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Project Sequence Animation

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Reflection of the day 06/12/21 - 09/12/21 : Project Reportage Revisit

This week we revisited the Reportage project, in which we had to make a concertina with our experiences in the Liberdade neighborhood.

The idea I had was to create a narrative with the entire history of the Japanese people here in Brazil during all these years. Besides also showing all the people I interviewed during the October weeks.

When there was feedback about the concertina, I remember that something I needed to change was mainly the typeface, and trying to make a connection between the pages so they don't look too far apart.

In addition to having to censor a very prejudiced comment from a resident of Liberdade, which bothered me a lot.

Something that Lauren suggested to me in the concertina, was mainly to try to make some paintings with black background and other white ones, so that there was a certain distinction of certain situations. As there are certain moments in history that are sad or at least disturbing, maybe it would be better if I put the background in black to show what an unpleasant situation it was.

The comic book artist Frank Miller was one of the references she gave me, because he works with nanquin, making heavy shadows on his characters , something practically noir.

She told me to do this, on pages 7 and 8, where she showed a very complicated period for the Japanese here in Brazil, during the second war.

I would have to use this requested technique, in addition to trying to connect these two pages somehow.

At the beginning I didn't think it would be something interesting, but as I worked I realized how good it was, because I managed to convey the atmosphere of the place.

On page 7 I had included the president of the time, Getulio Vargas smoking a cigar, showing that he had allied himself with the Americans and this would bring problems for the Japanese in Brazil. and the next page is the military beating out the Japanese because they thought they were Axis spies or allies.

The way I managed to connect these illustrations was through the smoke of Getulio's cigar, which went to the next page.

I've added a lot more details to the characters' outfits, making this more Frank Miller style.

Typography was something I had to change too. Because the first concertina I had made had a very hard typeface to understand what was written. Because as I don't know much about typefaces, I often choose the one that best suits the illustration. This typeface reminded me of something more oriental, however I was not careful as to the design.

So I had tested a typeface that I had created by hand, totally styled. But I noticed that it was too big and it hid the illustrations a little because of its size, and I thought it was a little poorly finished.

So with a little calm and patience I decided to create my typeface in Illustrator just like I had done in the Covers: Records project. With some of what I learned in the workshop, I made this typeface, which is a bit similar to the one I used the first time, but it's much more spaced out and more flashy to use on the concertina.

After a lot of work I finally got to where I wanted to go. All the pages on the front connected somehow. As on pages 9 and 10 with the crowd of Japanese showing the different generations. On pages 5 and 6 with the entire scene of Liberdade, showing the streets, signs and poles. Plus I put the distorted letters in the "streets" so it wouldn't be too tight at the top of the page.

I tried to make as many changes as possible, trying to experiment with things that I normally wouldn't do in a traditional job, and I was worried if it would be something interesting and different. And according to Lauren I did something much more out of the box than usual, so I'm happy with the result, and having tried it out, and thought it through, until I came up with a definitive idea.

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Reflection of the day 29/11/21 - 2/12/21 Project Editorial revisit

Monday : This week we revisited the Editorial project, where we had to do a main illustration and three spot illustrations for the chosen article. Which in my case was an article about giraffe communication.

I remember that it had been difficult to make an illustration that communicates the idea of ​​the article well. The first illustration had been something totally distant from what the article was, and the second illustration already communicated the idea better in general, the problem is that I hadn't had time to make something very well finished. So it was a good illustration, but it had a very simple composition, the background of the illustration was totally generic and deserved more.

So I mainly focused on that. I redid the whole main illustration, trying to focus on the giraffes interaction in a way that would be funnier, because the article has a certain humorous tone.

What I was told to change itself was the background, to change the position of the giraffes, to make them interacting in a more organic way, instead of just being on the side, as if they were made in a more flat way.

In addition to trying to insert the scientist who was researching giraffes in a better way.

I made some thumbnails, with ideas on how I could insert this researcher into the drawing, so I started to have some really weird ideas, like him dressed up as a giraffe and noting what the other one said, or a giraffe talking to one made of wood with a microphone in the head and wired headphone the scientist behind a bush trying to understand what that language meant.

In the end I managed to mix these two ideas, and make a giraffe interacting with a stuffed animal with a microphone on her neck and the scientist inside the stuffed animal listening to everything with his headphones.

A completely crazy idea and at the same time funny showing the guy's discomfort inside a tight place.

What I needed to do was also look for references that would dialogue well with my idea. Because I still needed to find some artists who work in the publishing business and have wildlife as their main theme.

I need to improve my researches a little, because I feel a lack of relationship between them and my work. And it's mostly difficult to find artists who use this theme.

Tuesday: The illustration would be done again in Procreate, which for me is always a great facilitator to use it, because I can test different types of brushes, and often make mistakes and be able to redo it without problems.

The composition of the giraffes was really interesting. The real giraffe I tried to make it with the funniest and most silly look, to show that it doesn't know it's a stuffed animal.

This time I made a much more elaborate scenario. The floor had a sandier color with several different shades of yellow, and the sky I made a little pinker, to try to give the appearance of a drier, reddish sky.

I also tried to make a savanna tree with the color closest to the sky.

It turned out to be a much better design than the first one I had done, being much better done and maybe communicating the idea of ​​the article better.

The spot illustrations had been something I hadn't given much thought to.

Wednesday: I had done one showing the giraffes intertwining, using brushes that I had created in the workshops, I had really liked the result. However, it differed from the main illustration, as it had a different style, so I would have to change.

And for me the worst thing I did on this project was spot illustrations. I found the paintings horrible, because they were done in a hurry and without thinking too much.

I've kept the design of the giraffes intertwining, using a paint and style that matches the rest. But I didn't like the way it was done, I found it very simple and banal, and it doesn't have the same appeal and style as the first one.

The other two spots I did, I didn't think it was great either.

One was a mother petting her baby and the other was two giraffes talking in her tongue. The drawings of the two were good, but again the painting was very poorly done, because I was getting a little tired of having to fix so many things, that I started to get discouraged, seeing that it wasn't going to turn out the way I wanted.

On Thursday I presented all my changes in all the illustrations.

The overall balance was positive, but something Lauren would like me to change was the angle of the giraffe, because it was a little awkward where they were. And maybe add some more trees in the background, besides improving the shade under the giraffes a little bit because the shadows I had made were a little weird.

So I had to sit back and relax to straighten out these imperfections.

This new giraffe I had made was a little different from the other one because it had more real features than the one that was more cartoony.

I didn't feel that I had managed to put on the same expression of humor as in the other one. I thought the whole concept of this giraffe in general was very weak, leaving me frustrated for not having been able to replicate the same mood as the other one.

I also had to look for some news that interested me and also create three spots illustrations.

I tried to look for very different news to make very varied illustrations.

One was about a infamous Mexican drug trafficker who is apparently "alive", another about the endless dispute between the borders of India and China, and the last one, was about a 900-year-old sword found at the bottom of the sea, in Israel.

It was an extremely productive, and challenging week. I can't say I liked everything I've done, but I would have liked to have done something more professional like the cover of the book, and at least had the patience for certain things. Anyway, next time I try to do better.

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Reflection of the day 22/11/21 - 25/11/21 Project Covers Revisit

Reflection of the day 22/11/21 - 25/11/21

This week we revisited the Covers project, where we needed to finish or redo the album and book covers.

In my case, I had a certain advantage, because when the projects came out, I made several different covers and theoretically I finished the project faster.

However I remember that I was very dissatisfied with the final result of the cover of the book, because although the front cover was interesting, I remember that many people had complained that the back cover had a very generic background.

Because the intention was to make the Frankenstein monster with the flames in the background as the front cover, and as the back cover Dr Frankenstein and the arctic in the background. But as I had done in a hurry, it turned out to be very simple.

So during the second one I had the opportunity to remake this generic fund and turn it into something more interesting.

Obviously following the same idea as Artico, but as I learned to use the Procreate tool better these last few months, I ended up discovering new brushes and techniques to improve the style.

I made a more blurry background trying to make the glaciers a little more realistic and include the ship the doctor was aboard.

Victor Frankenstein's drawing was the same, because there wouldn't be time to make another face, and I also like how I made this drawing.

I received feedback in the afternoon to see if I was on the right track. And apparently yes, I had made a background that matched the free tone much better than the other.

What I needed to change despite this was the monster on the front cover itself. Because despite being well made, it wasn't quite as monstrous as it was described in the book. He looked more like a zombie, with some scars and yellowish skin.

Lauren suggested I use that first drawing of the monster with the face all deformed, and completely scary.

As far as I remember, I didn't really like that drawing because the coloring had turned horrific, and I had dropped the drawing.

But he made more sense within the proposal than the other.

So I reused this design, but I added some touches to it to make it more to my liking. As the coloration itself became more flat, with the comic style I like, in addition to having more details and shadows on your face.

But doing all this made me very tired. I'm just running out of energy because I'm just dedicated to Ebac and nothing else. I can't stop and I always try to make things as good as possible so that I can make a good impression.

The problem is that I couldn't take a minute to breathe, because there are too many projects to do at the same time, and I know that if I leave one behind, it can harm me further on, that's why I prefer to move my things forward, even that could be tiresome sometimes.

On Tuesday I received the terrible news that Ebac would close, and its partnership with Hertfordshire would also end.

It was a very sad news, because despite knowing that Ebac's situation was not the best,due to the Covid, I didn't think it could reach this point.

I was really shaken by this, because it was a College that I identified a lot with, because it took me a while to find the ideal college and course, and when I discovered Ebac, I didn't think twice about joining it.

At the beginning it was a little difficult to adapt to the course, but as I understood the dynamics of the college in general, I enjoyed the classes, the professors and the projects, which made me unleash creativity and try to enjoy the moment, and try to learn with my own mistakes.

I will still have the opportunity to continue attending Ebac, and do my projects there, but I am very sad to know that after I graduate, everything will just vanish.

On Wednesday I tried to concentrate and redo Solange's album cover.

The last cover I had made, it was really cool, especially because of the herons coming out of Solange's hair, it was something really cool to do.

However, it was a drawing done in a hurry, because I wasn't sure what to do.

As I now had an idea of ​​how aesthetically I wanted it to look, I just needed to redo the design, again focusing on Solange's expression.

But this time I did the drawing much more calmly and patiently, and again using different brushes to make the cover.

The drawing was much more expressive than the other, representing a look of joy on Solange's face that the other didn't have.

The only thing that got a little worse in this drawing is that the lettering was much tighter than the other one.

The letters in the first drawing looked more fluid and natural, in this new drawing it felt tighter.

On Thursday there was an online feedback, where I was feeling very bad, and I didn't even have the courage to leave the house to do something.

Despite having coughed a lot when speaking, the feedback was very positive regarding the work and also the formative feedback, which I had done over the weekend.

The formative feedback helps me a lot to clarify issues I have involving projects, and positive points about my learning.

Lauren told me that it's very important for me to understand one hundred percent of what I'm asking, because I had said that sometimes I didn't understand certain things because I didn't read the brief, because I wanted to dive into the projects right away. But I should do things more calmly and analyzing to make sure I'm doing and not make silly mistakes along the way because I've been careless.

But in general the feedback was very positive in relation to evaluation and works.

A little later, I had the opportunity to talk to Manuela so she could give me feedback on my cover design.

What she asked me to do in relation to the cover of the book was to adjust the head height of the characters to make them line up as if they were one face.

In addition to creating a mockup for the book, to show the cover and back cover together, to imitate a real book.

For Solange's album I wanted to know which of the designs was better, and which lettering worked the most.

She told me that the design I had done on Wednesday was actually much better, mainly for the finish and expression of the design. But she told me that even though the lettering was a little tight, she didn't see it as a problem, I should just make the lettering smaller, to make it less tight, but nothing more, because it was really good this way, according to her.

All this feedback was great, and it was really a very unusual week, what I really want to do now is rest and shut down my brain for a few days.

[rodpupo5]

Reflection of the day 15/11/21 - 19/11/21 - Project Sequence ( week 2) and Crit 2

I'm almost done with the Sequence project comic book. What bothers me is a bit of the final part, where from the sixth page onwards, I end up leaving it a little repetitive, as I show the bottle falling once more, but this time seen from the front.

So in the morning I asked Lauren to help me with this problem. And she gives me a great idea. In changing the box in which the bottle falls on the floor that was on page 7 to the previous one and enlarging the illustration to show the impact.

And on page 7 I could use the idea of ​​the drink sprawled on the floor, making a sort of path, as if it were a river, and then it would end up going down the drain on page 8.

Something that was missing however was to put some texture in the design. He appeared to be very stoned. With the look of a digital drawing.

So I overlaid all the designs with a granite texture with a paper texture. I tried mixing textures to make the image look different.

The result was very interesting, it really made it look more alive in my opinion.

I would have liked to have used several shades of the chosen red and yellow, so as not to look so similar, trying to give it a kind of gloom.

But with the lack of time, I chose to leave it that way, and finish the concertina.

Also Lauren suggested me to change the typeface present in the concertina, for maybe something more handmade. Or at least one that best represents the Asian side.

In addition to having shown some of the interviews I got in the neighborhood in Liberdade.

I tried to explain a little about each of the interviewees, how some had more positive opinions about the neighborhood, and others not so much.

On Tuesday I started tinkering with the concertina and its details.

The typeface I chose was one that made more sense with the concertina, than the one that had a more digital aspect, this new one already had a more nanquin character. I would have liked to make my own typeface, but I think this would be just another problem for me to solve, so I preferred to make it easier.

The hardest part was trying to organize the drawings and choose the conversations.

The problem was trying to make the text not interfere with the drawing, so I tried to space the drawing and the text, to have a balance.

What I dislike about these drawings, maybe it's a little bit of the rush I was in to make them. I had a relative amount of time to make these drawings, but I tried to do something that wasn't so elaborate.

And that's why I'm a little upset, because if I had had from the beginning how I would like the story to be, the drawings and the typeface could have been something more perfectly done.

On Thursday was the day of crit 2, where I had to set up my entire process in Miro.

These were extremely challenging projects, mainly reportage, where I had a long process to get it done.

And on Thursday I had the chance to hear what could change or improve on both of the projects.

During my presentation I tried to be as succinct as possible, trying to show the whole process, from the first sketches to the final drawings.

In the case of reporting, I had more things to present, mainly my first attempt at making the concertina, which hadn't worked out, and the whole process until I reached the final concertina.

I sometimes got lost when talking, but I think I managed to explain the idea of ​​the two projects properly.

What makes me lose myself in these presentations is mainly the nervousness and having to remember certain English words, making things more difficult.

After the presentation, all students had to do a "bingo", using a card given by the teachers. In it, we had to circulate all the characteristics that our works presented.

It was an interesting experiment because students could give me feedback on what I could improve on future projects.

In this case, we were analyzing the report. Where they suggested I maybe change the lettering. Because the letters seemed a little close together, making it difficult to understand what he was saying.

Some said that it would be better if I took out all the text, because the images already worked by themselves.

I disagreed because with the text, the person would better understand the entire historical and political context that the Japanese experienced in Brazil.

So I was given another suggestion to simply keep the text short and simple, to make it look less boring to the reader.

The drawings themselves received very positive feedback, saying they had a very good style and exaggeration in the concertina.

In the afternoon it was time for the teachers to suggest what I could change. The same was said about the typeface, which maybe could be interesting to reduce the amount of words a little, and use varied fonts, without being so formal, maybe more daring when choosing a typeface.

But I think what worried me the most was the part of the interviewees, where I had mentioned a racist comment by someone from the Liberdade neighborhood.

I was absolutely embarrassed at that point, because I could have at least blurred his name, along with his uttered words.

The teachers will understand my situation, because I had put it in the work, because it was something so absurd that I had heard that I couldn't leave it out.

They warned me to be careful the next time I put something like this on because it might give the wrong impression.

And really I should have thought twice before doing this bullshit. But I can't just cut it off, like nothing happened, I need to leave it where it is, but try to camouflage certain words.

In the sequence project, a challenge was made in which a student had to redraw a comic that could improve and vice versa.

The student who redrawn one of my comics suggested that I should make the movements more fluid, or at least more evident that the bottle was drunk. Because it was a little hard to understand at first.

She suggested overlaying the drawings and doing as animators are used to working, in leaving the motion drawings a bit faded.

In addition to exaggerating a little more in the drops spilled by the bottle.

My big problem is that I can't do something very abstract, I always try to keep it simple without exaggeration, and that's something that my works lack a little.

The same goes for the reportage, it is a very simple comic book, without great exaggerations.

I feel like I need to try to be more daring, because if I always keep to this streamlined line, the works will always seem like I could have done something more.

[rodpupo5]

Reflection of the Day 01/11/21 to 05/11/21 - Project Reportage (week 3)

This week I dedicated myself mainly to the Reportage project.

For a while, I had no idea how I could create a story with everything I did in Liberdade.

However, I decided to use my experience at the Japanese immigration museum to be able to tell this story.

I had to do a lot of research on the history of Japanese immigration to Brazil. From books I found, to even revisiting the museum, where I paid more attention to certain details about why they came here.

I had decided to start chronologically, from their lives in Japan, to the end of the Meiji era, and the opening of the country to the world.

I also spoke about their lives in the coffee fields, where they lived as indigents, and looked forward to a better future.

I also researched about his involvement in the Liberdade neighborhood. Where neither the first nor the last to live in the neighborhood.

Perhaps what impressed me the most about all this was what the Japanese population in Brazil suffered a lot during World War II.

I had never thought about their situation here during the war. And for me it was a shock to see the injustices they suffered, and how that was erased in history. Because little is said about this moment, most likely because it was a shameful moment in the national history.

The problem was precisely in ending this story. It's very difficult to think of an ending that is pleasant for everyone. I would like to end in a more melancholy way, showing how much difficulties the Japanese had here in Brazil.

But I don't know if it was the right thing to do, as they helped a lot in Brazilian urbanization and development. So I preferred to show how the Japanese were very important in the agrarian and urban part.

I did all this in Photoshop, using only black and white, because I thought it fit more with Japanese manga style.

It was extremely tiring to do this project, because for many moments I felt without the slightest idea of ​​what to do, thinking that I might not deliver something that looked well finished. As much as it got simpler compared to other projects, I'm happy that at least I managed to finish.

What's left now is to do the other side of the concertina, probably showing the Japanese today.

On Thursday I ran to start the Sequence project, where we have to make a speechless comic, using an object as a character.

I made some storyboards during the day, trying to figure out how I could create another story.

It is a more challenging project because there are several drawings that we have to make, creating a main narrative emphasizing movement.

My object of choice was a drunk whiskey bottle. Because I could play a lot with the movements of the bottle, swinging back and forth.

In addition to making her drop whiskeys on all sides. And in the end it would fall off the table  and would crash on the floor.

Again I didn't know how to decide for an ending, because what I chose didn't make much sense. So now my goal is to work better on this story, and try to make it the best possible way.

[rodpupo5]

Reflection of the day 25/10/21 to 28/10/21 Project Reportage Week 2

Monday - Today was the first day I went to Ebac. After such a long time, I finally had the chance to see the new building, and to re-establish myself. The day started with the presentation that we needed to make, about our entire experience in the Liberdade neighborhood. The presentation should include drawings, photos, references and questions. I was the first to present, and as always I have that difficulty in speaking in public because of my shyness. But I think I managed to spend my experience in Liberdade well. In the teachers' opinion, the presentation was very good, because it showed how Liberdade is a varied neighborhood, and how I tried to look for different places to draw, sometimes drawing slower, and sometimes in a hurry. In the afternoon, we had the chance to draw in small concertinas, to play our ideas about what our story could be. For me that was the hardest part, because again, I have no idea how I'm going to be able to create. The teachers suggested that maybe I do more research, and try to use them as inspiration for my work. Besides trying to go deep into the Japanese cultural part. If I want to represent their culture, I should go beyond researching reportage illustrators I can either tell a story about my experience in Liberdade, or something that most impacted me on this trip. What I should do these days is just focus a hundred percent on the story, and try to create something interesting. Maybe I even have to go back to freedom to gather more information, probably interview someone in the neighborhood, to give me some sort of content.

Wednesday -  I'm still creatively blocked in doing this illustration report. I'm not getting a clear idea of ​​what I want about the job.

So I decided to go back once more to the neighborhood of liberty, and try to interview someone and tell me a little about the neighborhood. So I started with the same places and a few different ones to have something more for my reporting. I met a Japanese gentleman who owned a souvenir shop. And I asked him to tell me a little bit about him. He told me that his father was Japanese and his mother was a daughter of the second generation of Japanese people in Brazil. He also told me that he doesn't live in the liberty district. He just works there. Nowadays the neighborhood is predominantly Chinese and Korean. Then he tries to interview other people, but I wasn't so lucky. Because some of them had a very heavy accent, and it was hard to understand. I went home soon, to at least start the concertina. I gathered some experiences that I had in these two weeks, including mainly places that caught my attention. I had to rush to make the drawings, which even at the beginning I was going to do in the concertina I had done. But to make it faster I did it in procreate. The aesthetic I was looking for,  was one very similar to that of Robert Crumb and Joe Sacco. Trying to make a fully crosshatched and a little caricatured drawing. Although it was visually interesting. It was very rushed, there was no general connection between the drawings. But I was forcing myself to at least have something for tomorrow.

Thursday - Today I went to deliver the reportage illustrations that I had done during these days. As I mentioned earlier, I made these illustrations in a bit of a rush, and I wasn't confident about showing them to Lauren. The problem with these illustrations for me was that they were made without me getting a real sense of where I wanted to go. And it ended with an idea in my opinion, weak, and that could have been something much bigger and interesting. Arriving at EBAC, I was the first one to talk to Lauren about work. I explained my situation and how difficult it was to decide where I wanted to take this story. Despite this, she liked the idea, especially the painting with the Japanese interviewed in Liberdade. But she suggested me to maybe create a comic that maybe shows if my favorite experience in the Liberdade neighborhood. And I had said that the place I liked the most was the Japanese immigration museum. Where it has a rich history of the Japanese and their coming to Brazil, and the problems they had to face. This idea was much more interesting to explore for me, than maybe my experience in the neighborhood. What I have in mind is to make the whole history of the Japanese, since their coming to Brazil working on coffee farms. Until the present day where I would like to return to the Liberdade neighborhood, and interview people and ask about their stories as children or grandchildren of Japanese immigrants. The idea is precisely to make the front side of the concertina like the Japanese past, and the other side like the present. This is an idea that brings me many possibilities, because I can create a very impactful story, made with more calm and patience, and I can also expand my research and add books about the Japanese and their history. During the afternoon we were introduced to the new project, where we need to make an 8-frame comic, but without any living beings, dialogs, and be limited to using only two colors. I think it's an excellent challenge, because it can make me create something totally out of the box and completely freaked out. I had some ideas, like for example; a bag tearing, a match burning, a gum being crushed. But my favorite idea was a bottle of whiskey "drunk", bouncing sideways and then falling. I think it's a really cool idea because I can give the bottle a certain personality, without having to put arms and legs or a mouth.

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Reflection of the day 21/10/21: Project Reportage

This week I returned to São Paulo after a long time. It was a little weird to go back and start walking the streets of São Paulo on my first day. The project's objective was to draw various things around us in the Liberdade neighborhood, such as people and buildings, for example. I had to go with a colleague and walk the streets taking pictures and drawing everything that caught my attention. As I had never been to the Liberdade neighborhood, it was a big news for me. At first I was more focused on drawing the person or object for as long as necessary. But I know I should go quickly, because the goal of the project was not perfection, but the amount of drawings that were made and creativity. Unfortunately for me, making a design that's simpler and faster isn't exactly something I like to do. That's why I couldn't produce so many drawings in the morning, mostly because of that. Although it was really fun to go to different places and take pictures of everything around us. But I feel like I'm not entirely comfortable drawing with people around and looking at what I'm doing. In addition to being very difficult to draw standing, without your own support. But I understand that this is all part of the challenge. Because I can't spend my whole life drawing on my desk alone. I need to understand what's around me, without needing google all the time. At the end of the day, even though I drew relatively well, I don't think I had done that many drawings. I noticed how my colleagues had an easier time drawing everything around them, even talking to people about some story in their lives. I felt totally useless that day because I didn't feel as daring as the rest of the class. On Tuesday I decided to draw and use all the photos as a reference. I made these drawings, they were done with more calm and time and I've always preferred to work this way, even though it's not ideal. Besides, I decided to go back to Liberdade and revisit some places and redesign. Like for example the santander bench which is shaped like a Japanese temple, where I sat in the square drawing for some time. Even churches and other buildings that I revisited but more calmly. I had a great time on Tuesday because the weather was already better for walking in the neighborhood, in addition to getting to know Liberdade better. On the Wednesday I walked around my neighborhood, looking for people and objects to draw. I found some interesting things, but nothing worth documenting. But for me the big problem with the work itself was to use all these drawings I had done so far and create a narrative. I was just drawing random stuff without thinking about a narrative properly. On Thursday I continued walking through places close to Liberdade, where the intention was the same as the second. Only this neighborhood seemed to be less flashy than the other. Few places we went to were open, and few places were interesting to draw and photograph. I felt that the day started a little difficult because I wasn't feeling as productive this day. But in the afternoon I had an opportunity to draw a lot more at the Japanese Immigration Museum. A very beautiful place full of culture. I was really impressed, with the amount of things that were inside that museum, like old clothes, swords, samurai armor, portraits, I was there for a long time trying to draw. Still, I hadn't been able to find anything interesting to make my story. As much as I have different drawings in my hands, I still haven't been able to stop and think of a narrative. What I need to do now is research more about artists of this genre. I need to understand their creative process of creating a story. I need to spend more time now on my storyboards, and I need to focus on trying to make everything the best I can.

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Reflection of the day: 16/10/21 - Project Editorial (week 2) and Crit 1

This week I continued the Editorial project, trying to fix and improve my illustration of the report. During the weekend I dedicated myself to making the illustration of the giraffes walking together and trying to finish as best I could. However, I already knew that the design had already escaped the proposal of the text completely. Only I wanted to leave it finished to at least get something done. During Monday, I had the opportunity to talk to Lauren about work. She told me that it would be interesting if I could make another drawing of the giraffes, to better dialogue with the text. I agreed to redo it, because I really wanted to make a better design, as well as the opportunity to try out another idea. Something interesting also happened on Monday. I finally got an idea of ​​how to do the cover for Solange's A Seat At The Table album. Because as I had time to think and re-evaluate my ideas, I ended up using the idea of ​​drawing Solange on the side with the name of the album in her hair. Just with herons flying out of your hair, like in the song "Cranes on the Sky" And to make the birds, I used a crane brush that I created in Luiz's workshop. The idea was very interesting, and finally I had created a solution for the cover of the record. For the editorial drawing, I had the idea of ​​doing something simpler, which requires less use of colors, and simpler designs. So I had a brainstorm, and I used one of the ideas, to make the two giraffes talk in their own language while the scientist watches them. I thought it was a simple and good idea, because I knew I would have time to finish by Thursday, and present all the projects. In spite of that, I was wanting to make a painting on the procreate of the giraffes better done. I wanted to do something that didn't get so high, like something that had more texture. I kept testing to see if I could do something different, but I always found the paintings I did too simple and boring. So even testing it several times, I preferred to leave the initial paint job, which is more flat. During thursday I had to organize all my Book and Record Cover work with Editorial illustration. I put Solange's record cover in an LP record template, and Frankenstein's book covers in a hardcover template. In addition, I had to put together a presentation showing my entire process, from sketches and initial ideas, to research and first attempts. I had a problem at the time of the presentation, because my keynotes weren't opening, so I had to quickly grab everything I had and post it on the Miro board. The presentation was good, I had a lot of things to show, and that's good, because it shows how many things I had done. However, when it came to talking, it was pretty bad. I stuttered and confused the words, finally, those problems I always have in presentations. The teachers evaluated my covers right away. Frankenstein's cover they suggested that I could use the drawing I had made of the table with the yellow organs. I tried messing around with the cover I used as the final one, replacing the background and typeface for something more gothic. Still, it seems that the table with the monster's limbs is more interesting as a cover. Solange's cover was well rated by the teachers, saying it was an interesting idea to represent the album idea. However they said it would be interesting if the letters that are in your hair were bigger. As if the lyrics really were part of Solange's hair. Something grander perhaps. And finally came the design of the Editorial project. Although they liked the design, it would be interesting for me to do something perhaps less perfect in their conception. From what I understand maybe I should make the giraffes with different sizes, besides also changing the background color of the design. In addition to making the spot illustration dialog with the main illustration. Because they both have totally different styles. So I have to choose which style I should go with. I still need to fix certain things in the editorial illustration, but I'm very happy that I was able to finish the other work in interesting ways. Mainly Solange's album cover, which was something very difficult for me to finish. Because I made several drawings and none of them dialogued with the album. And after taking some time to think, I came up with an idea, which might not be as original, but which works much better as a record cover than the others. That's why I'm very proud of this work, more than the other two.

Unused Mockup :

Sketches:

Works Finalized:

[rodpupo5]

Reflection of the day: 09/10/21- Project Editorial Illustration

This week there was a very interesting project, because the theme of the project was linked to wild animals, something I've been interested in since the beginning. What we needed to do, was choose a text that Lauren had given, and then we should draw something interesting that represents the report. There was a text about the behavior of giraffes, which I found very interesting right away. Because it was something that communicated a lot with my tastes, about wild animals. And I had no doubt that this was the theme I wanted to work on. I read the text a few times to understand the aspects that made it so interesting. One of the passages that had marked me was a moment when it is said that giraffes are so social, that they look like teenagers. This was the gateway to some ideas I had in mind. My idea was to make something funnier and even cute, because the text has a comic side to the way it treats giraffes. So I stuck to an idea where giraffes were together and walking down the street, wearing clothes, and playing music like they were really teenagers. At first I found this idea very interesting, however I think it was very poorly executed. The first drawing represents the idea of ​​the text very well, but I felt that it was done a little bit sloppily at times, and I didn't think about what the background of the drawing could be like. I didn't really like the design of the characters, I found their looks kind of weird, and their hands that looked like boxing gloves. The next day I decided to start again, doing something in the same idea but with a more cartoonish appearance in the expressions. And this second drawing was better done and even more expressive. With the two giraffes making funny faces and skating. I tried to represent this comic and teenage style well. Although it was better done, I think I've drifted too far from the main theme. Because the aim of the project was to get people to link the illustration with the theme. And this drawing with the text doesn't make any sense, it totally escapes the initial idea. So I was really upset that I couldn't get where I wanted to go, and made drawings that could have been better if I hadn't been so excited or anxious. On the day of the crit, the tips I received from the professor and students were interesting, because I had the chance to rethink my project and besides trying to do research that was more involved with the editorial side. I realized that I had been much more concerned with aesthetics, and how the work should be presented. Instead of worrying about making connections between my research and work itself. In the afternoon I didn't know what to do, because I started to want to restart the project, and think of another illustration to do. But I saw that this could hinder me, because it could accumulate with other projects that I still need to do. So I decided to keep the first drawing of the giraffes walking down the street, as part of the final work, but create a whole scenario around the drawing, and use new brushes to paint the drawing. Friday's workshop on how to create brushes in Photoshop and Illustrator was very helpful for me because I got the chance to learn something that could benefit me from creating textures for my drawing. Although I didn't touch drawing software very little, I managed to get a lot out of the class, as I learned several techniques on how to create and use the brush. I wanted to create brushes, with tree and even bird textures, so I could correlate with the project theme. It took a while for me to understand how both tools worked, but as I was moving, I was creating more practice, and I was doing several tests with several images to see how each brush I created looked like. One that I'm thinking about using is a watercolor brush, which leaves a very interesting effect on the character. It was a very fruitful week overall. Despite the problems I'm facing in relation to the project, I still have the chance to fix and redo as many times as necessary until it's the way I wanted it.

Sketches and Ideas:

Spot Illustration idea:

Workshop:

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Reflection of the day: 02/10/21: Project 1 Record Covers

this was one of the most intense weeks I've had at EBAC so far. The reason is that I've never had the chance to create a record cover, and even more of a style that I don't know much about and an artist I've known for a few days. The record was "A Seat at the Table" by singer Solange Knowls. The album is a mix of Soul, Funk and R&B. It's a really interesting album, because despite having very calm songs, its lyrics have very strong meanings, about black society in the United States, besides also talking about situations that women go through. At first I thought it would be easy to create a cover for this album, but I started to realize that it was getting difficult, because it's a very complicated topic, which I don't understand much. Besides also having the fear of giving the wrong image, doing something totally wrong with what the record says. I have to admit that I listened to the album not fully understanding the meanings of all of your songs. Because besides being an album I have to listen very calmly, to understand all its meanings. I was looking to develop the album cover as quickly as I could. I already wanted to get a clear idea of ​​what the cover design would be. So I made several drawings focused mainly on Solange's face and her hair. I made three illustrations using Procreate. But I think only the last one I did maybe shows a little bit of the meaning of the record with the words in Solange's hair. I wanted to talk to Lauren to clarify my ideas a bit and maybe do something that had more to do with the record. She suggested I look for black artists, and use their styles with reference to the work. But she mainly suggested I look at the music video for the song "Dont Touch my Hair" where I would have a clearer idea about Solange's look or outfit in the clip. On Thursday, I had to give a very quick presentation showing the development of both the album and book cover from last week. I showed that I had a little easier time creating the cover of the book, because the number of references and inspirations about Frankenstein were much greater than I had about Solange. I admitted that the research on the album was a little superficial. In the afternoon there was a crit on how we could improve our covers, both for the book and the record. From the book it was suggested to improve the back cover, because while Dr. Frankenstein's drawing was interesting, the background seemed to be somewhat generic. Besides, people also preferred other covers that I had made. With the one on the operating table and the one on the fire in the background. The one with fire in the background was praised because there is harmony between the setting and the lettering, which seemed more grandiose. The lettering of my final cover seemed to have been reduced due to the little space the cover has. And the one on the operating table was praised by Lauren for being a different cover. For not showing the monster like many of Frankenstein's covers do. For Solange's album cover, it was suggested by people to maybe make a composition with illustrations and photography. Maybe explore a little of this photographic side of me. I'm still in doubt on how to make the album cover. I need to try out all the possibilities present, and make something that dialogues with what the record means. At Friday's workshop, we were supposed to create our typeface in Illustrator, and use it in our cover work. I don't like the Illustrator, I find it extremely complex and tedious to use. I had little experience using it, so I knew the basics. However I had to relearn some tools, because it’s has been a long time since I used the Illustrator. It was very challenging to create these letters, I made and remade them several times, and I tried to make them the best possible way, so that it would be more presentable. It took me a long time to shape these lyrics, and I started to get extremely tired, wanting to finish soon and make the poster, which for me was more important. But I knew the lettering was an extremely important part of the cover. So I had to take it easy, and write the lyrics as best I could. And even though some were better and some were a little worse made, because they were more difficult to mold, I was happy that at least I managed to make some. But I'm sure after all that, working with lettering in Illustrator is something I don't want to repeat anytime soon.

Sketches:

Mock ups and Ideas:

Workshop Typeface:

[rodpupo5]

Reflection of the day 24/09/21: Project 1 Book Covers

This was the first week of class, and to start the semester we needed to create a book cover.

In my case I needed to create a cover for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein book.

I had never read the book, so I had a chance to see what this classic goth horror was like.

It's a really interesting book, and while I was reading the book, I was making a summary to mark the most important points in the story.

At first, my idea was to create a cover with half the face of Frankenstein's monster, with the house he lived in for a period in the background as part of the set.

The tool of choice was Procreate, because I'm really enjoying using it, so every time I use it, I can improve my skills with digital tools.

At first I thought this was the way. However, as I made the cover I became more and more dissatisfied with the result.

Because I realized that the use of colors and especially the background in the character was very weird.

I went to the review on Thursday already a little disappointed with what I had, and I didn't have much time to do research because I was so focused on having the best idea from the start.

So I asked Lauren to try one more time and try out other ideas to make the cover.

So for the rest of the day I tried a new design. The idea was to make all the monster's organs on an operating table. But I didn't think it was anything so flashy or even interesting.

So I decided to stick with the idea of ​​half the character's face, because I thought I could get something more creative.

I totally redid the cover. The first attempt was to make the monster's face totally deformed, with the flames in the background (something very symbolic in the book).

But I thought it was too far from the concept of the book, because the monster was looking too demonic.

I tried again one more time, only this time I tried to make the monster more human, and deep down it was the house he set fire to. I thought this idea was much better, because it gave a general idea of ​​what the book could be.

In the back cover, I had talked to Lauren who could be half of Dr. Frankenstein's face. With the back cover, the North Pole is perfect, because that's where a lot of Dr. Frankenstein's story takes place.

I found that after so many attempts, I managed to come up with a much better idea than I thought. I haven't shown it to anyone yet, but I hope it's on the right track.

Something I would like to change if I can is typography. Because I thought it was very simple.

Maybe I'll give it a boost when I get the chance.

Sketches:

Mockups:

Final Covers: