Folktale Week - Narrative Play - Version 2

I've made a few changes to my Folktale Story, I really wanted to lean into the idea that this is an anti-capitalist story, and that "the fool", eg. the worker, discovered that they aren't valued, noticed or important, and rebel against that.

• The Fool & The Tree - The same journey every day. No matter the weather, no matter the season. They relied on her. Through the woods she went, to find the biggest tree, and then she climbs…
• Star - And as she reaches the top, just as the sun goes down, she masterfully sows tiny crystals into the sky. 
• Rebel - But tomorrow will be different. She had grown tired, and it was time for a break. A trip to the village. With her cloak , so no-one could recognise her. 
• Costume - The gates swing open, and what a blinding sight. LIGHTS! Strung from houses, hanging from poles, in every colour. Was it even nighttime anymore?
• Potion - All this time, to work so hard for something not to be seen. She pulls the bag of crystals from her belt and throws them into the drinking well. 
• Victory - The next day she does not begin the climb, and when the sun goes down…. It is darker than ever before, and the stars still shine.

I also decided to switch the character to she/her pronounce and have them be visually more feminine, to be able to put myself into the story a little bit more. Below are a few of my pages were I am experimenting with colour for the first two prompts, and the final one with the character inserted using the collage technique I have before.

Really love the finished product, and think adding a little bit more depth will be very closed to being something I am ready to call a finished piece.

Adding Character with Collage

I was having difficulty adding characters into my scenes, after a day of trying various ways I decided to try a different tactics. To complete my scene and character separately, cutting the character out and gluing them in place. I was extremely happy with the outcome, and feel like I've overcome a big hurdle that was holding me back. 

Here is the process video for my first attempt:

@okaychloegreen Some surprise cutting and sticking #tiktokillustrator ♬ Wes Anderson-esque Cute Acoustic - Kenji Ueda

Writing Workshop - Andrew McMillan

I caught up on the Andrew McMillan Writing Workshop, although based around the Folktale Week Prompts it was incredibly thought provoking and gave lots of exercises to help think beyond what was the initial thought brought forward by the word. He also discussed how to change the timeline/perspective of the story. Below are a few of my notes from the call, which may not make much sense detached from the workshop.

Fool - 3

Tree  - 1

Star  - 2

Rebel  -5

Costume   - 7

Potion - 6

Victory  - 4

Foolrebel

Everyone scoffs at her ideas, they call her a fool for rebelling against the rules don't seem to get her anywhere, yet she always rebels. And not many people understand why… She seems to distrust all authority, and cause trouble in doing so! But yet, she seems so controlled and full of strength. Should that strength be something that we follow? Maybe she does know best.

Tree

Star

Fool

Victory

Rebel

Potion

Costume

The tree was full of stars, or so it seemed, the fools claimed their victory at its discovery, and praised it as a wonder of the world. They didn’t expect the people to rebel against the prophecy of the tree, so they created a potion from its leaves and bark. Something something costume

The tree was full of stars, or so it seemed, the fools claimed their victory at its discovery.

They used to say that the tree was full of stars, but now, the fools know they claimed their victory too soon.

The tree was full of stars, a reminder of the victory, but it wasn't there any more.

The stars shone down on the tree, a beacon of the village, but now, they knew they were the fool.

Source: https://www.patreon.com/sarahdyer/posts

Folk Tale Week - Thumbnails and Character Building

Having played around with the narrative for folktale week, I thumb nailed out my ideas and started working on the details on the main character.

Thumbnails

I want to ensure there is a magical, folky feel to the panels, I'll achieve this by using a fantastical size for the tree, having cottage/stone built style houses, gas style lamps in the street. 

Although the thumb nails are very quick drafts it's made me realise that I want to go with a more natural colour pallet, but keeping the pink sky!

Character

Working fictionally is very new to me, but it's exciting to create something from scratch. Keeping the character simple and identifiable was important to me, and hopefully I created that with a distinct outfit and clear colour usage. As well as something easily replicated.

This exercise is definitely pushing my out of my comfort zone. I often shy away from using figures in my work, but having the Fool in each panel is really important to the story, so I'm excited to get going on the actual art pieces.

Review of Past Work - Diary Sketchbook Pieces

I have kept a diary sketchbook for a long time, often pieces that are unshared and quite personal; even if that isn't something that is immediately obvious to the viewer. Below are a few snippets:

I worked the same on every page, in pencil and ink, a drawn boarder with a short sentence, occasionally one that spanned two images, often with dates and locations. 

Each image is drawn from a reference photograph, for that reason I think they seem quite stiff, with errors that you would get my not exploring the piece in real life. I am proud of these images, they emote a specific period in my life.

The below are from 2017-2020

The bottom piece was when I begun experimenting painting with ink, and was the first time I had taken a sketchbook with me on holiday, and although not drawn on location, it was drawn whilst still in the country, Belgium, from a photograph I had taken.

Comparing past to present; the themes within my work, and what I am drawn to are still very much the same. Interesting buildings, nature, hidden narrative. And although I have definitely grown from these pages, eg. experimented with many materials, drawing on location, adding more colour etc. it's clear where my interests lie and it's enjoyable to see that consistency. 

Folk Tale Week - Narrative Play

The seven prompts for 2022 Folk Tale Week are: Fool, Tree, Star, Rebel, Costume, Potion, Victory. I want to encompass each prompt into a continued narrative. As mentioned, to push myself out of my comfort zone, to learn to work to others suggestions but also, just to enjoy and play with my illustration.

Darkness - Initial Narrative Draft

The Fool And the Tree (combined) -  His unquestioned duty, like those before him and those after him, is to climb each day to the top of the tallest tree.

Star - And as he reaches the top, just as the sun goes down, he masterfully flicks tiny crystals into the deep blue to create a beautiful night sky. 

Rebel - But why should he keep suffer all day, and work all night? Its time for a rest! And a trip to the distant village, perhaps, in xxx's clothes so not to be recognised. 

Costume - He pushed open the gates to the village, and what a blinding sight. LIGHTS; strung from houses, hanging from poles in every colour. All blocking his magical, hand-crafted sky.

Potion - How could they do this to him? To work so hard for something not to be seen. He pulls his bag of crystals from his belt and throws them into the drinking well. The water bubbles and boils as he walks away.

Victory - The next day he again begins his climb, and when the sun goes down…. It is darker than ever before

Folk Tale Week - Short Form Narrative - Creator Research

Folk Tale Week is a week long collaborative community exercise that happens yearly on Instagram. Created by illustrators to provide seven prompts to initiate ideas for other illustrators to create, each prompt to be posted/shared each day for a whole week. The group initiative builds community of creators working on similar themes at the same time, but the interesting part is always the various interpretation. The pieces can be individual, or as a short week long narrative. Prompts can be combined or the meaning abstract. 

The prompts are released a month before the selected sharing dates, giving participants time to prepare their ideas and being working on their art.

This year I plan to participate for multiple reasons; to push myself into creating narrative work, to share that narrative work, as well as to work on subjects I wouldn't choose myself, in order to stretch my abilities, whilst still applying my own style, thoughts and preferences onto said work.

Whilst I am working on the narrative side I wanted to research some past Folk Tale Week creators and their creations. Particularly those who did choose to work a narrative between the prompts, and those who work traditionally. 

Below are three creators who's contributions stood out to me:

Emma Carlisle - Emma is a landscape artist, children's book writer and illustrator. I loved the energy in this piece, the texture and vibrance, whilst keeping Emma's authentic style.  The combination of the prompts, and the unique outcome is inspiring.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Emma Carlisle (@emmacarlisle_)

Sarah Dyer - A Children's picture book creator and illustration lecturer.  I love Sarahs collage work and seeing in worked into a narrative piece is wonderful. The overall composition and texture of this piece (and every other Sarah created for this Folk Tale Week) are beautiful. I also really loved the dark undertones of the story.

View this post on Instagram

Sarah van Dongen -  Sarah is an illustrator. I discovered Sarah through Folk Tale Week, being drawn in particularly by her play with size and perspective. Although Sarah Van Dongen chose to treat each prompt separately, this one piece tells such a huge story. With the who characters, the background and the details of the home.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sarah van Dongen (@sarahvandongenillustrations)

Reference: 

Emma Carlisle - https://www.emmacarlisle.com/

Sarah Dyer - https://www.sarahdyer.com/

Sarah van Dongen - https://www.sarahvandongen.com/

Autobiographic Comic - Research

With illustrated memoirs being my focused I revisited a selection of comics I had previously read to break them down a little further. I choose the below as they are not only releases from different publishers, allowing my to then move onto researching the publishing side, they also cover a variety of autobiographical subjects, have varying styles and lengths.

87,000 Steps - Kristyna Baczynski - Self Published

A beautiful riso printed comic which is self published. A short piece of 24 pages, covering a small life event; a trip to Amsterdam, from start to finish. Touches on real world news events which help set the scene.

 

Fig 1.

Tillie Walden - Spinning - SelfMade Hero

A comic of age memoir. The panels are clean and colours simple, the book itself is 400 pages. Different from others as it is written retrospectively, but spans a long time, from Tillie being age 8 to 18. Deals with discovered sexuality, depression, first loves and general teen issues whilst keeping that teen voice, which I feel is quite important.

Fig 2.

Zara Slattery - Coma - Myriad Editions

A really interesting mix of real life and dream world, with clearly distinct illustration styles between the two (real life sketchy and one colour, dream world feels more painted, and full colour). A really great example of using real life reference in a piece, including letters from family. Again focuses on one big life event, and covers 256 pages.

Fig 3.

Luke Healy - Americana - NoBrow 

Another memoir detailing a specific journey, but this time one that is an endurance walk lasting over a month. A very nice simple cartoon style, with basic colours, but also mixed with a couple of pages of text. The book comes in at 344 pages, and does go into details on the struggles Luke has both physically and mentally. Also covers personal conversations with family, and Luke's bigger issues. There is also a lot of humour throughout. 

Fig 4. 

Julie Doucet - My New York Diary - Drawn & Quarterly

 Although this book is only 104 pages, Doucet's cartoon style crams in so much detail and information into each panel that it would easily feel three times as long. A personal day-to-day illustration diary, which gets very gritty and very personal. These diary span 6 months in 1991, but were published a few years later. Does touch on political news, allowing you to understand the context of Doucets Life at the time.

Fig 5.

Fig 1. Kristyna Baczynski, 2017, 87,000 Step, Self Published. 

Fig 2. Tillie Walden, 2017, Spinning, SelfMadeHero.

Fig 3. Zara Slattery, 2021, Coma, Myriad Editions.

Fig 4. Luke Healy, 2019, Ameriana, NoBrow.

fig 5. Julie Doucet, 2011, My New York Diary, Drawn and Quarterly.

Building on the Zine Exercise

 In week 2 we were given a zine exercise, to fill an entire zine whilst on location. Choosing the things that drew out attention.

I focused on the taxidermied animals, particularly as we were told my the curator that as this was a Victorian collection, it was highly likely that the specimens were killed specifically to be studied. 

Since this I have put together a number of zines; one on location in Knaresborough, one depicting a fictional street scene which I ended up not being a huge fan of as the narrative I envisioned with the characters on the street didn't quite work.

Pages from Cliffe Castle  Location Zine

Pages from Knaresborough Location Zine

The third one I enjoyed making a lot, a simple colour scheme, with a short, fun rhyming dialog: I Always Walked In The Woods

                                      

Short Form Comic - A Walk to a Waterfall - Thumbnails and Narrative

A Walk to a Waterfall is a diary comic based on a short solo trip I took to Settle in August 2022.

The themes are depression, isolation, and hope, all encompassed in a physical journey.

One of the elements I plan to visually portray in this comic is a looseness that usually comes along with working on location. To recreate this I'm going to give myself a time limit for each panel, alongside a limited colour pallet. 

It will also be hand lettered, to instil the diary feel of the piece. This will be added outside of the time limit.

On this trip I took many references photos, and did work in my sketchbook whilst there. I used theses alongside notes I made on the trip itself to create a script and thumbnails.

Script: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-yrhTDx0OgpIJMNI6_QAklkNcOEV2r6FTi--mXZ6Q8I/edit?usp=sharing

Thumbnails:

Form and Life Drawing Practise

 The movement of form is definitely an area I want to improve. I have started a specific life drawing sketchbook, attended various classes in person and digitally. I want to use this practise in a practical way in my work, eg. to create natural movement in my characters.

Below are a few examples from a recent class; See You Naked Mondays, at Left bank, Leeds.

I also begun working from reference to practise creating simple walking motion.

Adding Narrative with People

I wanted to start working on adding people into my work, it's something I usually avoid, but the stories I am creating are reliant on people being present, particularly myself. I researched resources on building characters and character design; through this I discovered Sarah Dyer, Sarah is an award winning picture book maker and teacher, who also has a Patreon where she shares exercise  on character and narrative

I began working through these, I particularly enjoyed a warm up exercise of drawing a page of faces, here is a little video of my process:

@okaychloegreen Warming up with 23 faces.  ♬ Animal Crossing (New Horizons Lofi) - HYGH Lofi Music & Lobit & Cooky

Having an aim which is simply to fill the page allowed me to loosen up, think less and intuitively draw faces the way I like and enjoy. It gave me the chance to experiment and think differently.

From this I moved onto experimenting drawing myself quickly and loosely. I tried various materials, ink pencil, brush pen, crayon, as well as various expressions until I found something I really liked.

       

I then worked on adding more detail and getting used to the character.

Sources:

Sarah Dyer Patreon, Digital, 2021: https://www.patreon.com/sarahdyer/posts

 

Colour and material Experiments

I decided to start with colour and material experimentation, with those I am familiar with, what I am drawn to, and the opposite; colours I usually shy from and new materials to push myself out of my comfort zone.

I started with laying down a variety of base colours and working on top of them with various materials; water-soluble crayon, pencil and brush pen. The base layer was always gouache to create a matt finish.

The purple/lilac background were the most appealing of the experiments, however its obvious that darker background colours are difficult to work over; this made it difficult to create details, the base gouache interfered with brush pens. Whilst I enjoyed the overall nighttime feel of these, it wasn't what I what I envisioned.

I next went onto playing with colour pallets using pencil and brush-pens. Including some rough and quick landscapes to test them out.

I'm always drawn to pink and green, so spent a little longer doing two full scenes from reference photos.

Materials used: Tom-bow brush pens, Neocolour II, Lumiance pencils.