Assignment 4: Building stories

The first step for this assignment was to go back to the first part where I made the foldy zines and use that technique here, I did this book folding 2 pieces of paper, cut in half and folded so It gave me about 10 pages. Then for a book cover I used a different coloured paper to rap around these pages which were tied together with a little piece of sting. The book is about A5 size so not to big not too small.

 In order to create a story, I went back to look for some characters or narratives that I could expand on. I choose the wooden character 'chip' who had made a lot of appearances in the last few exercises. I wanted to create a mini story around him because he was my favourite concept in my sketchbook as soon as I drew him, I could imagine the cute personality he had.

 

So already having a rough narrative in exercise 4.3 with chip writing his letter, I thought about how he could have come to life in a wood shop after this wood worker finds this magic varnish in his cupboard that brings Chip to life. I kept the story quite simple, but it could definitely see it become a series similar to Pinocchio except it’s the adventures of this wooden character if I was to fully develop it.

 

 Research

 Although the background and scenery were going to be a main focus it needed to be put into the images for context. I researched some woodwork shops and woodworkers off the internet, tool cupboards in woodwork shops and older looking shops. I also went in the shed in the bottom of my garden and took pictures of the room full of tools, cobwebs, rusted and wooden things just for some textures and refence as I didn’t just want to rely on google. I also took a picture of some types of wood and old tins in the garage and shed too. As for the woodworker who chip calls 'The maker' I just had to search for some old bald woodworkers and also used myself for some of the close ups to get a jist of a worried expression and the perspective as well as hands holding things as the online reference is quite limited.

 

Real life references...from the garage and tool shed

Next step was to thing about the style. In my head I knew I wanted like an oldish children’s fantasy, something cosy and soft. I did have a look through some of the artist I've researched already but I remembered of this artist I found through Instagram who’s work I love called Allison Aletha. Although my style wouldn't be the exact same, I took inspiration from her characters in their environments, the studies she does of objects, foods, furniture are all so interesting and her work really fits that cosy magical style which was perfect for my narrative.

 https://allisonaletha.wixsite.com/allisonaletha

 https://www.instagram.com/allisonalethaillustrations/

 

 After this I sketched some random ideas of how the 'Maker' would look as well as him working on something in the workshop and Chip from multiple angles.

Becasue these sketches are from my head the posture and limbs looked a bit unatural so using my own hands or arms or people around me sitting and holding things helped with making things a bit more accurate looking. I also took some of the tools from the reference images and drew them to create a background behind the character when he's carving and such.

After this I sketched some random ideas of how the 'Maker' would look as well as him working on something in the workshop and Chip from multiple angles.

 

 

 

Because these sketches are from my head the posture and limbs looked a bit unnatural so using my own hands or arms or people around me sitting and holding things helped with making things a bit more accurate looking. I also took some of the tools from the reference images and drew them to create a background behind the character when he's carving and such.

 

 

I then made a quick story board following the stages of storytelling. I tried my best to create a chain of events that fit in with each step and what it meant.

 

1. Stasis- Woodworker gets piece of wood to work on in order to make this wooden character (Chip)

 

2. Trigger- As he’s carving, he accidentally chips off the middle of the face he has created ruining his figure

 

3. Quest- Decides to carry on and look for something that fits the gap, he finds a draw handle in his cupboard

 

4. A surprise- He also finds varnish and is excited cause he knows this varnish may being his figure to life.

 

5. A critical choice / a reaction- carries on carving and moulding

 

6. The Climax- nothing happens, and the Maker is disappointed and confused.

 

 7. The Reversal- Chip suddenly looks at the maker and smiles.

 

 8. The Resolution- The maker is holding chip in his hands in disbelief.

 

Next, I decided on using gouache as the medium of choice, I tried it out on another page honing in on bringing the makers face to life and painting some tools and wood to get the feel for it as I’ve never used gouache before. The kind of character I wanted the maker to be was bit like the BFG so his face has to look friendly and match the cuteness of chip. I struggled painting in the small panels at the top cause my paintbrushes weren’t thin enough to get all the details in, but I bought some so now I can be more precise.

it was fun to experiment with gouache it like a thicker version of watercolour and also behaves a bit like acrylic so figuring out how to layer and add a lot or little water was educational. I think the trick is to apply the darker colours first and layer on top or at least keep the colours separate and then blend so it doesn’t get muddy.

Before officially starting the mini book did general sketches in a notebook just to get a feel of the characters positioning and expressions.

 

So finally, I etched in the outlines on each page. I used this colour paper to maybe fit the wooden rustic style and not rely on a pure white background which if not fully covered can look a bit empty.

 

Trying out the Gouache I painted each page the best I could, and I think the adding of the fine liner and white pen really cleans it up and makes the picture stand out the best. I think the more I use this new medium the easier it will get, I struggled with mixing colours and figuring out how much water to use. Regardless I think they did turn out good considering the struggles of using gouache for the first time. You can see the influence of Alisson Aletha's work in the colours and a tiny bit of the style. The book I named 'Making Chip' it seemed like the most appropriate for what the stories about.

The words I used throughout this book aren't there for any purpose other than the speech of the woodworker, there is no words in most of the pages as it’s a quiet action up until a mistake is made and even then, the words are small to suggest an internal voice or a quiet "Oh no!" Doing this keeps the story soft and sweet rather than loud dialogue which wouldn’t match the character at all. You can see chip slowly being created and the final ending being the maker telling Chip he can wake up now in which "Hello" is written in capitals because it’s a big introduction. The words are just a part of giving context to the story and what the character is thinking but I rely on the expressions to do this too.