Danny The Champion

I made a couple more digital roughs for the Roald Dahl brief but I feel I have got a bit stuck in a rut in terms of how I make images.

I need to try out some new techniques, research other illustrators and rethink my ideas. I have an idea for combining the way I used to make my work with my more recent shape based methods that I want to try, I got the idea from looking at butcher billy's work. I am going to make some detailed fine liner drawing s and remove the line work to see what shapes I create inside the lines and try to draw fully with the idea of no outline at all. I think this could create some really nice forms that could help me move my practice forward. I always notice small details that I like in other peoples work and my own, often in the background of a piece. I think this might come from doing a lot of graffiti when I was younger, because of the scale you work at you start to see small details you like rather than an overall impression of the piece. I found this illustration of a cathedral by Butcher Billy, I like the colour scheme and the composition but my favourite part is the clouds/explosions in the background. I think I could try to use something similar for my illustrations of the Roald dahl books. The shapes add a lot of detail to the illustrations but the lack of outline combined the colours he has used mean they don't overpower the main components of the piece.

This next illustration is by Mike Mignola, I really like the way that the objects piled up in the foreground appear out of the darkness. The few objects that are visible suggest the rest of the pile without having to illustrate them all and make the piece overly complex. I want to start using visual tools like this more in my work as I think it is really effective in the same way that you can suggest objects outside of the frame that help communicate the message of the piece without adding too many components and allowing more freedom in terms of composition. The darker tone of red at the bottom of the piece helps to balance out the bold red at the top. By doing this he manages to stop the piece appearing top heavy while making sure the bright red stands out.

These four compositions create atmosphere through the colours ha has used and the compositions. The houses and gravestones are all at different angles making the compositions slightly unsettling and dream like. Large sections of each illustration are completely black with shadow and the colours that are used are muted, the solid black makes the illustrations feel like solid, angular objects.

Right, feeling ready to try some new techniques now. I want to create amazing scenes for the Roald Dahl brief that will appeal to their target audience. I want to try and make new worlds. I need to be careful not to fall back into old bad habits while trying to combine different techniques. I want to add more detail to make my illustrations more intriguing without overcomplicating compositions.