Heres a time lapse of my coloring process.

TABLET TIME

The last few days ive been manically photoshoping my final images with my new best friend  Mr Bamboo graphics tablet. With the sheer amount of detail in each image its become a huge and sometimes overwhelming task to add some colour. Im tried added selective colour, only adding flashes to certain areas, but it really didn't look right and it unbalanced the image. Instead ive opted for using a 2 tone effect, i did this by selecting 2 colours and mapping them to the pressure of my pen, this creates a simple but effective colour range to my images.
Im currently filling in the earth cross section which is my biggest task yet, as this image will eventually be blown up to a massive size, so colouring needs to be slightly more detailed than normal.

Screen shot from my mac. Here im playing around with the colour balance adjustments after completely filling in the image, to fine tune the colour output till im happy.

Heres some work in progress, i really  like the white parts of the background showing thought, makes the colour pop!

heres a section being coloured in.

image so far, very very very uncompleted, i plan to take it though a number of different editing processes before its done, even after its fully coloured

me mac and tablet

TEST PRINT.

I got round to getting my freshly scanned planet image printed today, just so i could get an idea of just how big i could blow it up, and to see what the print looks like on art paper. I got it printed up A0 and i was very happy with the results, the printers here really are amazing and the art paper makes the work look crisp and vibrant, i will definitely be printing all my finals on this paper. 

I plan to have is image as big as i can get, and i believe the printer can go 90inches wide, and pretty much inferentially long. I may even print it in 2 half's, that way i can got even bigger! I wanted to go this big as i plan to use this as a sort of set piece for the other images to go around. also so it shows off all the details in the planet, a smaller one just wouldn't have the same impact.

Here is the print out, from this i could work out how many times bigger i could blow it up without it being to pixelated. Ive tried turning this into a vector image using live trace on Illustrator, but it looses alot of details, and the hand drawn look and for those reasons i decided against it.

Work in Progress meeting

Sooo today we had our work in progress with Derrick, Chris stuck around aswell, but i was gutted he couldn't stay around long enough to see my work, i really value his opinion and hes full of great ideas.  The progress meeting was a nice opportunity to see everyone's work, as there were some classmates i haven't had a chance to speak to, and therefor it was interesting to see what subjects people had chosen. The feedback was really a chance for us to discuss the ways we plan to display our final imagery at the show, and also printing methods and last minute changes. I showed the group the drawings i had done so far and talked them though the colouring process on photoshop. Everyone seemed to like my illustrations and Derrick gave me some ideas as to what i could do to with the machines if i wanted to show them in an everyday environment. He suggested i put the skyscraper looking one amongst a cityscape, and the fling one in a night sky, i did some rough sketches to see how this would look which are below. Derrick did point out that my machines do lack some form of charater, and that i the images would gain a lot if i added some to human surroundings. If i chose to create the pamphlet idea i would definitely include this type of imagery, but im scarred it may look a little out of place in conjunction with the posters i plan to make. i will do some experimentation but i just hope it isn't to time consuming, we haven't got much time left!

TIME PLAN

ohhhh god! its crunch time! we got our degree show time table today. This is it i have to get my head around what i need to do. LIST TIME!
-Finish Photoshoping final images
-create logo
-think about display set ups
-test printing sizes

CH..CH... CH ...CHHANNNGEEES!

last week i decided to change up my idea. After many chats with various tutors and a work in progress meeting i realised the limitations with the elements plan. To be fair the idea went a bit stale, and i was producing images that didn't really suite the theme without even realising it. In the long run i could really only produce 3-4 final images as there are only that number of elements to deal with. 

 I decided to change up my idea, to keep it fresh, but also not to waste any of the work i have produced so far. My new idea is to create a made up corporation, a company that is reconstructing the dieing world in the future. My drawings will be used as plans for a world kept alive by the machines that this corporation builds, my elemental machines will fit in nicely as a way to replace the earths vital necessities. This also opens up new and exiting ways i can think about displaying my work at the final show. I was thinking creating of a show room for my made up company, with pamphlets containing information about this new world and the machines being built. And also a series of posters showing the various different machines and how they work. My tutor Peat also suggested i could have tone of the main window in the bar-gate center, so i was thinking of blowing up one of my images to epic proportions on window vinyl, and have the posters set up inside. I could also utilise the gizmos ive collected, by scattering them around my area to make things look more authentic.

My task this week is to create a corporate identity for this made up company, with a solid logo and colour scheme, then i can apply this to my existing imagery, exciting times! Ideas for names are "R.P.E -Reconstruction Planet Earth"or "Core"?

I put my A1 earth image in the printers today for it to be scanned, it cost 20 quid but it will be worth it, and I'm exited to play around with it digitally! It could also be a strong contender for the image i choose to blow up massive for the window. 

Logo idea brainstorming

Mattias Adolfsson

I was getting some ideas for my website today, so i thought id jump onto Illustration Mundo to check out what other illustrators have come up with. i flipped thought a number a websites, clicked "line" in the style search box and then stumbled upon Swedish illustrator Mattias Adolfsson. All i can say is WOW! (well... his website is a bit, average) This guys work is incredible, and is really similar to what I've been creating during my FMP.  Hes probably really famous, just wish someone had showed me him sooner!  He to seems to have a fascination with detailed machines, and also uses fine line ink with insane skill. What struck me the most about his work is his imagination, and the quirky, surreal and intense images he creates. His drawings have so much weight, they look nice a chunky, something i think my images lack somewhat. I may take a few pointers from Adolfsson's work, such as his use of washes to create dynamic shading, and his looser line work.   

AHHH look that detail! i could look at this for hours! i love the perspective, and also the amount of character it has (cheeky toaster and cup of tea in the back there) Im actually more than a bit jealous of this image...Mattias you bastard.

yet more amazing line, details and perspective.

i love how chunky this looks, going to try and capture this in my images.

...just amazing