Assignment 1: Say Hello

The main aim for this Assignment is to introduce myself to the tutor via a Greetings Card.

I am to:

• Create a card that tells my tutor about myself
• My interests
• My inspirations
• Materials I feel happy working with
• What I would like to get from this course

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My initial idea was to create an illustration showing me in a relaxed "meditative" like pose and thinking of all my favourite things. This first sketch shows me thinking about my love of music hence the accordion, my iPad which is my favourite media to work with, and a sketchbook. 

I also use text in my illustrations, and love to do cartoony type drawings with a positive or empowering message.

Working on this idea - I re-drew the scene with a different composition, and detailed the face a little more.

After exploring these ideas, I slept on it and woke with a completely new one! I would do something humorous as I feel this is very "me". I was worried at first as to how it would be received, but humour is the backbone of my art and I felt like not making a funny card would not be in keeping with my personality, so felt this was the best way to stay true to me.

Below is the first sketch of that idea:

As with the previous idea - I re-sketched it with a little more detail.

After my preliminary sketches were done, I got my iPad out and began the process. I worked in Procreate and created a line drawing on one layer above my sketches (using a photo of my sketchbook imported into Procreate.)

Once the line work was complete I re-arranged and moved bits around so all the elements were balanced.

I then added the flat colours on a layer below, followed by the shadows and highlights to create dimension on a layer above the colour layer, but still below the line art.

The final Greetings Card:

I used a photo which I drew on for the Nutella as I thought it would be more easily recognisable and would make it stand out more. The pencils are mocked up onto this image as it adds to the presentation of the image.

I then mocked up the outer image onto a greetings card shown below.

 And the inner text on another mockup:

 Final Thoughts:

I really enjoyed the whole process of creating this Greetings Card. From initial sketches through to final illustration, I had fun with it! I know this is because the brief was so open and flexible, I was able to draw whatever I liked, and this always helps the creative juices to flow.

I have created many Greetings Cards for sale at markets in the past, so making another one was fairly straight forward, but I did learn that I really do prefer to sketch initial ideas on paper and create finished work digitally.

Looking forward to the rest of the course now!