Vignette Illustrations

 "A minimum of two finished vignette illustrations showing different moments from the character's life, with appropriate visual language to help communicate meaning for your intended audience and genre."

WHICH MOMENTS?

- Needed to have moments of significance

- Wanted to avoid the Kid's death as that is being animated

- Chose the 'death of John Tunstall' and the 'final escape'

- Both significant and dramatic moments, but also contrast each other in that one would be in daylight while one would be in darkness, allowing opportunity to show range in values

INSPIRATION

- Vignettes by Claire Keane

- Fading illustrations out using the medium to her advantage

- Good example of only highlighting the important parts

- Madeline Pinkerton

- Creates beautifully colourful and playful illustrations

- Uses shape to her advantage to end the illustration

DESIGNING VIGNETTE #1

- John Tunstall's death

- Billy the Kid's employer and friend, only man to treat him as "free-born and white"

- Billy and his friends escaped on horseback, Tunstall meanwhile killed by gunshot

- Began Billy's revenge killings

Wanted an action shot of the horse rearing and Billy looking back in horror, from an 'over-the-shoulder' type shot of John Tunstall's body. Vignette would come from illustration being encased in the smoke from the gun that killed Tunstall, to transport the viewer to the actual moment

DESIGNING VIGNETTE #2

- Billy the Kid's final escape

- Escaped still with his feet shackled, shot one officer and waited upstairs for the other officer to respond to said shot

- Wanted perspective to be looking up at Billy from the officer's perspective to communicate how intimidating he appeared

- Character looking straight at 'camera' to unsettle the viewer, breaks the 4th wall a bit, makes him imposing

- Illustration contained in the window he would be sat in - clean shape

CREATING VIGNETTE #2

Sketch on A3 watercolour paper

- Drawing on techniques learned during semester 1 - Drawing For Illustration module

- Brush and ink

- Wanted to ensure this particular illustration had good rim lighting and was very atmospheric

- Emphasis on light and dark

- Brush and ink first to map out light and shadow

- Details added in dip pen and ink

- Rim lighting accentuated using white acrylic paint

- Tried to keep it fluid to draw inspiration from Norbury's Big Panda and Tiny Dragon illustrations

Initial scanned illustration

Final illustration after touch-ups in Photoshop

CREATING VIGNETTE #1

Sketch on A3 watercolour paper

- Had slightly different idea for this illustration

- Wanted it to feel very whimsical and dreamlike

- Pivotal moment in life - turned him to revenge

- Vignette contained in the smoke of the gun; wanted to lean into this texture

- Used watercolour pencils in a very fluid and sketchy manner

- Wanted to keep lines loose and light

- Wanted to give contrast to previous vignette and show skillset in different styles

- Drew Billy the Kid and John Tunstall in contrasting colours

- Tunstall cold and dead

- Billy alive and fuelled with rage

- No colour in gun or hand holding it

- Contrast to the whimsical appearance of the smoke

- Detail in biro and brush pen

Final scan

EVALUATION

- Proud of the design and how the illustration is self-contained, and how the legs break that slightly but still constitute as a vignette

- Everything is done using the same ink, yet the character still stands out from the background

- Could have been more fluid and adventurous

- Overall successful

- Successful use of the concept of a vignette

- Compositionally constructed well

- Colour used in imaginative way

- Still feels to be a weaker illustration due to the lack of impact, yet this could be a personal preference as I am used to using heavy black

- Pushed self out of comfort zone for this illustration and it paid off :)