Picture Book - Pages 8 and 6

Page 8

Composition experiments using ink drawings from my sketchbook.

I decided on this one because it has the oat information in. I feel that the more information I include in the image, the more chaotic and busy it will look, this will show what the streets of Delhi are like.

Original scan

Arranged composition

The focal point of the image needed to be the girl to keep the narrative going. I used the same colour for her as I did for the city - if these two components are both highlighted I am hoping the large scale of the city will contrast more with how small she is and how overwhelmed she must be by it all.  

I love how busy this image is, this is exactly what I wanted to get across. I think I could have made the city look more run down and scary - I think this style resembles the Leeds cityscape in the cafe window too much and there should have been more of a contrast. 

Page 6

Problem: I had already considered the composition for this page to a great extent in my sketchbook using cut out components and photographing them. I decided after all this that there was just too much going on in the frame and it was very difficult to look at and engage with. I needed to simplify it down. 

I decided to test my photoshop skills here and merge two of my gouache paintings (blue paint). I used the head (and stick and bag) from one which I was happy with to replace the head of another drawing which was out of proportion. I think this shows how I have improve my photoshop skills because I would not have been able to do something like this before. 

Problem Solving: I cut down on the amount of people in the frame and removed images of people actually picking tea to focus more on the other aspect of their working life. I added a subtle suggestion of a track which the people are walking on while doing their work and children are standing at the side of it. I am still not happy with the composition, the bundle the woman is carrying is to central and distracting. I moved her down and enlarged her as if she is the closest to the viewer which would explain why she is the most noticeable. I finally added colour, pattern and texture to keep the image balanced.

I think the reason I struggled so much with this image was because it wasn't showing a particular action or conveying a certain idea. I wanted this image to show what life in the Assam region of India entails but in future I need to set myself more specific targets to stay on track and produce a more purposeful image.