ART219 Illustration

Book Cover Illustration

If you haven't already read one of the following books, do so quickly. You are illustrating the cover artwork for a dust jacket on a hard cover book, a CD Audio Book and iTunes Cover art. These are classic books and the cover art has been done numerous times, so give me something fresh that has shelf appeal.

Project Specs:

• 4-color Illustration.
• Dust Jacket Cover Size (w/bleed): 6.25 x 9.25, CD: 5.25 x 5.25, iTunes Art: 3 x 3.
• You are applying your illustration into an overall cover design. Allow for the title of the book and the author in the composition of the cover illustration. Look at some dust cover designs for ideas. Trip to Hastings?
• Media is wide open.
• Final designs for the three devices will be printed and mounted individually.

Choose from the following list:

• Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury (NEW)
• Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger (NEW)
• War of the Worlds - H. G. Wells (NEW)
• The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
• The Call of the Wild - Jack London
• Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
• The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
• Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
• Lord of the Flies - William Golding
• 1984 - George Orwell
• Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
• The Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane
• The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

Timeline:

November 28: 5 thumbnail pencil sketches of one chosen book

December 2: Color marker comp

December 7: Final art approval

December 12: Final printouts

December 16: Pick up printouts

Final Portfolio

I wanted to get this posted so you know what to focus your attention on. Remember, you can rework anything on the following list to submit to your portfolio. So, if your illustration didn't turn out well the first time you worked on it, you have another stab at it.

Post Mid-term assignments to select from:

1. Lincoln Competition
2. Number Five
3. Life and Death
4. Society of Illustrators
5. Classical Music Cover Art
6. Native American Heritage Month
7. World Record
8. Book Cover Art

The final portfolio should include four of the eight assignments - that's only 50% for you to have nailed perfectly. So, these portfolios should really be bad-a$#. I want your selections posted on your blog with reflection and comments, a final art high-res .pdf of your selections and a mounted printout turned in on our final. Yes, if you haven't reprinted something better than what you originally printed and turned in, you can use the original printout. Your grade is in your hands. I have the final portfolio weighted at 65% of your final grade. Mid-term portfolio is 25% and your blog is 10%.

It's a new world record

New assignment time! The assignment is to create a four-color illustration to be used in a two-page magazine article spread. The article is about World Records and the people who attempt and manage to set them. So, this is an editorial illustration and should have visual stopping power to keep the magazine reader from just flipping on past the article. I will show some examples of this assignment in class tomorrow. As the art director for this magazine, I am looking for some creatively interpreted imagery related to some world record.

Specs for the assignement:

Magazine size: 9 x 12 inches - you have a choice for a full-bleed, one page illustration or a full-bleed, two page illustration. Pick your poison.

Imagery topic is your choice - do some research and find a world record to visualize. You cannot use any photographic reference - ask me on Friday and I will explain.

Timeline for the assignment:

November 14: 5 Thumbnail idea/topic sketches - If you can't choose just one topic and have multiple topics - 5 thumbnails for each topic you are interested in doing.

November 16 and 18: Approval or not of marker comp of your illustration: 50% of actual size. Mounted

November 28 and 30: Approval of final arwork of the illustration

December 2: Final printout of the illustration - Mounted

 

This is so Classy!

Here is your new assignment I talked about on Weds and on Friday. You will produce an illustration that will be used at three sizes. This assignement is cover art for an LP (long-play) album, CD and itunes cover art. This is a four-color production. Illustration style, imagery and technique is up to you.

Here is the twist, this is a classical music album. You pick the composer, style or song(s) to base the cover art on. Here is the cliche list: violins, music notes, portraits of Mozart, Beethoven, etc... You get the drift. Do something creative, unique and visually appealing. You might research why a composer did what they did, or if a piece had specific influences, then illustrate something based on your research. No composers/works later than 1900.

Specs:

• LP Size: 12 x 12"
• CD Size: 5.25 x 5.25"
• iTunes Cover art Size: 3 x 3"

Timeline:

• Monday, November 7: 3 thumbnail visual thinking sketches
• Wednesday, November 9: 1 Marker Comp
• Wednesday, November 16: Final Art approval
• Wednesday, November 30: Three printouts to size of LP, CD and itunes. Mount individually on black mat board, 1 inch border.

Fresh pickings from the blogs

Here are some new pics I found on your blogs of successful illustrations on the various assignments: In no particular order... Good job, you made the refrigerator.

Megan Doil: Life and Death

Krsten Henry: Life and Death

Shelby Maggart: Life and Death

Kayla Tuley: Lincoln poster

Tim Cooper: 20 x 30 Watercolor

Alan Waidmann: 20 x 30 Watercolor

Native American Heritage Month

I mentioned this in class on Wednesday, but here is the next assignment. This is an image I need for a promotional poster for events on campus in association with November being Native American Heritage Month.

Here are the specs for the poster. Final poster size is 13 x 19 with bleed. This is an off-set litho printed, 2-color poster - black and one spot color. What does this mean for you as the illustrator of the image? We'll talk on Friday.

Not to say that a concept on this won't help, but this project is dependent upon a striking visual/image to draw readers to the poster information. It has to have visual presence on a bulletin board. Please avoid the standard cliche solutions. I will puke if I see dreamcatchers, feathers, war-bonnets, etc... This image has to be respectful of the culture.

Timeline:

• October 31st: 3 thumbnail idea sketches - make sure you show me three things you want to illustrate regardless of what I select.
• November 2nd: Marker comp for approval. Yes, mounted on black mat board or foamcore - 1 inch border. I will always expect comps to be mounted in the future and may not specify this again.
• November 9th: Final illustration to review
• November 14th: Final printout of illustration/poster design mounted. Ditto on the mounting note above.

Here is the copy for the poster design portion of this assignment:

Final Trim Size: 13 x 19 w/bleed
2 - color - Black and Spot
Final Art production, assembly of poster design must be done in InDesign.

Concept: Open

Poster Copy:

Headline: You may write your own headline relating to your imagery/concept

Native American Heritage Month Events:

Monday, November 7, 2011
Howard Lyons - Musician
Join renowned Howard Lyons for a jam session in the SUB!
8:00 p.m. * Student Union Down Under
Food provided!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Daniel Mandell. Ph.D. - Associate Professor of History
"Shifting Images of Indians and Notions of Race in America: - the emergence of the American romantic notion of Indians and its intersection with developing concepts of race in the North, circa 1790 - 1900
SUB Activities Room : 1:30 p.m.

Thursday, November 10, 2011
Chip Davis - Flintnapper
Chip will demonstrate how stone knives and arrowheads are made
Violette Hall 1146: 1:20 p.m.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Stanley Holder - US Department of Education, Indian Affairs
Will provide an authentic historical and anthropological presentation on Native American culture
Baldwin Hall 349: 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Marcus Brody - Professor of Anthropology; Social Science Department
Slide show presentation on historical photographs of Plains Indians
McClain Hall 208:  1:30 pm

Presented by: Truman State University Multicultural Affairs Center In association with the Missouri Arts Council (MAC Logo)

Back up and running

Well, I can tell registration is in full swing. I haven't blogged lately. I have the mid-term portfolios graded, so remind me to hand out the sheets tomorrow in class. The grades you'll see do not take into consideration any absences that I am tracking. I have them plugged in my software but not tracking yet to the grade. Remember anything above three absenses is 1/3 letter grade off the final grade. The weight of the midterm grade is 25%. The final portfolio is 65% and the blog is 10% of your final grade. So you all need to begin kicking up the quality your output on these remaining assignments that utilize the techniques we worked on in the first half of the semester. Consistancy is important.

Society of Illustrators Poster Illustration

New Illustration assignment.

Size: 16 x 20 final printout, mounted with one inch black border.

Prompt: Need a kick-butt image to be used on the poster side of the Call for Entry direct mailer that the Society of Illustrator's mail out to professional illustrators and students. As the art director and client, I want to see an illustration that will excite participation in this competition. Solid technique and professional quality is a must. What this illustration is and how you do it is up to you. A creative concept would be good. If you have done this project in VCII, you have to have a new concept behind the illustration you are going to produce. You are not designing the poster, just creating the illustration that a designer will use in the design.

5 idea sketches on Monday 24th that I can approve one from. A frigg'n tight color comp to approve is due on Weds 26th and the butt-kicking final illustration to approve is due on Weds., Nov 2. Print-out is due November 7th.

Illustration is Life and Death

At least this one assignment is Life and Death.

Prompt: Visually interpret a life-and-death situation to be executed in two individual pieces/illustrations. Solutions may involve any submect matter, as long as the two separate conditions of live and death are clear.

Final printout size of each illustraion 8 x 10 inches - portrait format. Media is open to any technique/media we have done in class.

Tip: To develop ideas for this problem, try writing a list. The written word often stimulates ideas for visuals.

Timeline:

Comps: I want to see three sets of color concept comps (5 x 7 inch each), mounted for presentation/approval 3, 9 x 13 black mat board or foamcore. Each comp set must be distinclty different from the other. Can be either marker or digital. Due: Monday, Oct 17. Hopefully, I will approve one of the three sets. Make the comps tight so I can tell what you intend to illustrate in the final - make concept, subject matter, compositional, color and stylistic decisions and show me this in your comps. Do it right the first time and you won't have to recomp. If you don't... recomp hell.

Actual Illustrations are due on Oct. 24

Mounted printouts on Oct. 28.

Reset

OK, here is the post to bring everything back under control. For Monday, Oct. 10: I want to see the Lincoln 13 x 19 printout - mounted in the way I like. I'm moving the #5 illustration due date to Oct. 17. #5 printout due Oct. 21 - mounted. I did say in class that the #5 actual illustration can be executed at 100% if you choose to do so. I think the upsized 150 - 200%  scale is kicking your butts. Let's see if something smaller will improve the end quality of your work. I'm holding my breath and crossing my fingers. If I haven't yet approved your #5 comp, bring it to class on Monday and I'll approve or pick it apart some more. Just a reminder that I will not be in town on Weds. So, you can come to class and work on what you need to do. I'll have someone unlock the door at 7:30. The class time is still two hours that you can accomplish something. Oh yes, some of the blogs are looking thin. Get to posting and blogging. You know who you are.