finally is! Sorry about the slight delay. :)

Task 1

Exercise D

The Duck-butler -"Your pipe, sir."
Steve is an entry-level management executive, and doesn't like it. His career is going nowhere. He escapes the drudgery of his day-to-day existance into vivid lands of fantasy. He owns a mansion there, where he is waited upon by a butler, who happens to be a giant rubber duck. He insists on calling the butler Jeeves, even though his real name is Horatio. Freud would have a field day.

Task 1 rough draft

This is a rough draft for my mascot (task 1). He's a bull-terrier. For now we'll call him Boris. I wanted a dog, for the simple reason that pretty much everybody likes dogs. I thought the bull-terrier would be a good pick, as far as dog breeds go. They tend to be energetic and playful, and their appearance lends itself well to abstractions.

Exercise C

Finally got around to posting this... several weeks overdue I believe.

exercise b

exercise A

In simple terms: I love drawing. I have for as long as I can remember. It's something I couldn't imagine not doing. At its most basic, drawing is a way to kill time, for example during a particularly boring lecture. At its best, it's a form of complete self-expression, unconstrained by everyday reality. In the past, I worked mostly with various monochromatic media: pencils and charcoals. I never liked the seeming randomness of water colors, or the lack of precision inherent in crayons.

I've fairly recently gotten into working with digital media (mostly Photoshop and my Wacom). As a throwback to my past drawing preferences, the use of color remains my main problem area. The end result usually looks either washed-out or plain chaotic. Specifically: I find it difficult to keep values in check when color enters the working process. Definitely something to work on.