After extensive visual research I decided of what style and mediums I wanted to create my illustrations in. I want all the illustrations to have a consistent visual style, making them look like a coherent series. Through my research I found lots of reference images and want to keep my images authentic to the source material in regard to the character descriptions and colour palette. The style I have chosen is a mixed media, combining pen and printing. The combination of bright, bold colours with more intricate and fine details will help my work to appeal to younger and older audiences.

Printing: I want to experiment with printing for these illustrations. I plan to combine printed elements with pen sketching. The decision I needed to make was which type of printing to use. It would have been nice to be able to do hands on experiments with a range of printing styles but due to time constraints I needed to choose one. I want the illustrations to be printed on paper to achieve a more texture look. The 3 types of printing available at the University are Lino, screen and Riso. Below I made some notes about the basics of each type of printing:

My previous work: these are some examples of my previous work that I’ve done using different printing techniques. Left- screen printing of fabric. Middle- screen printing on paper. Right- Lino printing.

Lino Printing: these are some examples of Lino printing I collected when researching the style. This is the printing style I’m most familiar with having used it a fair amount before. I like the hands on nature and the imperfect dynamic mark making you can achieve when carving the Lino. Also it’s a good style for layering large areas of colour.

Screen Printing: these are some examples of screen printing on paper that I collected when researching the style. I have only done screen printing on paper once but have done screen printing on fabric a few times so I’m familiar with the process. This is a less hands on process but can achieve striking, overlapping layers of colour. Also you can create more detailed images easier with screen printing.

Riso Printing: these are some examples of riso printing I collected when researching the style. Riso printing is completely new to me, I have used it before so all my knowledge of it comes from research. Essentially Riso is an automated screen printing process that uses colours and stencils to create vibrant prints. In my research above I made some notes about the technical process. This is the printing style I have decided to go with. I want to use this module to explore a new technique so it is the ideal time to try Riso. Also it’s a quicker and more cost effective process than screen printing so I can produce more prints.

Pen: I wanted to combine the printing with pen, specifically a biro or fine liner. The pen will be used to add details and shading to the characters/ scenes. I’m not exactly sure at this point how I’ll combine the two mediums. Working with pen is something I’ve done a lot before and it’s one of my favourite mediums to work with. Below are some notes on my ideas for what styles of mark making I will incorporate into my project work:

Here are a range of possible mark making styles I could use in my illustrations. The ones highlighted in green are ones I’d like to use. I plan to combine different techniques in order to make the shading more interesting and varied.

These are some examples of my previous pen work showing a range of different shading techniques including linear hatching, cross hatching, contour, cross contour and stippling:

These are a range of artworks, primarily based around Norse mythology, which uses these styles of shading and line work that I can take inspiration from:

Project development:
Here is my latest plan for the project:

Some notes on making a creative portfolio that I can use and take into my own portfolio that I’ll be making at the end of this project. Some of the key points where using 2-3 fonts and colours, varying text size, weight and colour for emphasis and maintaining a visual hierarchy.

Here is my latest plan for the essay:









































































































































