Picture Book - Pages 10 and 11

Page 11

Problem: A had a problem with creating the shadow of the girl because it needed to be on the floor as well as on the wall. 
Problem Solving: To solve this I made two copies of the silhouette, cropped them both so one was for the wall and one for the floor and then used the free transform function to stretch the bottom one to make it look like the shadow changes angle when it meets the wall. Im not sure this has been entirely effective but it looks more believable than what I had previously. I think in general I need to learn more about shadow and where it should be cast in an image - especially on faces. 

I thought the grey wall in the distance was too light for an image which needed to be dark and intense to make people question what goes on in such dark surroundings. The image also looked strange with the lightest colours in the background when they would usually be darker if they are further away. I learnt how to use the patch tool and used this to copy the texture of the brushstrokes on the man to the wall. This was a useful tool that I am sure I will find use for in the future. 

Adding colours, shading and textures onto the decorative door frame - I used this as a symbol of a wealthy household. 

Page 10

I spent a lot of time thinking about how I was going to show an exchange of money and selling a human being. I really struggled with this concept and in the end decided to move away from showing a real life situation. To emphasise how traffickers see humans as products, I wanted to capture the idea of literally handing over a girl to a buyer. 

Reference imagery: photographs of my hands and images from internet of money. 

I also researched clothing for wealthy indian men to influence what the sleeve looked like. I added rings as another symbol of wealth.

All of these drawings were done separately and then arranged on photoshop. I needed an image of a girl falling - I wanted her to look quite distressed but also totally weak and out of control of the situation.

Reference imagery used for the girl falling from one hand to another. 

I decided to keep the figure totally white to match the lack of colour in the image on the opposite page. I feel it highlights the main focus of both pages effectively. I also shows how washed out and drained these girls must be and suggests a lack of identity. 

I am really happy with this image, I am glad I waited to the end to do this image because it has allowed me to use my Photoshop skills to the best of my ability. I personal think it is powerful and clearly gets across the point of human trafficking but I will wait for my feedback from the crit on Friday to decide whether it has actually been successful.