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Visual Design
Visual Design Welcome to the class thread for all professors and students of Visual Design! Below will be a post from the introductory professor explaing more about this particular class/medium and what you can expect to learn. Have fun guys! (This class was perviously a one professor class, but now will be converted to the community class so as to keep intact all resources previously posted.) Original Professor Material by Nina Current Professors: N/A Welcome to Visual Development! If you've signed up, great! If you're just interested and want to see what I say before participating, also great! You can start on these projects at any point in time, you've just got to do the projects in order. You can always PM me if you want to finish the projects without your peers seeing. Remember to add me on Skype! miss.nina.r TUTOR: Nina COURSE: Visual Development WHAT IS VISUAL DEVELOPMENT? I made it up. Sorta. I’ve given the name Visual Development to encompass the way I was taught in my school to create preliminary work for illustrations. We never had a specific class dedicated to this topic as it just became a required aspect of ALL classes. We can’t show up to class with a finished painting that a professor has never seen before, and even if we did it would be terrible because we’d already be done when the professor has so much for us to fix! For this reason, you always show preliminary work of what you are planning to do in a format that helps you communicate your thought process.
However, a complete pipeline works a little like this: [Brainstorm/Reference Building —> Thumbnails —> Research] —> Composition Sketches —> [Value Comps —> Color Comps] —> Draft —> Final Visual Development: Lesson 1 Thumbnails | Research | Reference Three topics for the first lesson? Well you see, they all get intertwined so we’ve got to cover them all to start! WHAT ARE THUMBNAILS? Thumbnails are very quick sketches that are meant to catalog different ideas and compositions visually for a work of art. You should not spend long on these. In the beginning it will be fine, but just remember your goal is to explore ideas quickly so you can spend less time struggling later on. You can draw out borders yourself, or you can print out a sheet of boxes to draw your thumbnails. If your project has specific final dimensions, remember to have your thumbnails proportional to the final dimensions. Your thumbnails should be refined enough that you personally should know what’s going on, but they aren’t mean to paint a complete picture. Give yourself a sheet of rectangles/squares and just draw until you run out of ideas, research, draw, research, etc. I often do mine in front of a computer and easily switch back and forth. Don’t forget you can write an idea map with your thumbnails, but for this course I don’t need to see it, and your thumbnails need to mostly speak for themselves without captions. WHAT IS RESEARCH? “Nina I know what research is!” I know you know how to do an english paper, but just listen, ok? Research is building your personal understanding of what it is your are going to draw. You can easily find a picture of something you don’t know how to draw, but it goes a mile if you understand your subject matter. Unlike english class, you don’t need to source anything. Wikipedia is your friend! Research is looking at and gathering picture or written information on your subject. While doing research, your gather reference material. WHAT IS REFERENCE? Reference is visual images you are looking at to either inform or inspire you for you project. Gathering a collection of realistic photos of you object you are drawing from various angles is informative reference. Then, thinking about expanding your idea about the object, find the ways that the object has been represented through art or design. Find images that show how people see and understand your object. You can also find style reference. You see an artist use a technique for an unrelated subject matter, but want to apply it to your current image. Also reference. When do I credit reference? Real talk. If you are relying on a reference heavily enough that you feel you have to source it, that’s a no-no in the professional art world. There’s a lot of talk and guides on visual plagiarism, and it’s a pretty grey area. I feel that if you draw from a pose, not trace it, and aren’t trying to capture the likeness of the model, then that’s far enough from the image. As such, you do not need to credit links or urls for the reference you turn in this class. It’s not necessary to cite all of your influences, because they are not directly informing you. What about in graphic design tags that credit artwork? Well, if you were a graphic designer professional you can not do that. You would have to obtain the rights to what ever image you use or make your own. I know that everyone on the internet just nabs japanese art and uses it in their graphics here and elsewhere, but in the art world this is highly not ok. Understanding that this is a hobby class, you may use other’s works and credit it for learning purposes only. I just wanted to make you all aware of how it works professionally. WHERE DO I START? Well, that’s the thing, you can start at any point! I was collecting reference of swords for no particular project, and I got inspired, so I gathered reference more for rapiers and final fantasy characters. I started in reference, and then moved on to a few thumbnails, pictured above. At this point, I haven’t done any research on rapiers, fighting stances, or historical usages of rapiers and fencers. I also haven’t done specific visual research on rapiers that had pasts, I just scrolled through pinterest. So I’ve started on thumbnails and reference, but next I need to do targeted research, which will help me gather more reference, and inform my next round of thumbnails. Project 0 | Part 1 In my lesson plan I wrote the first project will be responding to an article. However, I think maybe that was moving too fast that you now have to respond to text, so we’ll be doing a mini self-directed prompt. We will end up only doing 10 - 20 thumbnails with some reference, and 1 - 2 comps. So! I want three things from you: 1) Think of an idea that goes like this: What I want to see from you is 5 - 10 thumbnails! No color, no values, lines only! They must all be in the ratio you have chosen, and that’s it. You’ve got to try it first for me to see! Take as long as you like, but don't worry this first part shouldn't take long. They don't even have to be "good" thumbnails, as you can see I've already x-ed out one of mine. |
First of all, really interesting materials so far! And I really can't phrase this so it doesn't come off as questioning/pretentious haha (which I definitely don't intend) but trying to make the connection with graphic design, I'm wondering about the use of thumbnails when you're moving forward with non-scratch work and a set of "predetermined" resources. Of course the idea seems valuable in generating ideas, however it seems like it'd be harder to replicate these ideas with a limited pool of resources.
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http://gds.parkland.edu/gds/!lectures/thumbnails/wherb_lubalin_051.gif In reality though, when doing graphic design work in a professional field it's never going to work like it does in these threads where someone hands you a picture and asks you to make something out of it. You're going to have to find your own theme and design, and then those will inform what resources you are going to find. So maybe in the hobby sense the thumnail stage isn't the most useful, but comps will definitely be. If you mean predetermined in that you have a specific picture picked out I mean. Even if someone were to say "I want a to man hold a phone with call us written on it", that's not predetermined resources. You would still thumbnail different positions and ideas, what would contribute to the mood of the message and how it's going to be perceived, and then you would find art or stock images that match as close as to what you want. You can let reference and research guide you, but you still need to explore all possible avenues. |
So I wasn't really sure what this class was going to be before but now looking at the way you're presenting it I think it might be something I could do that would benefit me? I'm not really much of anything besides a sketch artist and even then have trouble drawing from life or references. But I think laying out concepts in this way seems like a good way to focus and practise for me. I DUNNO I DID THE THING IS IT OK
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So you're going with a portrait format, with the subject being a singer with mic? With 7 thumbnails, I'd say you're done with part 1! But don't be afraid to do some more quick ones if you have even the smallest idea! You could always try more with a varied size of the singer. They could be even further back, or they could be super close, just give them a quick sketch to see if something sparks your interest. These look like good sketches don't get me wrong, but the purpose of this class is to explore more ideas efficiently and you can do more with less! You can get more detailed in the next step. :) ADDITION I realize that I didn't clarify the size of thumbnails. While I'll leave it up to you guys, in general, they should be pretty small! I'm guilty of making mine larger than they should be, but your thumbnails can literally be the the size of your thumb. http://i.imgur.com/T77guOD.jpg http://i.imgur.com/GJJ24RL.jpg I'm going to give everyone a chance to change around/do more thumbnails after the first attempt, and then after that we're going to pick which ones should be pursued for a composition sketch. Don't worry about it too much, just letting you know there's going to be a second round of talking about the thumbnails. I'm just going to talk about the approach to them right now. |
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I wanted to play with Glam Rock style of thing and went with 1.5"x2" rectangles because that's about the size I'm used to sketching in. Each one probably took maybe two to four minutes? I dunno. But after taking your post into account I went back and did eight more at 1.5cm x 2cm- less detailed; each taking maybe less than minute? I still kept erasing and starting over when I didn't like where the sketch was going, which I've had others say not to do in the past because it's such a rough stage but. Perfectionist. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Are these more like what you're looking for? Spoiler:
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Either when we get a few other's thumbnails or if no one does more by say tomorrow afternoon we'll start talking about selecting which thumbnails and how to approach a composition sketch. No rush on everyone else, I won't post an actual lecture on it, but I'd like to make sure everyone gets feedback in a timely manner. |
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http://i.imgur.com/FL05BC0.png Singer with Microphone What captured my attention the most were these four thumbnails. On the left and top, these two are a good chance to do some nice facial expressions and give a piece a lot of mood to it. The last two are pretty dynamic and could make an interesting pose, especially with the last one and the curvature of the stage I think I'm seeing. With that last one though, just be aware of how much of the body you end up cutting off in the end or it could look odd. So, you only need to pick 1 or 2 of these to develop into a composition sketch! It's your choice of which ones you want to do, and you can even do one I didn't recommend. At this point, you want to take into account your actual composition, the way elements flow into each other, the way objects interact with the edges of image, etc. I'll go into more detail if needed, but that sounds like something that could be explained more in Traditional Arts classes. You're not supposed to take value into consideration at this stage, but if you have light lines or what not, don't worry about it erasing them or something like that. Your comp sketch shouldn't get tied up in small details, but at the same time, you want to work out your sketch to be solid enough that you could just trace it and use it as a base for your final image. Oh yes, your comp sketch should be the same size as your final, unless it's over like 12 inches physically. By the way in these examples, you don't have to work past the border! It helps a lot when doing bodies though so you can make sense of where limbs come in and out of your image, and to avoid having items 'squashed' against the edge. COMPOSITION SKETCH EXAMPLES http://i.imgur.com/z5htzPt.jpg http://i.imgur.com/c3njdaz.jpg http://i.imgur.com/ltLVXzJ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/FSTZRod.jpg |
Requesting extension on my homework. I'm.. actually kind of struggling with making the thumbnails. I must have sat down and attempted it a good seven times now. I realize these are supposed to be quick, simple, uninvolved sketches but, every time I try, I get caught up in making things too complicated. Like my brain for some reason isn't shutting off at the "enough" point and I end up not only unhappy with the result, but not evidencing the lesson either. Only maybe two of my thumbnails have been successful so far.
But I am working on it and will definitely turn it in asap! |
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If you want, we can plan a skype date I can talk you through it/give you some exercises to do! I don't want you to struggle! Have you practiced life drawing or drawing under a time limit at all before? |
So I got very sick recently and am headed out of town for a while so I don't know if I'll get to comp sketches within the next two weeks :( But when I do, what size do you recommend for a full piece? I've never done anything finished before really.
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It's up to you and what you are comfortable with, but if it were say to be an illustration for print in a magazine it would not be much smaller than 8.5 x 11, and not much larger than 11 x 14. That's a good workable size for traditional drawing! As long as you work in the same ratio as your prompt, you can work larger, and a lot of artists feel a bit more comfortable making it slightly larger. You also have to remember if you ever plan on selling prints, what size you would want them to be printed. You may have an image going on to a a full page in a magazine, but may feel like your idea would be good enough to sell as 11 x 14 prints in the future, so you would work at that size. If you don't really care about or plan on selling prints, don't worry about it! If you're doing something digitally, make sure you enter in your dimensions by inches with at least 300 dpi, not 72. This will ensure you have the best quality if you plan to print something/your indented output is print media. Like wise, when scanning in an image to work or on the final, make sure you have a scanner that can scan in at least 300 dpi. You can scan it in even higher, but going over 600 dpi really isn't useful as the human eye can't make out the details any more than that. If I work digitally I start at 9 x 12 @ 300 dpi (also pixels per inch) which ends up being 2700 px x 3600 px, usually no matter what the drawing. Traditionally, I'm prone to go smaller at an 8.5 x 11, but scan in at 600 dpi if I want it to be bigger. That is a thing you can do by the way, you can scan in smaller artwork at high dpi to get a bigger image, which won't be pixilated, however you're going to be able to see more detail that you might not want. For me, if I'm just beginning with a sketch a lot of times I'll just take a camera photo!! If I'm going to draw over or paint over it, I don't care the size. So uh, lots of talk, but it all depends on your workflow, and for this class the comps need to be the same size as final, and the final should realistically be between 8.5 x 11 and 11 x 14. |
I'm a big super noob when it comes to art as good as yours, but I'm really keen on learning it =o Idk if my microsoft Paint art counts, but yeaa haha.
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Hey! So I've been a little under the weather but I'm going to kick this off now, but here's a few changes. Anyone who's looking at this who I didn't quote, just jump in! I feel like people were a little inundated with the beginning project, being able to do whatever with little guidance. So, we'll be doing something simple. I still need you to read through previous white boxes! So for our project here: ☆ Pick a type of frog. ☆ Draw 5 - 10 thumbnails with the frog in different ways. With plants or in different views, what ever you think will look good! Just look at references from google and don't worry about it. The reason we're doing a frog is because I doubt anyone is a FrogDrawerMasterPro, so no pressure! Everyone is gonna have some quick frogs! http://i.imgur.com/hSvRIP4.jpg ☆ Post them here! Any program is fine, just post a .jpg or .png in this thread. No deadline like before, but I'd really like to have them in a week or two. |
Posting to say that I'm in and I'm excited and I will be posting my frogs over this weekend! :)
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Just putting my notice in that I'm in, prepped and ready for this, and you can expect my frogs over the weekend too haha
Omg frogs tho |
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(fictional frogs are also acceptable drawing subjects) |
I DID IT!
http://orig12.deviantart.net/72ca/f/2015/324/c/1/frog_thumbnails_copy_by_ninjaaiden-d9hb3ml.png So obviously I had to include some Froggits :) Hopefully this fits the requirements :3 |
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http://i.imgur.com/vzX3Ow0.png My recommendations to move forward are the two checkmarked ones! I found the one on the right to be a possible interesting composition/look, but I just love the first one! Which, actually might just be a frog looking forward with it's mouth closed and the chin defined, but I'm reading it as a :D! looking frog and I LIKE IT. If that wasn't your intention just lie and pretend it was. :D The Froggits look good, but they're just not as interesting compared to the others. But remember, you can always combine ideas! http://i.imgur.com/rmfAr2r.png You can move on to composition sketches like outlined before. I have a feeling we'll be revising these, so just give it your best shot even if you're not sure about what you're doing and we'll work from there! Bezu has a skype update of something about not being able to get on for awhile, so I guess they're just going to be inactive till when ever. Quote:
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Working on it right now I promise
straight reserving this post spot for my frogs dammit i'm not letting myself flake again FROGS DONE http://i.imgur.com/ekDV6E8.png God I hope these are okay. |
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TOO GOOD!!! :0 But seriously, spend less time on these. I'm giving you 5 - 10 to do as a newbie assignment, but the goal of this is to replicate a college class, which wants 10 - 30 by the next class (usually 2 days). The goal of THAT class is to be able to ideate these thumbnails + comp sketches etc. to make a full illustration in about a week's time. Not trying to be scary, but believe me when I say these should be scrawlings. These are for YOU to get a quick idea and won't be shown to a client or anything, that's the next comp step. They're all very nice! These are the ones I would choose to move forward, pick 1 or 2 that you like. Even if it's not the ones I suggested! http://i.imgur.com/uzOX02N.png"]http://i.imgur.com/uzOX02N.png That being said, don't worry too much about getting your first comp sketch to be super good or something! I mostly want to see your guy's first try and then work from there on suggestions. So don't try to turn in something "finished" for an assignment, get to a point at where you feel unsure and show me. |
You know, I caught myself overworking them too haha. The first two I spent at least a generous 15-20 minutes each, mostly because I was back and forth anatomy checking trying to be accurate -- which is totally not the point lol. I kept having to remind myself to pull it in a little more and be more fluid and still it was a struggle to keep each one under the 15 minute mark. Lesson learned, man. It's harder than it seems when you've trained yourself to work to a certain point.
I think I'm going to pick the first one and the last one. They were the two that varied the most for me, personally. |
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You just gotta draw a lot to get faster, which is why I'm teaching this class! Trying to get everyone to be able to draw more and faster so they don't waste time rendering something that might not be as good as it needs to be. Your composition sketch should just be a black and white drawing. If you do any values at all, it's not for shading, but making it clearer. So as if you showed it to someone else, they would be clear of what the different elements are. http://i.imgur.com/G9H6tmx.png I really don't know what's going on, but it's just funny to me. |
Hi! This looked really cool so I thought I'd give it a go. I tried to spend a maximum of about 5 minutes on each thumbnail, but I still probably spent a bit too much time on the details lol. (You can really tell which ones I accidentally spent a bit too much time on... ^^') I had a lot of fun with a couple of them, anyway!
When sketching digitally I have a habit of doing it in light blue. I can't even remember why that started, but eh. http://i.imgur.com/QWfYvkV.png |
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