FMP Evaluation

What are the strengths of your self-portrait models?

I’d say that the strengths of my self-portrait models are the little bits of detail. Though they looked good before, they are a bit more distinguishable as me. For example, my lips are quite dry and are sometimes crack, so I added little lines onto them. I also added freckles, and then a blush, which I changed the opacity to make some of the freckles show through. I’d also say that the detail on my Harry Potter Meg. Though they were imported from Google, they do make good detail.

Why are your self-portrait models suitable for the industry?

The self-portrait models are suitable for the industry, mainly because it is a different idea. It would also show a potential employer how you see yourself, and a bit about your interests. For example, from my alter ego, it would show an employer that I like Harry Potter, and that I have a good imagination, as I have managed to make o obvious who the alter ego is, but it also has features of me, for example, my face.

What are possible weaknesses of your self-portrait models?

I suppose possible weaknesses could be that there isn’t much detail in the hair. After making the modes, I realised that it would look a bit more detailed if there were thin lines in the hair, such as the parting to show more detail.

Another potential weakness is that sometimes they are a bit wobbly, and it takes a minute to stand them up.

If you were to do this again, what changes would you make and why?

If I were to make the models again, I would add a bit more detail to the hair on my model. I would also change my outfit on the model, as it looks a little childish (in m opinion). However, I wouldn’t change much about the alter-ego, apart from some more details to the hair.

FMP

For the self-portrait models, I started my drawing myself six times. This had me with straight hair, curly hair, and even ‘angry’ at my job. I then coloured my body to represent what I would usually wear: jeans and a variety of tops.

I then added my alter egos. For these, I made myself into Harry Potter, because I love the books, me as an owl, because they are my favourite animal, me as ‘Super Meg’, me as a rabbit, me as a book, because I love reading, me as the devil and me as ‘Little Meg Riding Hood’.

I then chose to make the Harry Potter one and me with straight hair. For the original one of me, I used the paintbrush to create the outline for the eyes, eyebrows, nose and mouth. I then added little details, such as eyelashes, freckles, pink cheeks, and lines in my mouth and owl earrings. I got the owl earrings from Google, and then imported them, however, I decided to find some earrings that I actually own, and wear all the time.

The body looked bare after I had coloured it, so I decided to draw an owl onto the top. I then added a drop shadow so it stood out a bit more. I also added clips into the front of my hair, which is to represent my fringe being pulled back, which is a style I wear my hair in sometimes.

I used the same design for my Harry Potter ‘me’. However, I didn’t make hair around my face, but made a fringe similar to what Harry Potter had in the first movies.

I then made the body black, but added red around the wrists and found a Gryffindor tie and crest from Google. I felt that this would make it more authentic, and I had found it difficult to draw, both in hand and on Photoshop.

Graphic Narrative Evaluation

What do you think of the overall narrative assignment?
I think that the overall narrative was a very good idea. I liked how the whole project was based on water, mainly the sea. This is a good idea because it gave a wide range of poems to choose from, and all had really good imagery to help make graphic narratives.

Are you happy with the material you chose?
I chose the poem 'Island Man' because I remembered the poem from school, and knew what the poem was about. However, I nearly chose 'Blessing', again because I have studied this. To choose the poem I would do, I did two storyboards, one for each. After this, I found that I had more ideas for Island Man.
The decided to draw out my storyboard on A4 paper and then scan in to colour in Photoshop. I thought that this would work because I would be able to manipulate the drawings more than I would if I had made the whole thing using Photoshop. This is because I felt that I would struggle trying to make it all in Photoshop, however, I would get better colour using Photoshop. I then added text and backgrounds in Photoshop.
I am happy with doing this in the way I did because I feel that I got strong results.

Would you make adjustments next time?
Personally, I wouldn't have put the text in boxes in the corner. This is because I had to make the text in Illustrator after, and it was harder to make the lines meet up. For example, on Frame 2 and 3, there is the sun, and it was hard to follow it around to make it look like it flowed.
I would also go over the drawing with a dark black pen over the pencil. This is because it was hard and took a long time going over all of the black lines.

Are the techniques you used to make your solution adequate or would you use a different range of production techniques?
My narrative looks exactly how I wanted it to look. This is because I drew the frames, so it would look how I want it to look. However, I wish I was more skilled in drawing. When frames 4 and 6 were done, I felt that they didn't look complete, so I added in the background, the sky, grass and water to make it look more detailed.

What are the views of other people regarding your narrative?
I initially showed my lecturer when the first coloured designs. The designs were discussed and it was decided to add more detail, such as the shadows and a fish into frame two.
I then showed the finished designs to some members of the class. They said that they found the designs bright, colourful and well detailed.

Does the narrative work?

I think that the narrative does work. This is because it follows the poem and you can see the change between the Island and London, and it reflects his thoughts: the Island being 'beautiful' and bright,
whereas London is dark and grey and 'boring' to him, even the seagulls are different colours!
I think the writing stands out and it works on its own, as well as in the image.

Final Designs finished

When I scanned my work into Photoshop, I had to redo the outlines. To do this, I started by adjusting the threshold, however, this didn't work as well as I had hoped, so I used a paintbrush to make the lines bolder. I then used the paint bucket and paint brush to colour in the drawings. When this was finished, I focused on the font of the writing.
Originally for this, I had just out a normal font in a box at the top, but it didn't look very effective. This is when I went into Illustrator and focused on making the text stand out.
After this, I felt that frames 4 and 6 weren't as effective as the rest. This was because the drawings were central to the page, whereas the rest of the frames all had backgrounds. So, I added in lines in the shapes of buildings and coloured grey. I then added in grass, and water on the last frame, and just grass in the 4th frame.
To finish off, I added in shadows to the people, the fish, the trees and the ball to add more detail. To do this, I used to 'polygonal lasso' tool to create where the shadow would go. Then I used the gradient tool to colour it in. On the fish, this didn't look great, so I then added a blur on this, to go with the effect of the fish.

Here are the finished designs:

Final drafts for Island Man

This is the first frame of the poem. Through the window, there will be blues and yellows to represent a sunny day. The room will be neutral, with bright colours on the poster (the fish) and the duvet. He will be in colour as well, as this will represent how he would be if he were on his island. 

The second frame will be in blues, yellows and other bright colours, as will the third frame. This is because his island is supposed to be visually appealing, and it has to be 'desirable', as this is the place he would rather be.

Frame 4 will be of the 'North Circular soar', which is London. It is shown through traffic. Most of this frame will be grey, with hints of colour on the cars, which will be faded down to show the 'blandness' he feels when he is in London.

 Frame 5 is the same as frame one, however, different because out of the window, it will be different shades of grey, to represent London. His clothing will also be a different colour, to show he is in a suit because of work.

 Frame 6 is 'Another London Day', which is represented by London monuments. It will (hopefully) be in similar colours to what the actual monuments are, however, will be faded down similarly to frame 4.

Drafts

Here are some of the draft work for my poems. 

Above is the first initial design for my poem. I used the storyboard designs to do rough drawing, including stick people so I could get an ideas of how I would like my poem to look. 

Here are some of my drawings for island man. I have decided on a cartoon theme throughout the poem. I have used different ones for the traffic scene to show a dramatic difference between the Island people and London, as it is two completely different aspects of his life. 

The difference between London and the Island will also be shown through the use of colour. London will be quite dull with the uses of grey, but the island will have lots of different colours to show the brightness.

Sketch for poems

For this task, I didn't know which poem to choose between: Blessing and Island Man. I decided on these two at the beginning because they are two very good poems with some good imagery.

So I decided to do some very rough drawings to start with and see which one worked better for me:

After sketching them out, I decided on Island Man. This is because ideas came more easily when thinking of what to draw. I also have ideas on how to colour it in. Though blessing was good, it was hard how to present it, and then only frame I had no difficulty drawing was frame four, where they congregate to the water pump.