Illustration and Visual Narrative - Exercises 2

 Illustration and Visual Narrative

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|| 22/5/2025 – 8/6/2025 (Week 5 – Week 7)
|| BAI ZHUO QING, 0370042
|| Illustration and Visual Narrative
|| Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University 

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Lectures

Week 5

This week, we explored the concept of chiaroscuro, an artistic technique that uses the contrast of light and shadow to create a sense of depth and three-dimensional form on a flat surface. The term comes from Italian, meaning “light” (chiaro) and “dark” (oscuro). Commonly used in painting, chiaroscuro helps define the volume and structure of objects or figures by emphasizing tonal differences, enhancing realism and visual impact.

Week 6

This week's course focused on the design and construction of the character background. We continued to use Adobe Illustrator and focused on learning how to effectively distinguish the foreground, middle ground and background in a picture. By properly arranging the position and size of each element, I have a deeper understanding of the layering and spatial sense of the picture. Such exercises not only help the characters and scenes blend more naturally, but also improve the integrity of the overall narrative. This task also made me realize that a reasonable background design can effectively enhance the expression of the character's story and the creation of atmosphere.

Week 7

The focus of the seventh week was how to use gradient colors to enhance the visual performance of the background. We practiced the techniques of light and shadow transition and color fusion in Illustrator, trying to create a more atmospheric scene. The use of gradients not only gave the original flat background a sense of space, but also conveyed different emotional tones through the change of color temperature. This treatment method made the picture more vibrant and made me realize the important role of color in visual language. This week's study significantly broadened my understanding and application of background design in visual narrative.

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Instructions 

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Exercises 2：

Since I thought the three characters designed in Task 1 were not very good-looking, I started drawing new characters.

Then, I searched for some references on Pinterest. Here are the references I used for each character.

Then I started sketching

After that, I am refining the sketch.

I then refer to the guidelines in Framed Ink: Drawing and Composition for Visual Storytellers to make the appropriate match.

Based on this principle, I started to draw my background

After that I started adding characters and the golden ratio.

Final version：

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Reflection：

This work was completed entirely in Adobe Illustrator. During the process, I discovered several new skills: for example, using Live Paint to speed up large-area coloring, and using the grid tool to create realistic light and shadow layers. At first, I was confident because I had done school projects in the past, but when I really started, I found that the difficulty was beyond my imagination. Behind a mature illustration, the composition, line thickness, proportion relationship and color echo must be planned in advance. The grid tool is particularly "picky"; if the light and shadow are slightly out of control, it will appear stiff, and you can only keep trying and fine-tuning until the transition is natural. Although Live Paint saves time, it requires the line drawings to be closed and the edges are clean, otherwise they cannot be recognized. After repeated iterations, I gradually understood the characteristics of these tools and learned to think carefully about every design decision. This exercise is not just about software operation, but it made me realize the deep value of Illustrator in creative process, visual organization and professional presentation.