Matilda Project by Niko-Rae Rust (RUS21000083)

The Brief

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 10:21:17 UTC

For this project we need to create visuals to be used as backdrops for the performing arts students when they perform the songs 'When I Grow Up' and 'Revolting Children' from the Matilda musical. As I focus on character design I decided to go with children in school uniforms doing things children are expected to be seen doing. Riding their bikes to and from school, playing on playground equipment, anything directly school related. I went on pinterest to search for photograph references and experimented with different ways I could bring my visuals to life.

My Pinterest Board

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 10:48:34 UTC

I decided to go with children riding bikes, playing on the swings and playing on slides. Character design is what I'm more experienced in so I wanted to find things that involved characters actually using the equipment.

:)

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 11:58:09 UTC

This is where I wrote down all my ideas for things I could draw or simply write down the words but in creative ways.

Monoprinting

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:09:01 UTC

This image of the swing set and the one after this of the playground slide were made by monoprinting. This is the first image I created by tracing a real life photo of some swings.

Swing Sketch

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:09:45 UTC

I have never drawn characters on a swing before, but I knew I really wanted to have this as a final piece. I found some reference photos on pinterest and gave it a go using some of my original characters.

More Sketch

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:10:05 UTC

This is another practice photo.

Final Piece Sketching

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:10:19 UTC

I wanted the final piece for this idea to be two kids playing on the swings - one pushing and one swinging. I didn't want it to look like they were just sitting on the swings looking at each other, so I searched for a photo of a child pushing another child. I didn't like the way the child sitting on a swing looked, I couldn't get the proportions right, so I abandoned that idea and looked for a different image.

Sketch

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:10:33 UTC

I eventually settled on this image, I think this one looks like he's actually on a swing, the seat I struggle with, and I think I should make it look like he's more in the air, but overall I think this sketch works well for the final piece.

Sketch

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:10:45 UTC

This is the sketch for the child pushing the swing. I couldn't figure out how to draw the hands properly and the face looks strange but I figured I'd leave it and fix it in the full sketch.

Sketching

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:11:02 UTC

Here is were I put the sketch of the girl and the boy together, to see if I could get it to actually work together and figure out proportions and spacing.

Lineart

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:11:18 UTC

After taking notes on what needed to be different on the previous sketch I put it all together in detail, moving them around where needed and adding in the background. I left it without colour as I took a picture of this so I could trace over the outline on my ipad to do the final piece digitally.

Boy's Uniform

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:14:53 UTC

Girls Uniform (Skirt)

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:15:05 UTC

Cross-Hatching

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:15:18 UTC

This image was made using a black biro. My original idea for this picture was to use watercolour, but I'm not too confident with them so I opted for crosshatching instead. I like how this turned out, but I feel like it's just too dark, especially as I'm aiming for a slightly more childish design to fit the theme.

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:15:32 UTC

I used some graphic markers and oil pencils to colour this one, I do like how it turned out but I still need more practice drawing my characters on bikes, mainly in the arm and leg area.

Scoot Scoot

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:15:49 UTC

I wanted to see how it would look with one of my characters on a scooter instead of a bike but I think the bike looks better as there's more detail.

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:16:10 UTC

In this idea I have my two characters, James (the girl - trans) and Jacob (the boy), next to each other. I imagined the background for this one to be full of vegetation, lots of bushes and trees. I think it would look good at sunset, with some long grass blurred out in front of them. I feel like this one would be good for the final piece.

Girl's Uniform (Dress)

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:16:24 UTC

Watercolour

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:16:36 UTC

I wanted to give colouring a character with watercolour a try and I don't mind how it turned out. Definitely not going to do this again because I'm not sure how to go about adding any proper detail. This image also served as some uniform concept art, instead of short shirt sleeves I went with long, and instead of using greys I opted for a purple dress. While I do like it, I think I'll stick to the grey, especially as it fits the theme for the musical.

Watercolour

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:16:59 UTC

I'm usually really bad with watercolour, and definitely bad at drawing trees, but I wanted to give both a go. I do enjoy using watercolour, though I can never get the image to turn out good. But for this one, I actually think I did quite well. It made me think of another final piece I could do: I was thinking doing the full tree with either a normal wooden-seated swing or a tyre swing hanging off one of the branches. I'm not sure about adding characters, as I didn't use a sketch for this.

Pencil Colour

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:17:19 UTC

I'm not sure I like how this one turned out after colouring. Usually I use pencils for small details after using Ohuhu markers or watercolour; using them for colouring an entire piece I'm not sure I'm a fan on. I do want to try something with pencils still, and I do have an idea in mind, however I don't think the entire piece will be just pencils alone.

Crosshatching

rus21000083 — 2024-09-20 12:17:36 UTC

This one was made using a black gel pen. This is one of the first images I made and one of (if not the) first time drawing a bike, especially with a character interacting with it. I do like the small pop of colour made with a pink highlighter and I like that I added a background for this one, although once again I do think it would work better with bright colours.

The Final Piece

rus21000083 — 2024-09-25 08:22:18 UTC

I actually love how this turned out in the end. I used procreate on my ipad and it might be one of my favourite things I've created on here. I tried something new with this piece, making the colours more vibrant and adding the white flecks for the sun light. I was able to add red lines under the plasters on the boy's cheeks to make it look like a fresh cut and I was able to add grass stains on the girl's knee.

Overall I'm really happy with this final piece, and I think for my next one I might go digital too.

Ohuhu Markers

rus21000083 — 2024-09-25 08:28:25 UTC

I was really considering using this as a final piece, but I think I ruined that by adding in the background. Making outdoor backgrounds with markers is a lot harder for me than I hoped, so I'm planning on making a second piece with the alcohol markers and a piece digitally to see which I prefer. I might end up using both.

Exploring

rus21000083 — 2024-09-26 10:16:54 UTC

As well as trying different methods, I also wanted to try new ideas different to the ones I originally had at the start of the project. My original ideas are children playing on swings, riding bikes and potentially playing on a slide. However, as the project went on I started to think about drawing children doing more school related things, as well as other things you'd expect to see a child doing. This is what this section is for.

rus21000083 — 2024-09-26 10:19:57 UTC

Here I decided to draw my two characters (Jacob and Harley(James)) hiding under a table away from their teacher. I think it's a cute idea, but if I'm going to keep going with this plan then I think I should practice drawing the position they're sitting in.

rus21000083 — 2024-09-26 10:21:24 UTC

This was the original idea I had before creating the image of the characters hiding under the desk. A child sat against the wall surrounded by books reading. This idea I actually really like and I think I'm going to try to find some reference photos to take this idea further.

3D

rus21000083 — 2024-09-26 10:24:53 UTC

For this I was given a cardboard box, given a variety of materials and the rest was up to me. As I'd been focusing on children on bikes at the time I wanted to create an outdoor scene. I really did not enjoy this as I find 3D very difficult. The tree in the right corner was not made by me it was made by my tutor Sam.

Bike Practice

rus21000083 — 2024-09-27 08:20:00 UTC

I still want to do something with characters on bikes, and I know I need more practice with both drawing the bike itself and drawing the characters interacting with them. I decided to start with drawing the bikes on their own; I still need some practice with the wheels, I either can't get them to look quite right when the wheels are at an angle or I don't do the wheels big enough and they end up looking squashed.

Final Idea?

rus21000083 — 2024-09-27 08:20:17 UTC

In this sketch I drew the same two characters, Jacob and Harley, holding hands with their backs to the 'viewer'. I really like how this turned out, and it gave me the idea to create a small comic about little moments in these two's lives when they were young. I thought about creating the two of them meeting for the first time, Jacob cooking with his mum, Harley getting Jacob into 'trouble' at school.

About My Research

rus21000083 — 2024-09-27 09:07:00 UTC

This is the Research in Art task.

Uniform Ideas

rus21000083 — 2024-09-27 09:24:46 UTC

Based on what I saw from the two music videos ('When I Grow Up' and 'Revolting Children') I decided to go with an all grey school uniform. Both uniforms have to wear a white short-sleeve button-up shirt with a striped tie and knee-high white socks.

The boys have a dark grey jumper where the girls have a cardigan in the same colour. Boys wear light grey shorts most of the year while girls can choose between a skirt or a dress of the same grey as the shorts. Boys have a pair of smart lace up shoes and the girls have shiny black Velcro strap shoes. On cold or rainy days the boys can opt for a pair of trousers and the girls can opt for woolly tights instead of socks. Both can choose to wear rain boots on rainy or snowy days as long as they bring their regular shoes for indoors.

~Plan~

rus21000083 — 2024-09-27 10:07:54 UTC

Like I said under the Testing New Ideas section Final Idea? post I'm going to create at least one short comic using the characters Jacob and Harley that I've been using throughout this entire project. My first comic will be about how the two met. I always thought they'd meet at a local park, and from there they'd become inseparable. I was thinking of doing this one traditionally, using either Ohuhu markers, pencil, or water colour. Or potentially a mix of all three. I have considered doing this digitally, but I do want to try the traditional approach first. I might choose to do a few panels digitally, perhaps some panels that I like more than others and want to give more love and detail to.

Monoprinting

rus21000083 — 2024-09-27 10:13:31 UTC

This was the second creation made with monoprint. I had again traced over a real life photo for the playground slide. I'm proud of how this one came out much more than I like the swing set. I feel like this one is more detailed than the last. I enjoyed making these, and I would like to make something of my own using monoprint, however I don't think it's something I would use for a final piece on this project.

Revolting Children

rus21000083 — 2024-09-27 10:19:21 UTC

When I Grow Up

rus21000083 — 2024-09-27 10:20:03 UTC

Testers

rus21000083 — 2024-10-02 09:02:46 UTC

I re-drew one of the characters from one of the comic panels to test various ways of colouring in the comic as a whole. This one was made using coloured Pencils; colouring in the skin was difficult as if I held the pencil at a certain angle it would leave weird red lines in places, however I actually think it worked in my favour as it only happened on the legs - it gives the character the look of a young girl who plays a little too rough at the park, which definitely fits her personality. I also think the Pencils work well for colouring the dress, it's an orange to green gradient and while it's not perfect, I don't think it looks too bad.

Testers.

rus21000083 — 2024-10-02 09:05:39 UTC

This tester was a bit more challenging to do, I didn't have access to my usual graphic markers when I coloured it in, so I didn't have the right skin tone, hair colour, eye colour, or just a variety in general. The colour of the dress was difficult to blend, I'll need to test it with the markers I use at home as well. If that doesn't look any better, however, then I'm thinking if I use markers for the comic, when colouring her dress I use the Pencils?

rus21000083 — 2024-10-03 10:19:40 UTC

In this sketch I'm trying to figure out how to do the pose I had in mind for the last big panel for this mini comic. It was really difficult and I couldn't really find anything on Pinterest that looked anything close to what I had in mind. Jacob's pose wasn't too hard, the most I struggled with for him was the leg placement. Harley, on the other hand, was the one I was having the most trouble with. I this one she's too far away from Jacob and it makes her arm look impossibly long. I need to draw them closer together for it to work.

rus21000083 — 2024-10-03 10:21:25 UTC

While this sketch is better than the previous one, I was still having trouble with Harley's arm placement. I was also struggling to make the legs look right as they were so close together. I really love the concept I have for this though, and I really wanted to try to make it work. I did eventually get it right in the final piece however, just took a couple trail and errors.

Sketches for the Final Piece

rus21000083 — 2024-10-03 10:23:28 UTC

In the image above I have sketched out two of the panels from the last page of the comic.

The Start Of It All - Page One

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:04:16 UTC

The Start Of It All Page Two

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:04:39 UTC

The Start Of It All Page Three

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:04:52 UTC

The Start Of It All Page Four

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:05:07 UTC

Storyboarding Page One

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:05:52 UTC

Storyboarding Page Two

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:06:05 UTC

I think for this one I will need to throw in a bit more practice of Harley stood next to her bike instead of actually being on it this time.

Storyboarding Page Three

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:06:19 UTC

I'll also need some practice drawing Harley shrugging her shoulders.

Storyboarding Page Four

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:06:31 UTC

I'm really looking forward to creating this comic, especially this specific image, I can't wait to see it in detail and colour. I'm thinking of also creating this specific creation alone as a digital piece.

Comic Review

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:25:33 UTC

I am super proud of how this piece turned out. I didn't expect it to turn out as well as it has, or for me to even finish it. I fully expected me to get annoyed with the idea and decide on something else for my final piece. I do think I should have used coloured pencils for Harley's dress though, it didn't blend as well as I'd hoped with the markers.

When I do my line art I use a black gel pen as I've noticed they don't bleed with the Ohuhu markers I use for colouring. Throughout making this comic I used two different brands. One brand worked amazing with the pens I used and the watercolour I used for the background didn't make the ink run. The other brand on the other hand, while it held up well with the markers, it bled when the watercolour touched the lines. It didn't ruin the images, but it's definitely annoying. At least now I know which pen is the neatest to use when I make the second comic.

Materials Used:

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:32:28 UTC

For this comic I used the paper from my Ohuhu sketch book (paper made for alcohol-based markers).

For colouring in the characters I used my Ohuhu markers and some pencils for little details, mainly adding blush to the face, shoulders and knees.

I used fineliners in a darker colour to the original eye colour to give them pupils, and a fine tip white posca pen to add in the highlights.

Some of the lineart was made using a black Wilko brand gel pen (the best one that didn't bleed at all), and the rest was done with a black Papermate brand gel pen (the one that bled from the watercolour).

And finally, the background was made using watercolour.

~Plan~

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:38:32 UTC

This is the second final piece I would like to do. It's another comic as I really enjoyed making the first one, and it's accidentally a continuation of the first. I've named it The Big Day as I thought it would be fun to show Jacob and Harley on their way to their first day of school. The illustration of the back of Jacob and Harley holding hands gave me the inspiration for this comic. I envisioned them being stood at the front gates of the school, ready to enter for their first days. I'm going to create it the same way I made the first, watercolour background and marker/pencil for the characters. I already have the story board sketches, I just need to do it again where it's tidy and ready to become the finished piece.

Knocking On The Door

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:45:34 UTC

This is the reference image I used for the scene when Harley knocks on Jacob's front door.

Knocking On The Door

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:46:38 UTC

This is the illustration made using the reference photo above. I'd say this was quite helpful, I had an idea of how this would look but I feel like without the photo it wouldn't have turned out quite as accurate.

Riding A Bike

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:51:26 UTC

This is the reference photo I used for the large part of an image with a young girl on her bike. I had to use a second photo however to add training wheels to the bike.

Riding A Bike

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 08:52:00 UTC

This is the finished piece after using the reference above. It was definitely helpful as at the time (and still currently, to be honest) I was struggling to draw bikes, there was no way I'd have been able to do this without a photo.

How To Keep Safe

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 13:01:57 UTC

When you're in the studio, you must remember to keep your surroundings a safe space for you and other students.

Keep The Floor Tidy

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 13:06:14 UTC

Be sure to keep the floor around you tidy! If you have a bag, either hang it on the back of your chair or keep it tucked under the table away from any walking spaces.

Avoid Spillages

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 13:09:10 UTC

If you're painting, or even simply have a drink on your desk, be careful not to spill! If you do, clean it up immediately. Do not leave it to do later or for someone else to clean up. Someone could slip and be severely injured.

Quentin Blake

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 13:17:55 UTC

Here I found some images of Quentin Blake's artwork.

Where Is It?

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 13:23:07 UTC

I didn't actually use Quentin Blake's art as inspiration for any of the things I created. While I love the style he uses, it doesn't match my own, and I didn't want to change the way I draw or create my art just for this project. However I might take some inspiration from his work based on how he colours things in, it looks as though he uses watercolour; I think I'll use that technique when making my own backgrounds during any traditional work I may do. They seem to be relatively basic, not overly detailed, so I should be able to replicate his style in my own work.

So Close

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 13:49:28 UTC

At first I thought this one was going well, but then I realised that Harley is much bigger than the bike. It's annoying because I really like the pose, I think I actually got the leg placement right for once, and the bike wasn't going too bad either, but them both together isn't right. I want to re-do this exact drawing so I can try and get the bike to be the right size.

Way Off

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 14:10:49 UTC

Unlike the previous illustration, in this sketch the bike is definitely too big and Harley is way too small. I can't find a single reference image to use of a young kid stood next to their bike. I might have to try google instead, but if that fails I'm going to have to either abandon this idea or practice for the next 5 more pages.

Practicing

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 14:14:29 UTC

I need to get some practice in for Harley shrugging her shoulders and standing next to her bike. Below will be some sketches I do trying to perfect those.

FOUND IT

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 14:21:14 UTC

This is the exact idea I had in my head when I wanted to create the panel of Harley. Now that I've found it I may need to draw it once or twice to make sure I actually know how to, then I can get started on practicing Harley shrugging her shoulders.

Reference Photo

rus21000083 — 2024-10-04 14:23:37 UTC

This is the reference photo I'm going to use for Harley. It looks a little blurry around the hands though so hopefully I'll be able to draw her hands accurately.

rus21000083 — 2024-10-08 09:57:08 UTC

I still need to work on her face and the wheels, but I've found the right reference image, and I think it all looks good proportion wise and I'm ready to add it to the second comic for my final piece.

rus21000083 — 2024-10-08 10:20:32 UTC

I like the way this turned out, I don't think I'll need to practice this one as much as I'd thought. In this one I have drawn the hands too big, but that should be an easy fix when I draw it into the final piece.

The Big Day Page One

rus21000083 — 2024-10-09 13:42:29 UTC

The Big Day Page Two

rus21000083 — 2024-10-09 13:42:51 UTC

The Big Day Page Three

rus21000083 — 2024-10-09 13:43:12 UTC

The Big Day Page Four

rus21000083 — 2024-10-09 13:43:35 UTC

Materials Used:

rus21000083 — 2024-10-09 13:44:15 UTC

For this comic I used the paper from my Ohuhu sketch book (paper made for alcohol-based markers).

For colouring in the characters I used my Ohuhu markers and some pencils for little details, mainly adding blush to the face, shoulders and knees.

I used a fine tip white posca pen to add in the highlights.

The line art was made using a black Wilko brand gel pen.

And finally, the background was made using watercolour.

Comic Review

rus21000083 — 2024-10-09 13:47:39 UTC

While I do love how this one turned out, I much prefer the first comic. Especially for the backgrounds. There wasn't much I could think of adding for them other than the sky so the comic on certain pages doesn't look like there's much happening, it almost looks like I got bored and did the bare minimum. That wasn't my intention, I just couldn't think of what to do with the empty space. I'm also not too pleased with the way the front door turned out. I love the design for the door, but using black watercolour is much harder than every other colour - it's a lot more patchy than I'd like, and I forgot to add in faint black lines to give the door more detail / a wooden look.

Responsibility

rus21000083 — 2024-10-10 07:55:01 UTC

Here is what I know about being a responsible Illustrations student regarding Ethics and Sociability.

How I Fixed My Issues

rus21000083 — 2024-10-10 08:20:32 UTC

How I Feel About This Project Overall

rus21000083 — 2024-10-10 09:06:48 UTC

rus21000083 — 2024-10-10 09:06:54 UTC

I would also like to add that I struggled with the writing and research aspects of this project. I never really knew what to write, even with all the help I got, both in person and with the templates. As for the research, other than looking for reference photos, I'm unsure on whether I was able to meet the requirements needed for the research. The artist research was especially difficult, as I don't really think there were any artists I took inspiration from, I just draw in a style that I've developed over the years. I did add some research on Quentin Blake, but to be honest that was mainly for the purpose of getting that section out of the way, and also because this project was initially based on Matilda it only made sense he should appear on this padlet somewhere. I might go back and add some research on Kohei Horikoshi; now that I think about it I have been inspired by him for the way he draws children, bigger eyes, rounder faces and bigger ears than the way you'd typically draw adults, and I can see myself subconsciously taking those ideas and adding it to the way I've drawn them myself.

The Songs

rus21000083 — 2024-10-10 09:13:54 UTC

In this section I've added the two songs, When I Grow Up and Revolting Children, as these were the videos this project is based on. They were the original inspiration. I personally took inspiration for the school uniforms from the music video for Revolting Children, and the children riding their bikes to school from the music video When I Grow Up.

Kohei Horikoshi

rus21000083 — 2024-10-10 09:19:23 UTC

I didn't realise this until I'd finished the project, but I've taken inspiration from the artist/creator of the manga and anime series My Hero Academia. When he draws children, their head shape is more round compared to older characters, their eyes are also bigger. I've never intentionally done this, but the way I draw children is similar to the way Horikoshi draws them too. I feel that I've taken inspiration subconsciously, because I don't think I noticed myself drawing similar to him in this aspect until I'd read a few books from the manga series.

One More Thing

rus21000083 — 2024-10-10 09:27:10 UTC

I also want to point out the problem I've had in uploading my comic final pieces. As I've done them traditionally, I've had to take pictures of them and upload them on here. In doing that, taking a picture of the images takes away a bit of the colour and the brightness the original image actually has. I truly hope that doesn't impact my grade in any way, as I'm not sure how I'd be able to get around this issue without just doing all my artwork digitally, which is not something I want, I want to be able to show the variety in my work of the different materials.