Reflection (2000 word blog 1 of 4)

The main focus of the module so far has been on the Carmelite Prize brief. I have been roughing out page layouts trying to find ways to make a seascape varied and dynamic. I have been using rocks to add some structure to the composition.  I want to keep the sea mainly as negative space and use the waves lapping up on the rocks to signify the expanse of water around them. The use of negative space allows me to illustrate the difference in scale between the sea otter and the landscape, without the otter getting lost within the composition.

The book’s narrative centres around the adventure of a young sea otter trying to get to the horizon. I want to use the horizon line and the rocks to communicate the massive scale of the landscape compared to the tiny sea otter. To illustrate in this way I will need to make the best use of the limited components of the landscape (the sun and the rocks protruding from the water). I will need to make sure that each individual page is carefully crafted to illustrate the perspective and highlight the distance between the otter and the horizon. The horizon needs to seem like an attainable target to the otter but one that keeps moving further away as she swims towards it, so I want to keep a consistent distance between the two.

I started out illustrating the book as black and white as I have found using tones rather that colour to be a productive way to familiarise myself with handling new processes and media, but the landscapes look very bleak. I need to break the habit of relying on tones alone and start using colour so that I can push my practice forward.  This project gives me a good opportunity to develop in this respect.

I have been struggling with the character design. I am still unsure about the characters I have created so far. I cannot decide whether to make them more realistic or more cartoon-like. I think moving away from realistic illustration will allow me to experiment more with the entire compositions, use of colour, etc. One thing I have discovered so far is that otters are hard to draw. If the proportions of the character are at all misjudged they look very strange. I have tried accentuating some of the characters’ features and they either look like other animals or just look wrong.

I also want to make sure I can successfully communicate the emotions and actions of the sea otter throughout the book. The little otter feels happiness, loneliness and fear as the story progresses, and I need to make sure I am able to illustrate her feelings clearly to the audience.

This project has become the main focus of the module.  Now I would like the opportunity to work on a variety of briefs centred around children’s publishing so that I can experiment with a wider range of characters, settings and narratives.