The category containing all posts for part 2.
For this exercise I need to create a spider diagram for each of the following words: Seaside, Childhood, Angry, Festival.
I will then test my spider diagram with another person, tick words that are in common, and include the other person’s words using a different color.
I will then reflect on which word I found more difficult to work with and the methods I used to think of more words during the process.
The keywords in these diagrams are based only on my personal experience. I have not taken any inspiration from external sources.
When I finished, I tested the diagrams with my wife. I have added some of her keywords in red and ticked the words that we shared in common.
The strategy I used for this exercise was to lockdown my mind on every single word, one at a time. I had a musical tune in mind for each word. I thought of things that were related to the words, feelings, objects and moments lived through my life. The word that surprised me was seaside because what came in my mind right away was a fantasy environment with tropical islands and sirens. My mind was locked to that environment, so I went for it and wrote down the keywords. “Angry” was the word my wife and I found the most difficult. I think it’s because adjectives are hard to describe. I related the word “angry” with drawing, because its what I often do when I feel that way.
I noted that my wife’s spider diagrams expressed more feelings, with an overall sense of happiness and love.
I really like this method for organizing keywords. Before starting this course, I used to brainstorm and write keywords in a messy way, with no structure. With this method keywords are better organized. For example, before starting this course I didn’t write a main keyword and then child keywords. I would write the words “tree” and “leaves” separately, while instead “leaves” can be seen as a child keyword of “tree”. This leads to a better organization. I also found interesting the “joint brainstorm”. In the case of the word “festival”, for example, the keyword “fireworks” chosen by my wife sparked an alternative idea on how I could illustrate a festival.
For this exercise I will choose an illustration I like and write a brief, advising the illustrator about the role of the image, it’s context and the main details. I will then describe some of the elements I liked about the illustration and my final thoughts.
The illustration I chose for this exercise is the cover of the fourth installment of the popular game series Far Cry. The reason is simple. It has been one of the rare cases in which I have bought an entertainment product based only on the front cover, meaning that the illustration succeeded in convincing me to buy the game. I couldn’t find information on who made this illustration, so since I cannot give him credit for the work, I will just give a link to the image.
The same illustration has also been used as the final image of the game’s trailer combined with the vocal message “Welcome to Kyrat”. Having played the previous installments, I was very intrigued by this new antagonist character dressed in pink. I am also thrilled in writing a brief about what I consider to be one of the best scripted villain in a game. The cover generated debates over the internet, with some pointing out that the artwork depicts racism.
Before starting, the illustrator should have some background about what the far cry series is about. He should also have access to the current story’s plot and concept art.
The brief is the following:
“You know, the one and only time I walked in to this place, I walked in a sane man and came out…like this” – Pagan Min
Having played the game, I can say that the visuals describe the villain very well. Due to the extensive use of the bright pink colors, my first look is always for him. Other brighter colors include the yellow armband on the kneeling man, the green rocket, the green vegetation of the mountains on the left and the clear blue sky at the top. I feel like my eyes move in circle around the picture, allowing me to see all the key elements. The weapons are positioned in a strategic way, pointing towards the villain. The foreground ground uses a mix of grey and brown colors and do not distract the eye. The way the villain sits on his throne shows that he is the king of the land. His facial expression and his hand over the head of a subdued man add hints to his mad personality . By better examining the image for this exercise, I have noticed that Pagan Min is holding the grenade’s safety ring with his finger. A nice detail.
This exercise has been very educational. It was not the first time that I have created a brief, but I didn’t know WHY I was creating it. I just used to write it down a series of keywords knowing that they were useful for the final result. My briefs were also very basic and didn’t include some of the possible requests outlined by this exercise.It’s a process that has always been instinctive for me, and I am glad to see that I was on the right track.
I cannot find anything at the moment that really didn’t work out for this exercise.
Key Steps in Illustration 