A (Really) Brief History of Illustration - Proposal

A short proposal to sum up everything that I have already written about in the previous posts:

Proposal

A (Really) Brief History of Illustration

Assignment

One of the final assignments given to us for Context in Practice 1 is to create a short animation (That is between 10 to 30 seconds) based on one of the lectures or seminars that we have attended and taken notes from in the past.

Idea

I decided to choose Illustration as my animation topic (Seeing that the lecture about it was also one of my favorites), seeing that it was an area I had previously studied about in my previous art school, I find this to be a good opportunity to combine the two together. I found it interesting how there are near countless examples of illustration (Eg, Storybook illustrations, pottery, displays, comics, advertisements, packaging, the possibilities are endless) that sometimes they wound up blending in with other areas such as Graphic Design. But when it comes down to it, all illustrations must have a message to communicate to the audience.

My idea is to do a showcase of various examples of illustrations throughout history (While of course I will have to be selective in my choices considering the short duration given), as well the different styles and techniques that are used for them. The easiest way to present this is to do a simple animation of someone walking through a gallery and viewing the showcase, that character however will change in appearance to match time period from which the illustrations (Or the technique used) originated from.

While the animation is considered educational (And also contemporary), the target audience for this animation is for young adults and older, seeing that anyone younger might not understand it without any basic facts or exaplnations being properly provided on screen. To make things simpler, no  examples with nudity will be included.

Process

This animation will be done in Photoshop (Seeing that it will be the fastest), the background will be designed first (It will be as detailed as possible in contrast to the character), I will paint a small segment of it before duplicating it to create the required length. (The character should pass by each section in 3 seconds, so there should be ten sections in total)

Due to the limited amount of time, I wish to keep the animation as simple as possible, the walk cycle will be recycled throughout (Though a different one will be used for the caveman in the beginning), while the character will be a silhouette throughout, his clothing will change to match the illustrations, distinct clothing accessories will especially be chosen so they are still recognizable on a flatly colored silhouette.

After that, everything will be put together in After Effects.

A (Really) Brief History of Illustration - Animation Process

Warning: The word 'duplicate' will be used over and over in this write up, so get ready to get mildly annoyed.

I was just so intent on finishing this that I forgot to take more screenshots as I worked along, so sorry if it seems like I skipped out on a lot.

The first thing I did was design one segment of the background, seeing that the animated character would be a 'simple' silhouette, this gave me the chance to design a much more detailed and appealing background to create that contrast. I looked through various references of vintage looking art galleries, and since I had a particular color scheme in mind (Gold, grey, violet or white, etc), designing the background thankfully did not take too long, I did also mess around with some textures to make it less flat as well as painted in some light shadows.

Started out by figuring out the floor level before painting in the first pillar.

Obviously some parts would then be duplicated.

Tada.

Since the animation would last for 30 seconds, I then duplicated the segment ten times (Thankfully it wasn't too much of a problem connecting them nicely together, before beginning to arrange the illustrations I had compiled together days before (And that took awhile seeing that I also had to arrange them from the time period from which the art/style/technique originated from). 

I had to make a lot of tough choices during this step since I had collected so many nice examples, only about 8% of the images were used in the end, and while I initially did not plan to place any images on the columns, seeing that I was running out of space, I felt that I had no choice but to do so.

Like the sign I had designed for the very first segment  I was planning to frame each piece of illustration with a golden frame, and while it was sure to take some time, I thought the duplication method would make things less tedious instead of painting one for each of them… and apparently that didn't work. 

While I had painted the frame separately for the museum sign so that I could duplicate and reuse it for the illustrations, it could not be properly resized to fit each illustration (For instance, when I tried changing it to a more rectangular shape, the side of the frame became to thin). And so I had to make do with simply giving each of them some light shadows with the layer effect option, which looked quite alright, much to my relief.

For the grecian pottery however, after removing/erasing the backgrounds surrounding each one, I hand painted in some light shadows beneath and around them instead of simply using the layer effect option like I did with the rest.

Zoom in, if you dare.

I was not able to find any references for a caveman walk cycle (And you'd be surprised how most animations just make their cavemen characters walk like normal people, but obviously that is the irony of it all), and in the end, I downloaded a video of a tired man walking, that I then closely followed for my caveman animation.

I redid this walk cycle about four times,
since I kept messing up on the placement of his feet.

Finally decided to add in some guides to figure out where his feet should lie flat on when
it is placed down completely.

The rest of the animation would thankfully not be as difficult (Save for the clothing detail, but I will get to that later), I decided to go with a walk cycle where the character's head did not raise and lower as much as the ones seen in more basic walk cycles, also the character's arms were always kept behind his back or in his pockets to make things easier. 

Once I had drawn out the template, some calculating was in order… as this walk cycle consisted of 16 frames (There were references consisting of only 12 frames, but I really preferred this walk cycle over the rest) and each segment should last for 36 frames, I needed to be careful when it came to duplicating and arrange the frames. (Eg, 16+16+4= 36, so the next segment should hence start on layer number 5 instead of 1… yeah, I carried on like this for the rest of the segments, figuring out what was the next layer to start on with each new segment)

When onion skinning fails, blind yourself with this method.

Silhouette for the medieval illustrations.

This silhouette was perhaps the biggest pain in my tuckus to animate, and you know why?
Well take a guess… did you say top hat? Well, well done you deserve a cookie!

You'd think that it would be the coat that was a pain to animate but noooo…
Hats, HATS, HAAAATSSS! (I responded similarly to the fedora one after)

When I had finished drawing in all of the frames (And duplicated), it was time to alter a few frames between each segment to make it seem like they were morphing from one form/outfit to the next (And thank goodness his posture stays the same after the caveman one), the transition had to be quick so only 2 frames were altered for each one (Not that I was being lazy…).

I cleaned up a few frames before quickly doing up the reverse version,
I know it still looks pretty wonky overall but I felt that it was best to simply move on.
Also yeah, I know, I almost wanted to give the character more distinct footwear
which each outfit he changes into, instead of sticking to those pixie feet.

Again as expected, I made a few changes from the storyboard, for the animation I ended up scrapping a few transitions (Such as the one with the little bowl hat, and the 80s one with the parachute pants), I even reused one of the walk cycles for two segments instead of just one, seeing that what it still seems to fit that time period.

And once all of that was done, it was time to put everything in After Effects… though I once again goofed up and forgot 3 seconds worth of walk cycles, so I had to go back and duplicate, rearrange and redraw the morphing frames in between each cycle (Just kick me).

Original Version:

An interesting point that was brought up by my classmates after they viewed it was why was it that the animation moved from right to the left, when it should be the other way round (After all, one also (Well normally) reads from left to right, no?). Perhaps it was because of the fact that I had previously watched a few good walk cycles that started from the right instead, or the fact that I'm right handed... (Which is a really dumb excuse since I have drawn people walking from left to right before… or have I…? No wait, oh gosh, I hadn't realized this before… most of my animations DO start on the right side, I'M RUINED!)

Anyway while I felt that if didn't matter all that much, I decided to quickly do up another version where it starts off on the left side instead (Just in case), it came to mind that by making the character move from left to right, it was a discreet (Or obvious, I don't know anymore… I haven't slept for days, help me...) and more proper way to symbolize progression, while moving from right to left clearly symbolizes the opposite (So it doesn't really make sense for the caveman to start off from the right). 

Reverse Version:

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A (Really) Brief History of Illustration - Storyboards

So I drafted yet another timeline for my reference before I finished up the final storyboard, obviously I am still going to have to take out a few scenes as they all can't possibly fit within the given duration (The maximum being 30 seconds).

Some stylish morphing takes place between each scene.

The first idea was to showcase various kinds of illustrators using different techniques and creating different examples of works throughout the ages, morphing from one to the next, but I believe that it was too intricate to animate despite it being a pretty alright idea (Especially with the ending break where the characters break the forth wall), especially since there is not much time left to work on it.

1. A caveman is painting in a dark cave, the torch being his only source of light.

2. A man is busily painting away the portrait of some grecian hero on some pottery

3. An illuminator works on a book

4. Close up of hands doing carving away at wood (Woodcutting)

5. Another set of hands etching out something

6. Yet another set of hands this time using a rolling pin for lithography

7. A far away view of someone painting away at a giant poster

8. Photographer (A little questionable as only some types of photography are considered as illustrations)

9. Drawing comics

10. Architectural designing

11. Fashion

12. Display design

13. We zoom out from the last panel where all previous scenes are shown on a storyboard (Much like the one above) and is being presented to an audience

14. They then look over to us, breaking the forth wall

The second was is pretty similar to the final idea, with someone walking through a gallery, while seemingly uninterested at first, his enthusiasm begins to show as he progresses further in, beginning to break into a run until he stops at a final piece of work, which has to be a famous and a very well-received piece of illustration that everyone (Or at least no one could possibly hate) could enjoy (Which might prove challenging)… this was where my lecturer suggested a better idea.

1. Entering the museum, he appears uninterested, arms folded and form slightly hunched over

2. After passing by a couple of illustrations, his curiosity is piqued, a hand placed to his chin as he travels further in

3. His posture is more upright now

4. Clearly he is showing more interest the more he sees, happily swinging his arms a little now

5. He breaks into a jog

6. Soon enough he starts running

7. He then screeches to a halt

8. One illustration catches his attention as he simply stops and admires it

As mentioned in a previous post, the final idea is to showcase a variety of illustrations and its uses (As well as some history like the first illustrations to ever be created by men, that being cave paintings), the person walking through the gallery would change in appearance to match the timeline of which the illustration originated from, while I would like to give each transformation a different style of walk cycle, I doubt there will be enough time (Though I will definitely have to make the cave man walk differently from the others, the rest might all have to use the same walk cycle)… we will just have to wait and see.

1. A caveman enters the gallery
2. He passes by some caveman paintings
3. Morphing into a guy in a toga, he passes by some grecian pottery
4. He changes next into a man in long robes and a cape, passing by some examples of decorated manuscripts
5. Now dressed in 16th century clothing, examples of etching and engraving are displayed as he passes by
6. Switching to more victorian garbs, works of lithography and wood engraving are seen next
7. Now wearing bowl hat instead of a top hat, the works of Alphonse Mucha, Aubrey Vincent Beardsley and other artists of that era are seen
8. Now in a suit and fedora, children book illustrations and advertising posters are displayed
9. In disco garbs (I know disco comes in much later in the 70s, but it is more distinct than hippie or mods), psychedelic works are shown
10. He has now entered the 80s section, so parachute pants are a must
11. Dressed in simpler but grungier looking clothes, works from the 90s are seen
12. And finally he enters the present

It is now time to gather some images as well as design the animation background.

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A (Really) Brief History of Illustration - Research

While I have already done a rough outline on the history of illustration (I however decided to shorten it the best I could and so excluded some techniques as well as the development of printing methods), I feel that I should write everything out again to better familiarize myself with it, most research have been extracted from Francesgo Mugnai's blog.

1. Cave paintings are considered to be the first illustrations ever created
2. Woodblock Printing was developed in 200 AD in Asia
3. Before the 15th Century, books were hand illustrated. (Eg, from 476 AD to 1492 AD, there were the medieval illustrations that accompanied manuscripts)
4. Intaglio Printing (1430), copper or zinc was used
5. Woodcutting (1439), printing of the first book, The Bible.
6. Etching and Engraving (16th and 17th Century)
7. Lithography (1796)
8. Chromolithography (1837)
9. Wood Engraving (Start of 19th Century)
10. Daumier was a renowned illustrator of the first fifty years of the 19th century, using techniques such as lithography and xylography. Beginning to paint when he was going blind. He illustrated for magazines such as La Silhouette and La Caricature
11. The second half of the 19th century was the golden age of Victorian Illustration as well as American Illustration
12. Notable illustrators include: Alphonse Mucha, Aubrey Vincent Beardsley, Paul Christophe Gustave Dore, George Du Marier, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Phil May (The Father of the British Illustration)
13. For the first 40 years of the 20th century, while books had become very expensive, there was a huge market for children books
14. Posters became an important medium for advertising
15. Commercial screen printing would be introduced in the early 1910s (Screen Printing was first invented in China during the Song Dynasty (960-1979 AD), it was introduced to Western Europe in the late 18th century but did not gain large acceptance until silk mesh was more available for trade from the east)
16. Artistic influences: Art Noveau, Japanese art, Art Deco, Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, Dadaists, De Stijl (Neo-Plasticism), Surrealism and Harlem Renaissance (In America)
17. Notable illustrators during that period include: Howard Pyle (The Father of the American Illustration), Beatrix Potter, Jean de Brunhoff, Howard Chandler Christy, James Montgomery Flagg, Ernest Shepard, Maurits Escher
18. From 1940 to 1970, artistic influences of the period: Abstract Expressionism, Postwar Expressionism in Europe, Pop Art, Op Art, Color Field Painting and/or Conceptual Art, Performance Art, Photorealism, Minimalism and Neoromantic 
19. Notable illustrators include: Normal Rockwell, Thornton Utz, Peter Blake, Dr Seuss, Victor Moscoso, Robert Crumb, Rowland Emett
20. From the 70s onward, the advertising industry continues to grow
21. Posters and magazines continue to stay popular
22. Artistic influences of the period: Performance Art, Photorealism, Post-Modernism, Techno-Impressionism
23. Notable illustrators include: Chris Foss, Gerald Scarfe, Ian Pollock, Jean Michel Folon, Jan Piekowski, Maurice Sendak and Phillip Castle
24. The 90s were the scenario for the Postmodern Art. The Postmodern style came from sources in the 50s
25. There are some industries of Illustration which have survived through the decades, for example, Disney and DC Comics.
26. Notable Illustrators: Too many (Opportunity for this animator to choose her own favorites, though a variety should be considered)

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A (Really) Brief History of Illustration - Idea Generation

Aside from our 3000 word essay, we are to create a short (At least 10 to 30 seconds) animation based on any past Context in Practice lecture or seminar of our choosing.

While it has been suggested that we work on an animation that is connected to our essay topic to make things easier and to save us more time (Since there really isn't much in the first place), I found myself more interested in working on something different (I feel that it is not often that we get to do an animation focusing on another art major), the Illustration lecture had especially caught my attention from the very beginning and so it wasn't too difficult to make my choice on what I wanted to work on…

Outline of Brief and Chosen Topic

What intrigues me the most about Illustration is how challenging it is sometimes to pinpoint the type of work that can be produced from it, while most people believe that Illustrations are just drawings you see in storybooks, there is actually so much more that comes from it (As listed above in that messy little mind map, there are countless uses and techniques when it comes to illustrating). 

But perhaps the easiest way to identify an illustration is to remember the main purpose of its creation, and that is to communicate a message to the audience one way or another.

An extract from Wikipedia about Illustration states:

"An illustration is a visualization or a depiction made by an artist, such as a drawing, sketch, painting, photograph, or other kind of image of things seen, remembered or imagined, using a graphical representation. 

Illustrations can be artistic images illustrating for example a text, poem, fashion, magazines, stamps or a book and very often illustrations were made for children's books. The aim of an illustration is to elucidate or decorate a story, poem or piece of textual information by providing a visual representation of something described in the text. 

Illustrations can be executed in different techniques, like watercolor, gouache, ink, oil, charcoal chalk or woodcut."

While an extract from Wikipedia about Illustrators states:

"An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicated concepts or objects that are difficult to describe textually, which is the reason illustrations are often found in children's books."

Rough Timeline

For my idea, I thought of animating a silhouette walking through an art gallery displaying a variety of illustration works (That will also follow a timeline, as shown in the rough draft above), as the character passes each work however, the attire of the silhouette will change to match the time period from when the work was first created.

The only issue is what works should be included as it is most definitely impossible to fit everything in, even with 30 seconds. So I still need to shorten the timeline as much as I can… Other animation ideas will be shared in the next blog post.

To Do List:

1. Write up on Research Gathering
2. Confirm Illustration Timeline (Definitely has to be shortened)
3. Storyboard It
4. Gather Examples of Illustration
5. Design Background
6. Animate Walk Cycle
7. Put it all Together in After Effects