Project Evaluation

What was the theme for the project?

The theme for the project was wolves and little red riding hood, for this we made a book cover for Roald Dahl's "ghastly and grizzly, the gruesome tales of Roald Dahl"

How have you developed your ideas? How did your work change through the project?I have developed my ideas through a range of different Medias, such as charcoal, gouache and many more materials. My work changed throughout the project as my drawings improved and my ideas for my book cover evolved and I thought about what I could change to make it better. Such as when i did the pencil drawing of the wolf, i was not to pleased with it so i changed it completely and re-designed it.

How much reference material did you find? Do you think you should have done more or less?I found some of reference material, of pictures of wolves, log cabins, red riding hood, and other things. I do think I could have used more material references but then again I did have enough to complete my project. Although i have got some material from the internet i have also drew pictures from the internet but i have not put the actual reference material in my book. 

What artists or designers have you looked at to help and inspire you?
As a whole I only looked at one artist which was Scott Campbell, whose work was inspiring and I did a double page of his work in our sketch book. The pictures that i painted were of wolves witches,gorillas and other weird designs. Other than that I got inspiration from drawings and pictures that I printed of the internet.

What materials, tools and techniques did these artists use?The material used in the Scott Campbell copy was gouache. To do this I used a black colour, watered down to create different shades and make it more effective. The artist painted his pictures always with a black outline around the edge of the images, and the way in which he none of the paint was  not perfect because some of the areas were left white.

How have your skills developed during the project?During the project my skills have developed because my drawing has become more accurate and better. Also I have learnt new skills such as how to use Photoshop and image capture, which I have never used before until now.i have also learnt how to use other tools and techniques. For example i had never heard or used gouache before until we used it for the artist copy.

Are there any aspects of your studies that you wish you had explored further?
I wished that I had explored the ways in which wolves move and present themselves, as I would have liked to go and see some real life wolves to see how they live and react in their environment. I also would have like to research the actual book by Roald Dahl and see what pictures/images they used to show the poem and see what there views on the drawings were.

How have you used formal elements such as line, tone, colour and shape?I have used tone in some of my work such as the Scott Campbell copies, and the drawing of the wolf. I have also used shape in my work as many of my drawings are at the right proportion and look representational. I didn’t use much colour in my work as black and white were more compatible with the project because if the work is black and white it makes it easier to work with on Photoshop.

What materials did you use, and why? Did they work successfully?
Throughout the project I used a range of materials such as graphite pencil, biro, ink, chalk and fineliner. I used these because they were easy and made my work stand out more. Some of the pieces worked better than others as I found the charcoal was my favourite because it was messy and easy to change. Whereas when I did the printing I found it hard to work with because you couldn’t change it after you printed it and also that there was no tone to the print, and so it was just black and white.

What meaning and messages did you want to convey and were you successful?
The meaning of my book cover was to create an evil looking wolf to show on the front, and so it was bigger than everything else on the page. I also tried to create the story using just pictures of red riding hood and the wolf and other little things to fill up the space. I also aimed at making the book cover quite sinister and making not so much a happy mood.

Are you happy with your final piece? Are there any elements you like in particular?Yes I and very happy with my final piece although I can now see things that maybe need adjusting a little. My favourite bit is the front cover writing as it stands out really well and is different from everyone else’s. I also like the fact that the no one else has done the layout similar to me. 

Is there anything you would change? Why?
Even though I like my work the way it is, if I had the chance to change my work I would start all over again to see whether it would look better presented in a different form. Also I don’t like my pencil drawing of the wolf because it doesn’t look right and doesn’t look anything like how I wanted it to.
To be honest I am very happy with my final book cover, and it is all that I wanted and designed it to be.