Category: Contextualised Practice

Photos from printing studio session: I booked a day in the printing studio to create my Riso prints. Before the session I prepared all the colour separations I needed as greyscale PDFs. Due to time constraints I chose only 2 illustrations to print, ‘Binding of Fenrir’ and ‘Ragnarok’.

Binding of Fenrir: I chose to do this one as it’s in the middle on the timeline of myths that I illustrated and it’s one of my personal favourites. I really like the striking colour palette with the intense orange mixed with the cool blues. I wanted to experiment with these colours further by using different combinations of inks. Below is a selection of my prints with different colour variations:

Red: with Riso printing you have to print one colour at a time and then layer the next colour over the top, making sure that the registration is correct. This is an example of a print with only 1 colour profile.

Red and yellow: here I put a yellow layer over on top of a red print. This is where it starts becoming interesting. This image has even more intensity than the original as it has the strength of the warm tones while removing the cold side of the palette. I think this is an interesting variation of the image but I think without the darker elements you don’t get the strong contrast that the original has.

Blue and black: with these prints I went for the complete opposite of the previous one, only using black and blue. The results of this were unexpected but I really like these variants. The cold tones give the image an icy feeling rather than intense heat. I think it still maintains the drama but takes the palette in a direction I hadn’t considered. Below are 3 versions of this colour combination. For the second one I added 2 layers of black and for the third one 3 layers. This was to experiment with the boldness of the colours. I really like the gritty texture that’s in the background.

Red, blue and black: this was a colour combination I tested using the colour profiles in Photoshop. By removing the yellow it creates a darker tone, while still maintaining the feeling of extreme heat. The second one has a double layer of black and blue. I prefer this one as it makes Fenrir and the hand stand out more from the background as there’s a greater contrast.

Red, yellow, blue and black: these prints have all 4 colours so are the full colour prints of my illustration. I’m really happy with these prints, they show my image with the palette I original made. I especially like the second one which has double layers of blue and black. I think this best shows the contrast that I had in my original design.

Hatching over Riso print: I wanted to bring back in some hatching over one of the prints. I chose to add the pen work over a red and yellow print. This lighter palette allowed the black pen to really stand out. As I found through experiments earlier in the module, my preferred style of shading with a pen is using street line hatching so this is predominantly what is in this image. I’m happy with this image as I think it successfully combines the 2 mediums.

Ragnarok: this is the other image I chose to print with Riso. It’s the climax of Norse mythology and one of my favourite designs. I really like having the 3 giants together in one image. Also Ragnarok is the topic of my essay so this was another opportunity to explore this myth. Below are a selections of my prints with different colour variations:

Red: This is an example of a print with only 1 colour profile, red. I think the single colour prints are interesting visual experiments but I don’t really like them as final images. They’re lacking a lot of the depth and contrast that the original images have.

Red and yellow: here I put a yellow layer over the red print. I like the way that Surtr looks but I still think Fenrir and Jörmungandr feel a bit lifeless as they’re missing the darker tones that they originally have. One interesting element of the image are the gods. In the original they’re black silhouettes but in this version they’re a lot lighter. They seem abit like ghosts which is interesting foreshadowing for the death of the gods.

Blue and black: I really liked the blue and black prints for the Fenrir image so wanted to try that combination for this image too. Once again I’m very happy with this combination. There’s a nice amount of detail and contrast and contrast betweenthe light and shadows. It’s a huge difference from the original design but I like how cold and sombre this image feels with the darker, colder palette.

Red, blue and black: I knew I wanted to try out this colour combination after testing it on Photoshop. It’s not drastically different from the full colour version but just has more of an emphasis on red. It has a nice dramatic tone and the colours translate the idea that this is just before the end of the world.

Red, yellow, blue and black: these prints have all 4 colours so are the full colour prints of my illustration. I’m really happy with these prints, they show my image with the original palette. I especially like the second one which has double layers of red and yellow, highlighting the warmth of Surtr and the intensity of the apocalyptic event.

I had lots of fun doing the Riso printing and learnt so much about the technique from my session in the studio. I’m really pleased with the outcomes of my prints as I was able to create lots of different colour variations of 2 of my illustrations. I got some prints that showed my illustrations as I had intended and through experimenting with different colour combination I achieved some prints with completely different tones. This was a really valuable experience and helped me develop my illustrations further and see new possibilities for them. If I had more time I would have liked to print all 5 illustrations to have the whole series. I intend to still do this in my own time.

I have my finalised colour illustrations and I wanted to do some experiments to see how they would look with different filters and variations. This helped me get an idea of potentially what formats my work could take other than just printed images. It also helped me see how to expand my work to different audiences.

Hatching over colour: I took the hatching sections that I made and overlayed them onto my coloured illustrations to see how the 2 elements work together. I like the style but I prefer the style that the images already had as I feel this style of dense hatching and shading makes the illustrations too dark and block some of the colour. If I was to do a whole image with this combination, I would make the hatching less dense to allow the colour palette shine.

Photoshop filters/editing: all of the other experiments were done on Adobe Photoshop using the image filters. For each I did the whole set of illustrations as I think it’s key that they’re kept as a set. While they work as stand alone images I think they are made better when placed together and get a better sense of the whole story.

Plastic wrap filter: this filter is my favourite out of all the ones I tried. It makes the images look like glossy tiles. This is an outcome I had never considered but I now think these illustrations could make a really nice set of decorative tiles.

Mosaic filter: continuing with the theme of tiles, I applied a mosaic filter to my series of illustrations. I think having these as mosaic pieces would be interesting as it’s an old technique which contrasts my modern style of illustrations. I can imagine these being big mural style mosaics which would an interesting way to experience them.

Fresco filter: to achieve these I used a combination of the Fesco filter on Photoshop and overlaying some of the textures I created in the creative workshop. This really lightened up the images and added more of a random texture. I like the aesthetic and think they could make interesting posters which could be scaled up or down. I wouldn’t replace the originals with them but I think they’re a fun variant.

Black and white: these are greyscale versions of the colour images. It’s interesting to see how they look without colour as colour was such a key part of my development of the illustrations. I think seeing them like this shows the strength of the designs and compositions and the still tell the stories and are visually strong. However, the colour really elevates them so I wouldn’t use greyscale version of the images for any sort of outcome.

Creating these different experiments was a fun process and gave me some new ideas on what formats and styles my illustrations could take such as a tile or mosaic.

Now that I have my finalised colour illustrations I need to prepare the files for in the correct way for Riso printing. One important thing I did throughout the process of colouring the my images was to put each bit of colour on a different layer. This made adjusting the colour easier and will make creating the colour profiles easier.

Color/shift: downloading colour profiles

During the induction I learnt about a couple of different websites that can be use to create colour profiles for Riso printing. The one I used was Color/shift. Using this website you can download specific colour profiles and then add them to an image and it will automatically sepertea the colours. Below is the link to their website and a list of instructions on how to download and use different colour profiles:

https://colorshift.theretherenow.com/how-to-use

Colours available at University for Riso Printing: when picking what colour profiles to use it was important to keep this colour chart in mind as I will only be able to achieve these colours:

Photoshop Colour Profiles: I downloaded the CMYK colour profile as it is very close to the blue, red, black and yellow that I can use for Riso printing. With this I was able to get an idea of how the prints will look and what potential colour combination I could use. Below are screenshots on the colour profile being applied to my illustrations. The top one for each is a combination of all the colours and the second has one colour removed.

Creation of the Cosmos:

Thor fishing Jormungandr:

Binding of Fenrir:

Loki bound:

Ragnarok:

Colour Seperations: after applying the colour profile to my images and experimenting with different combination I separated each layer. When you separate them they automatically become greyscale as this is the format they need to be in for Riso printing. I then saved each separate colour profile as a PDF. Below are the 4 colour separations for each illustration that I can use for printing:

Now that I’ve added the colour profile as saved each colour separation as a PDF I’m ready to begin printing.

I had the base colours for each illustration and after I reflected on them it was time to make the necessary changes and improvements in order to finalise the colour.

Creation of the cosmos: the main change was adding reflections and glow from the fire onto the characters, rocks and ice. This change really ties the 3 parts of the composition together.

Thor fishing Jormungandr: I made Jörmungandr a less vibrant green and the bottom of the image darker to make Jörmungandr stand out less in the water and be more mysterious. This also makes the eyes and teeth more eye catching.

Binding Fenrir: adding in the warm highlights onto the characters really makes the image more dramatic and intense. It also made Fenrir look a lot more menacing and intimidating.

Loki bound: I made the whole composition warmer and added lots of highlights onto the characters and scenery. This now creates an uncomfortable warmth to show the suffering of the characters.

Ragnarok: Surtr now acts as the light source to the whole image. There is a glow from him reflected on all the creatures and scenery. The image now looks a lot more intense and shows the drama of the final battle.

Base Colours: I scanned my final sketches and edited them to make them look like they were drawn in pen rather than pencil. To colour my images I used Procreate. I have a large range of brushes I can use and created some of my own textured brushes from the images I made in the creative workshop. This post shows all my illustrations with base colours. Before starting I had a pretty good idea of the colour palette I wanted for each image. I took inspiration from the Norse mythology colour palette which consists of colours found of Norse artefacts.

Creation of the cosmos: this image is divided into 2 distinct sections with different palettes. The top sections is fire so has a very warm feeling and the bottom is ice with a much cooler palette. This contrast is key to telling the Norse creation story. This image needs the 2 parts to merge more so I will add reflections of the fire onto the characters and ice.

Thor fishing Jormungandr: I wanted this image to have a more earthy palette which is why I went for lots of greens, blues and browns. These colours work as a nice and cohesive palette. There are a couple points of contrast that really stand out, the eyes and teeth of Jörmungandr. I want to try emphasise these more to make them more eye catching for the viewer. Another alteration I want to make is to have the bottom of the image darker, to hide Jörmungandr more and make him seem like he’s rising from the depths of the ocean.

Binding of Fenrir: the contrast between the intense warmth of the orange and the cool tones of Fenrir are really striking. I’m really happy with the colours, the image just needs reflections of the warmth on the characters to much it feel like the heat it surrounding them rather than just behind them. I think this change will significantly improve the design and make it less flat.

Loki bound: the colour palette of this image had the smallest range, mostly just consisting of shades of brown and yellow. I wanted this image to feel almost uncomfortably hot to show the suffering of the characters. The current colours are too muted to really translate this idea. I’ll need to add in more orange and highlights will play a key parts in creating this sense of overwhelming heat.

Ragnarok: this image has the most diverse colour palette. The background a scenery is mostly deep red and a mixture of dark browns. The gods are simple black silhouettes. Each of the creatures has their own colours. I’m happy with this distribution of colour but my main issue with it currently is that it’s generally too dark. It needs more light and warmth radiating from the centre (Surtr) to lighten up the rest of the characters/surroundings.

The next step will be to add in lighting, highlights and shadows to make them all feel more dramatic and visually engaging. This will be a key part in getting across the narrative of the images as at the moment they feel pretty flat and a bit lifeless.

I scanned in my original rough sketches and resized them to fill a piece of A4 paper. Then I printed them and used a light box to trace them in pencil. I used them as references for my refined sketches, making the necessary changes/ improvements. For each illustration I will explain the changes I made and have included a quote from one of the original literary sources that inspired the illustration.

The Creation of the Cosmos: I didn’t make any major changes to this illustrations, except making the image slightly longer and thinner. Other than that I just improved on the sketch, adding in more details to the characters, fire and ice.

Quote from the Poetic Edda:

“Of old was the age | when Ymir lived;

Sea nor cool waves | nor sand there were;

Earth had not been, | nor heaven above, But a yawning gap, | and grass nowhere.”

Thor fishing Jormungandr: the concept of the image remained the same but I did make a couple of key changes. One thing I removed was Jörmungandr wrapping around the ship as it didn’t flow nicely with the rest of the composition and took away from the sense that he was coming from the depths of the sea. Also I significantly extended the image, making it a lot longer and therefore appearing thinner too. This was to show more of Jörmungandr and really emphasise how monstrous he is. Other that than I just improved on the sketch, adding more details to the characters, boat, sea and sky.

Quote from Prose Edda:

“the squamous serpent squirms with rage”

The binding of Fenrir: No drastic changes were made to the concept or composition, I just improved on the drawings of the hand and Fenrir. For the hand I used a photo of my own hand for reference, making sure that it was very small in comparison to Fenrir’s mouth to emphasised the imbalance of power/strength. To draw Fenrir I used reference photos of wolves to help me get the proportions are forms right. I’m really happy with the sketch and this it improved significantly from the original one with the most important detail being the increase in size of Fenrir’s mouth.

Quote from Prose Edda:

“They wanted the wolf to try this also,

Saying to him that he would become very famous for his strength,

If so strong a chain was not able to hold him.”

Loki bound: the only major change I made for this one was extending the image to make it longer and thinner. This is because I felt showing all of Skadi and being able to see where she was pouring the venom allowed for a more interesting and complete image. Also I wanted it to have similar dimensions to the Jörmungandr image. I also improve on the sketch, focusing on the people and making sure the proportions where correct.

Quote from Völuspá:

“I see one in bonds by the boiling springs;

Like Loki he looks, loathsome to view:

There Sigyn sits, sad by her husband,

In woe by her man. Well would you know more?

From the east through Venom Valley runs

Over jagged rocks the River Gruesome.”

Ragnarok: I didn’t make any major changes I just refined the details. I improved the sketches of all the creatures and silhouettes of the gods. I decided to limit the number of gods I had so there was more emphasis of the ones that are key to the story. I did make the image slightly longer and thinner to match the creation story illustration and make it feel more like a traditional battlefield image.

Quote from Prose Edda:

“From the south comes Surt

With blazing fire- brand,

The sun of the war god

Shines from his sword.”

Hatching sections: one of the mediums I’m going to use for these illustrations is hatching and pen shading. I did some experiments with different styles of mark making and found that I like using straight line hatching for shading with a pen. Here is 1 section from each image that I did completely in this style:

I’m really happy with the finalised sketches and think that the changes have significantly improved the images. The next step for this project will be to scan my final sketches and take them into Procreate to begin adding colour.

After researching different printing techniques I decided that I wanted to use Riso printing for my Norse mythology illustrations. As I had never used the Riso printer before I had to book in for an induction. Before the induction I did some research to learn a bit about Riso printing so I would have some basic knowledge going into the induction. Some interesting things I learnt can be seen below:

Notes from induction: including information on costs, creating a master, printing size, paper weight, colour profiles, texture and registration:

Printing texture: Riso printing can achieve 2 different textures, halftone/gain touch (left) or screen covered (right). The specific settings of these can be adjusted to achieve different looks. In my printing I’d like to experiment with both textures. Below is a comparison of the 2 types:

Colour Profiles: Riso prints each colour layer separately. To do this you need to convert the image into a series of different colour profiles. To get a full colour prints you need to layer up the different colours. The image below shows a blue, red and yellow print which combined make a full colour print:

Colour charts: the university has a limited selection of colours to use for Riso printing. The options are black, red, blue and yellow. I will experiment with using different combinations of these colours for my printing. Below are all the different colours that you can achieve by using combinations of the 4 available colours:

Riso for project: I will be using Riso printing for my project as it has a nice, vintage aesthetic also it’s a versatile and cost effective printing technique. Riso printing allows for a precise control over colours so I will be able to layer colours to achieve my desired palette. I will combine the printing with pen hatching/shading. The next step is to make refined sketches on appear and then digitally add colour. By doing it digitally it allows me to separate the colours onto different layers, making it easier to create the colour profiles needed for Riso printing.