Reflection 1

From starting the year again I have been looking for new ways to develop my image making. I have been experimenting through cop with cakes and this has really left me wanting to explore on making fun and naive work in different ways. The development of this is early as I feel like i need necessary briefs and ideas in order to achieve this.
One thing i wanted to develop from the start was how i developed my illustrations, i felt confident  in my quick line drawings as they weren't seen as final images to me more like early ideas. However, the process from the original drawing to the finished product can always be challenging as i can't decide on the best process on taking the drawing further. A brief came a long that gave me the opportunity on to expand my practice. It was from a student initiated group called GROSS studios in which a couple of students in our class help organise an exhibition at Hyde Park book club. The theme was 'gross' so, obviously I had a lot of fun thinking of ideas for this project and naturally i settled on the idea of making a large orgy involving pretty much everything in order for it to be more humorous then erotic.
I wanted this large orgy to be more then just a line drawing I thought for a playful charm it would work well if it was all brightly coloured (again trying to further it from being serious and erotic). Therefore, i wanted to experiment different ways on colouring it.
I tried screen printing it first but realised that this didn't create the boldness i needed maybe it was within my registration or the colours chose but i decided that hand printing it didn't bring any charm to it if anything it just made the image more distorted. One thing that got really lost within hand printing it, was the textures on the characters. This is something i recently developed to helpt make the image look stronger then just from a line drawing.
I chose do this Digitally instead as I had more control with the textures and more freedom with the colours. I decided at this point that the piece would be more presentable large at the exhibition therefore, i needed to figure out a way to print it large scale. I came to the conclusion that fabric would work better than paper as I have always wanted to test printing on fabric plus it would give it a more tapestry feel which i think fits the aesthetic and theme of the image. from earlier experience with colouring i decided that printing it digitally on fabric would be a wiser move as my registration was bad with paper therefore, i had little confidence with screen printing large on fabric, a process i haven't yet tried.
Printing it digitally again gave me a more safer bet that the final outcome would be safe and with the deadline of the exhibition around the corner i needed this design secured.
I was really happy with the final outcome of the banner I think it represents a nice development within my illustration practice and shows the more complex details i'm putting into my immediate drawings. Giving the characters a wobbly and naive look making the sexual theme of the banner feel obviously like a joke. I think the colouring of this helped I used the colour schemes of doctor Seuss to help me decide this as i wanted it to have a similar FUN, bold and erratic style.
The banner got some good feedback from the exhibition and it was lots of fun showing it off.
I think the struggles involved within this project has helped me learn that the right process can achieve the right out come.