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To progress my visuals I wanted to know specifically what ants eat, to show a realistic representation of a worker ant

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Researching for the narrative, I was trying the idea of the worker ants routine as they have the same, sleep, eat and work routine as many humans do. I learnt that they even stretch before getting out of bed. Can I illustrate the working ants daily routine in a way that appeals to children?

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The day and life of these marvelous creatures , humbles me as I learned that they can teach and inspire all of us . If you look inside any nest you are in come in contact to what appears to be an alien or ancient civilization! The boiling mass of worker ants beneath an upturned stone is both strange

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Starting of me research the basic way, 20 weird fact about ants. Unfortunately many of these were quite morbid such as them burying their dead, but I also found out that worker ants produce a scent trail when they navigate to help the rest follow the trail.

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Ants probably aren’t the first thing you think of when you think of weird insects. Let’s see if we can change your mind about that.

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Mind mapping ideas for ants, using my research I added some visuals to see what I preferred. At this point I am very lost and confused of what narrative and visuals to do but I like the worker and routine idea.

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More about ants, I really wanted to know some interesting, weird things about them in hope I would find inspiration. I liked the idea that their nests are miles wide and mostly underground. A world underground we don’t see might be interesting to illustrate

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Check out our ten favourite facts about ants that are guaranteed to blow your mind...

1. There are over 12,000 ant species worldwide

Ranging from the ant you might find scuttling across your picnic to the ants building underground fortresses in the rainforest, to flying ants!

2. The bullet ant is said to have the most painful sting in the world!

Living in humid jungle conditions such as the Amazon, their sting has been compared to being hit by a bullet - ouch!

3. Fire ants cause over £3 billion worth of damage a year!

North America's red imported fire ant might only be little, but the tiny critters have a painful bite which causes a burning sensation - hence the name "fire ant", which costs the US millions in veterinary and medical bills every year! They've also been known to cause damage to farmer's crops.

4. Ants are the longest living insects

Unlike some bugs who might only live for days or even hours, the queen ant of one particular species - the Pogonomyrmex Owyheei - can live up to 30 years - so be careful not to stand on her!

5. The ant is one of the world's strongest creatures in relation to its size

A single ant can carry 50 times its own bodyweight, and they'll even work together to move bigger objects as a group!

Ants carry leaves and twigs back to their nests!

6. Ants hold the record for the fastest movement in the animal kingdom

The aptly named species of trap jaw ant, can close its jaws at 140mph, which it uses to kill its prey or injure predators. Image if that bit you on the bum!

7. Ants can be found on every single continent except Antarctica

Ironic really, when you consider the name...

8. Ants are social insects which live in colonies

The colony, also called a formicary, is made up of one or more egg-laying queens and a large amount of female "worker" ants who tend to her, build and maintain the nest, forage for food and and care for the young.

Male ants have wings and their only function is to mate with the queen.

9. Ants don't have ears, and some of them don't have eyes!

Ants "listen" by feeling vibrations from the ground through their feet, and eye-less ants such as the driver ant species can communicate by using their antennae!

Plus, they can send chemical signals (called pheremones) released through their body to send messages to other ants! They send out warnings when danger's near, leave trails of pheremones leading to food sources and even use them to attract a mate - a sort of ant love potion!

10. The largest ant's nest ever found was over 3,700 miles wide!

Found in Argentina in 2000, the ginormous colony housed 33 ant populations which had merged into one giant supercolony, with millions of nests and billions of workers!

Images ⓒ Getty Images: Ants on leaf (483596365), Ant carrying leaf (157168347).

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10 cool facts about ants! - National Geographic Kids

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They may be small, but boy are these little critters powerful! These cool ant facts for kids are the perfect way to learn about these incredible little creatures...

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https://www.pestworld.org/news-hub/pest-articles/8-interesting-facts-about-ants/

Ant can lift up to 50x their body weight (weightlifting ants?), exclusively female (feminism?) still playing with ideas and narrative

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Client talks

Unfortunately although I took many notes on this talk, I used the same canvas on procreate for my visuals and changed the canvas size to fit the smaller specifications, thus delating most of my notes. Thankfully it is all on moodle.

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Ants daily life’s and different jobs. In this image I have drawn bedrooms, a dining room, office and at the top is the queen. Other ants (blobs) are in the tunnels. I decided to do a green background for an earth, calming appeal, the objects yellow and the ants blue for contrast. I was aiming to make this piece more detailed and earthy by adding layers of texture.

This was a very basic plan of an idea I was developing but did not commit to because it didn’t inspire me. Maybe I can show how the tunnels are underground? Some overground design?

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After adding basic overground details I still don’t like the idea. The colours are to bland and dull and I feel to make thick idea better is would have to add character appeal to the ants which I am not inspired enough to do for this image. I feel the narrative is too basic to stand out

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Planning for the different terrains, an ants journey is an idea I prefer over their jobs, i like the idea of showing the ants journey in alternate habitats, as there are found everywhere in the world.

These brief sketches were draw and painted in my sketchbook as I wanted the free, calming element of watercolours, and I, unusually, I was reaching for more traditional ways of working that day. These images too around 30 mins to do, and it was quite a nice change to use something other than digital.

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Perspective will make my piece feel more magical and interactive as mentioned by my tutor, i really enjoy experimenting with perspective so I went outside and took photos from the ground to use a reference.

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I like this picture because of the leaves on the ground, it really feels like you’re an ant or a child laying on the ground. I like how vibrant the leaves are compared to the tree, and the green/oranges are a nice contrast. I will continue to reference these images as i do my illustration.

Unfortunately i don’t have any lakes around me so I wasn’t able to take pictures for the lake scene.

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How do I want the ants to look? Do I want them detailed or simple? I like the look of the blue and green more that the pink

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Time lapse video of my drawing process

I first wanted to draw a can to show big vs. small but I felt this was a weak narrative so I changed to the working ant getting food.

I wasn’t sure on the narrative at this point so I continued drawing when I felt inspired in the hope that the narrative would come eventually.

After drawing the apple, ant ladybird I thought about the story of a hard working ant and fun loving ladybird, and how their lives intertwine (I then changed to a snail because I felt the slower pace of a snail worked better with the narrative).

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As suggested by my tutor, the show the scale of the object compared to the insects, drawing off the page could suggest this and stimulate the viewers imagination. I feel this adds more perspective and supports my narrative, but I don’t like the cake. I prefer the apple and cucumbers.

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This was the first mock up for the double page spread. I felt this looked very flat and I didn’t like the lack of detail, overall I just didn’t like the piece at all. After talking with my peers and my tutor I realised I was thinking too much of what a child would like, and not being true to my own vision. In reality, children love visually stimulating things and the anorak magazine is bought by adults who enjoy art. I wanted to feel as though this was my own art and not something purely for a brief, otherwise I would end up disliking the outcome so I decided to change a lot about it.

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I printed out my illustration because I wanted to see how the vibrant colour would look through printing with primary colours. As suggested by my tutor the colours look more dull compared to the digital version. I think the best way to fix this is by adding more depth and contrast? Maybe experimenting more with muted tones perhaps.

I also used this print to expose what I need to work on to make the image better.

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Mock up of how the illustration would look in a book, I like how the details lay in the pages and will keep the layout the same, but will change essentially the rest of it.

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After making the Timelapse video the notes were saved

I felt more inclined to the arts connect and anorak at this time, but decided on anorak due to my want to illustrate a children’s book for the next project. I feel that a professional connection would help this, and the feedback/ practice would be beneficial.

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At the Young V&A I felt very inspire by this book specifically due to the art style and the way text is used in a cohesive way, the text is part of the art and feel natural, not at all out of place. I will take inspiration for this and explore how to use text to support my illustration.

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i found this trip inspiring as it took my back to childhood, and was creatively stimulating.

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This trip was also a great way to embrace the inner child and act like a kid again, when me and my friends found the interactive exhibits we could help ourselves. I feel that one of the best ways to understand what a child likes is to remember what it was like to be one, and acting like one is fun too.

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Using a paper window to take picture of our surroundings, we found inspiring objects/ environments to focus our attention on.

When looking at these images I wanted to use a vibrant colour pallet and be playful in the hope it would inspire some more idea about my illustration. This workshop helped to allow my creativity flow when it comes to colour, because a lot of the images I took were quite industrial. It forces me to find joy and novelty in the mundane which I this is very important for my theme of finding happiness in the small things.

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This workshop was also about taking pictures related to our project. I found a beetle on the studio floor, pot plants in a caffe and some perspective shots from a walk I went on later in the day. Again playing with colour, I think I will use a similar colour pallet for my final pieces.

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Using sketches and images, and different drawing mediums we made collages.

Number 1/10 we were given 30 mins to create non linear, randomised imagery on postcards. By removing the use of chronological working, I was able to be more loose and creative with my mark making/ colour use. However, I found this activity very difficult as I consistently seem to have a critical mindset toward my work, and like to spend more time on one thing at a time, getting out of that mindset was the most challenging part of this exercise. I feel the middle collage is the most successful as it has a cohesive narrative and colour pallet, the line work is clearer than the rest. The collage I liked the least is the blue and yellow, I think it is obvious I was struggling with creative flow and it feels too jumbled and random (although this exercise was to practice this and forgo the perfectionist mindset).

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We worked on finding a way to portray narrative in a non-linear, chronological order. I did this by drawing the process of an apple rotting on one side of the paper, and a seed growing on the other. Then, tearing the segments apart and sticking them together in a way that when you look from one angle it shows growth, and the other direction, decay. Although I don’t think this workshop helped my narrative, I feel it helped me to look at narrative in general in a different way, and that the process of creative imagery can be very individual. I found looking at others creations very interesting also.

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Figuring out my own voice in this project was a challenge. I felt the need to create something I viewed a child would like, finding myself simplifying the illustration too much, muting the tones I usually use and finding out I actually hated what I’d created. As seen in the image I disliked many things about it and wanted to change the majority, primarily focussing on the colour pallet and detailing. The illustration needs more depth and details, lighting and focal points.

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I formatted the illustration into a drawing of a book to see what it would look like, and added the poem.

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A time lapse showing the process of trying to find a landscape idea I felt inspire by, I am leaning towards the lake scene. I started with a sky colour background to get be going (I find which backgrounds too stark and overwhelming to start drawing onto) and draw coloured lines to show the perspective I wanted to portray the scene in, then added the basic shapes and adding details. I tend to work like this because it makes it easier for me to continue working and not feel too pressured about the outcome when I start simple.

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I wanted to create a lake scene navigating the journey of an ant, I want it to be during sunset/rise and the water reflecting the light. The pink line is where the ants will be in the image, travelling from lily pad to the other side of the river.

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Habitat planning, what scene do I want the ants to be places in when it comes to my narrative? How can I make this interesting and unique?

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The dessert scape I roughly drew, I didn’t like the colours or composition, the narrative was unclear so I chose to not follow through with this. If i were to continue i would have warmed the tones and added more purples/pinks for the shadows instead of green/blue, it makes the desert looks too much like grass in my opinion.

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After changing colour pallet, a chunk missing from the apple, more perspective and lighting I feel a bit happier with how this piece is coming along, it feels more like my own art instead of purely just for a brief. I’m glad I figured a way to embrace the structure of the brief while making something I feel inspired by.

I will add the poem and more depth and see where it goes, the idea is to keep adding and subtracting until I am happy to show the client.

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Client feedback showing.

Exhibiting a paragraph describing our work, designs, narrative work and our outcome, we got feedback via post it notes and from the client. I felt happy about what I was showing and was hoping for good feedback to help me decide what to do next/ how to better my work.

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Student feedback.

I was very happy to get so much helpful and supportive feedback from my peers, their insight is always something I look forward to. I was glad to know they overall enjoyed my illustration and the poem, but I was told that the general colour gave a melancholy feel to the image which was not what I was going for. I will be working on this to create a more fun and joyful feel as well.

The print was not a vibrant as I would have liked as it muted the colour and made it colder compared to my digital version. Net time I will text the prints and be more conscientious of this.

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Client feedback.

I really appreciated getting Cathy’s feedback and was glad that t]she seemed to like the narrative and colour palette. As my peers said, the colours seemed too cold and it overwhelmed the image making it too dark and quite lifeless.

I spoke to Cathy afterwards and she told me she liked the character designs and wanted me to add more into the work as it wasn’t enough for the final print, I will work on structuring my image more in regards to the text as well.

Overall, I’m glad I got feedback from everyone, and felt inspired by the beautiful illustrations from others as well, but felt a bias disheartened that Cathy didn’t like my work as much as I’d hoped. This being said, I feel that even if my work isn’t cohesive with Anorak’s vision, I am still enjoying the process and it is valuable experience.

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Iteration

As stated, I find it very important to improve my work based on other feedback. And from the feedback I got, i made iterations of my illustration.

I worry though I have spent too much time and attention on the Ant and Snail illustration and not enough on the Lake scene.

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formatting the text into the art, have I left enough space? I don’t was the text to take away from the imagery so maybe a lighter colour, and whimsical font?

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Text formatting.

In hindsight i feel i left the text too late, and found the process quite stressful due to deadlines.

I played with the position of the text, font and colour a few times on the Ant and Snail image before realising it made more sense to split the poem in half and add another sentence onto the Lake scene, making both cohesive together. I struggled a lot finding the right words to end the poem so my tutor helped me, and afterwards it felt more balanced and true to the narrative.

I feel that I work best under pressure most of the time, and it usually work out for me, but these last minute decisions can also be make or break for the piece Im working on. I will be using my time more wisely next project as this is not a productive way to work for me and i need to be more aware of all aspects of the illustration i am doing. Maybe I will make more lists and callenders to keep track of this in the future

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Time lapse of the whole drawing process of the Lake scene, the ants journey.

At last minute a felt the two pieces weren’t visually cohesive due to the colour pallet i was using, so i changed the tones on this piece to be more similar to each other. I feel this helped the piece come together and gave it a more whimsical appeal, but i would add flecks of light in the foreground if I were to continue working on it as the Ant and Snail image has this effect, and it would make them appear more as one story not two separate art pieces.

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Time lapse of the whole drawing process of The Ambitious Ant and Silly Snail.

If i were to continue with this piece i would have added more texture and definition to he leaves and cucumber, and perhaps change the colour of the snails to be similar to the lake scene snail. Overall i am happy with Ohio’s this turned out, but think I prioritised this piece over the other too much, it is quite apparent to me the time difference i spent on both. This piece overall took me about 40 hours to complete.