Jimmy Gleeson - illustrator

This book by Jimmy Gleeson is absolutely beautiful. I really didn't think i would like vector based work, as i love having the hand made look in my own work, and really appreciate it when its visible in others. However, he's made this with such skill. I chose this one because there are clear textures and he uses tone and shape on such a professional level. I like how he's considered the importance of each landmark in his country, and how he's represented these using pure shape. I know there's type here, and I'm aware we cannot use type, however i would know exactly what and where he was representing without it there. Im quite excited now!

Greetings from...

This break down of how illustrator works is really helpful. I found it while browsing on pinterest. I have a feeling these postcards are going to be quite time consuming. So I would like to get plenty of roughs and thumbnails done this week in order to start practicing on the programme. 

Three final gifs. Evaluation.

This was the last gif i made, and i think you can see a slight improvement from the first to the last. There are still plenty of things i would change or add to the gif to improve it. For this particular one I would add more frames in order to stop the rapid eye movement and so that the gif runs more smoothly. It seems jolty at times, which is something i need to work on.

I think the shark gif is my favourite. Im glad i went back and added the bikini outfit, as i feel it completes it a little more. Next time i would have drawn it to size a bit better, as i had difficulty getting the shark to the size i wanted on photoshop whilst maintaining quality. So correctly proportioning the frames and making sure they are centred would be a definite good change for this gif.

This one is completely different to the other two. In some ways i wish id kept a similar theme running , however I'm glad i had a more handmade looking gif. Mono printing the rocket was a definite plus for this one. But as this was my first gif it doesn't have the same quality the other two have. I really struggled when it came to resizing the rocket, and keeping on top of the layers. So if i was to make  this gif again knowing what i know now, i think it would look much better. I would also have drawn the sky by hand rather than adding a digital element, as i feel theres too much going on and it takes away from the handmade rocket. Movement on the boy would have worked better too. All things to consider next time!

Circles.

I made a quick drawing the other day, and immediately visualised it as a gif. Its awesome knowing how to make one, it enables you to visualise your work in more ways than one. This ones just for fun but i quite like it.

Shark gif edited.

After showing my initial shark gif to Kristyna, she thought it would be funny to add another outfit. A bikini! So i started drawing various outfits and then added to the final gif.

I think its a lot better now, just because before it felt like it was really fast. As though it was rushed. 

It flows more smoothly now.

Final Gif.

Got there in the end!

Things I would have done differently...

• Added a few more frames to prevent the rapid eye movement.
• Scanned the images all at once to prevent difference in size. 

On the whole I'm really happy with it. From the first gif i did to this one i feel they've massively improved, and will hopefully continue to improve the more experience i have.

More development

Still too bright. 

I like these colours. Muted but still happy. Think i'll go with these.

Colour tests.

I want light colours, keep it light hearted and happy. I like the idea of having a different coloured moustache to the hair, slight comical value. Im not a fan of the very bright backgrounds, I feel they take away from the man, will have to try out a few more palettes. 

Moustache gif in the making

Making this practice piece was a lot easier than the shark one, mainly because i used the lightbox to draw the images, and then i changed the size of each one before i placed it into the given frame for the gif. However, i hit a wall after that. I wanted to be able to just add the last few frames to this gif, however when i scanned in the last few drawings, they were all different sizes, which meant i had to start all over. I resized each one by layering them on top of each other and turning down the opacity. It took a really long time and I've learnt from my mistakes. Next time scan them all together! 

Here are the images i scanned in separately to the rest. Never again!

Illustrator workshop

The illustrator workshop today was really useful. Ive used it once before but a really long time ago, and in a different way. Today the main focus was shapes. Creating images out of shapes gives you endless possibilities and yet is still quite difficult.

Cutting shapes out of shapes was helpful when creating the arms and legs for the man. I used the paintbrush tool for little details at times, which seems to create a smooth finish no matter how wobbly you draw the line. 

Another useful technique was using the paths to manipulate or change certain elements of the shapes. 

I really didn't think I would enjoy this workshop, as computer based things aren't usually my strong point, however the more practice i get the easier its becoming and i really felt i got something from today. 

            I really like the clean finish illustrator gives. Im excited to learn some more!

SHARK GIF

For some reason i seem to loose detail when i create the gif. I think its because I have to resize the original images so much in order for them to fit into the 500 pixel frame. Next time I would have a few more drawing added, in order for it to run smoother and slightly longer. Because to me it seems to rush straight through before you've even realised whats happened. I guess thats the beauty of having it on loop though.

Finals

I encountered a few difficulties with these finals. There weren't any free light boxes when i drew them up, therefore the trace is a little off from start to finish. Next time I will definitely use a light box for a more precise finish. Changing the levels on photoshop and resizing each image to the correct format was pretty straight forward, now for the gif making!

Story boarding

My idea for this changed a little after drawing it out a few times. Also after making the first gif i thought it might be a little tricky to make him turn around the way I had intended initially, especially given the time limit. Therefore, he dances! Dance, pow, clothes, pow. Theres a little more too it than this storyboard, but shall all be revealed very soon. 

Shark gif process

 Mainly colour testing on photoshop. After doing this, I'm not certain I will use much colour in the final gif, as it may take away from the action that I'm going to try and produce. I would really like to have the perfect background colour though.

Artist book.

Ive started a new book just for artist research. I think this will be highly beneficial to me and my practice, as I don't reference illustrators enough in my work, nor do I have a great knowledge on whats current or who's done what. Should have started this a while ago.

ROCKET BOY GIF.

My first ever gif! Things i will consider next time:

Slightly less movement would work better.
The rocket gets sightly lost against the night sky, therefore careful colour palette consideration. 

Practice makes perfect, I still have a lot to learn. 

Gif in the making.

Heres the background I created on photoshop, and the rocket I was going to use. However i faced many difficulties when creating the gif, merely because I didn't know much about it. 

Problems included:

Getting very confused about the layer process.

Resizing images kept changing various elements on the other layers.

Making it flow well. 

I got there in the end, after a lot of frustration. I now have one complete gif!

Next steps.

I drew the boy how i wanted him to look, printed him out and coloured him in. I didn't want to mess up the original, so I thought it would be best to make copies, that way i could test media at the same time. I went with colouring pencils, an cropped him into the rocket that i had cleaned up on photoshop.

Next step...make the gif! 

Making a mock-up gif

Once i got the hang of it, this wasn't too hard to make. However its very quickly put together, and I'm sure when i have more layers involved it will be a little more complicated.

Monoprinting

Knowing we had a mono print workshop coming up, I wanted to make sure I was prepared. I wanted to turn up with an idea of what to expect so as to make the most of my time down in Vernon street. Therefore I went for a drop in session with a friend of mine on Friday just to give it a go. I absolutely love the print room. Being hands on and crafty is so much fun. I tried a few various methods, and came out with something that I wanted to include in my final gif.

                  This is made with textured papers cut out and arranged to form a rocket.

Its a little messy, and needs some work. But i love the idea of having a hand crafted element to one of my gifs. Shall work with it and see what happens. 

Storyboarding

Storyboarding was actually really fun, and the prospect of these images becoming gifs is really exciting! Certain things work, others do not, but until I know how to make a gif I guess I won't know. 

For now, the rocket and the shark are definite's, and Im leaning more towards the balloon moustache rather than the cup of coffee moustache.