Assignment 1 - Hello Card the process

This post describes the process I went through to come up with the final image.

I wanted the card to express my enthusiasm as well as something of my aspirations and I also wanted to incorporate some of the work that I have done to date as well as showing some of the materials that I enjoy working with.

The first mission was to come up with an image of myself encapsulating my attitude to the course surrounded or sprouting ideas and images... so to the sketchbook..

1ST ATTEMPT

 I was intending to put examples of photographs, paintings, prints, pencil drawings and portraits in frames along with idea bubbles, but, it didn't seem to show the enthusiasm that I feel. So I decided to do some quick thumbnail sketches of other ideas which might work....

One was of me luxuriating American Beauty Style on top of a bed of images... but this didn't seem to be me...

 Anther idea was looking into the mirror as if doing a self portrait and seeing other images in the background, but this was too retrospective. Then I played with the idea of going through doors made of previous images and arriving at a door marked OCA, but that felt too complicated.

2nd attempt

Then I tried a gallery space lined with previous pictures and a door at the end marked OCA, an open ceiling with clouds parting - light coming from the door... But this felt too heavy!







This idea was one of my favourites. I liked the sense of purpose of climbing over my previous work displayed as building blocks, but the rainbow colours should be emanating from behind the OCA block. I liked the simplicity of this idea.

Then I played with simpler ideas of me sending up balloon ideas into the air, but whilst I like these images, they do not do enough for this assignment.

This idea was a reworking of the America Beauty idea, but too dark... not enough sense of purpose.

But then hit upon what I really wanted to say and so this was the first sketch for my final design which I felt was the only one that showed the exuberance. 

  I wanted to show a range of things that inspire me.... So this image incorporates, food, flowers, the weather, sand paints, pencils, ice-cream, books, music, the elements, and even fossils...  Although I am also inspired by many negative darker ideas, I pushed them aside for this Assignment. I wanted them all to be positive images, so I cut out anything too negative. The feeling I wanted to convey was Hello, this is me, I love to draw, I want to learn, I am exited and enthusiastic! 

worked up image