Character Design and SMART Targets: Illustration Attempt One

I have incorporated the completed export of my first illustration attempt for my character design module. I chose to work on a single illustration rather than attempting to make multiple as I felt I wouldn’t have enough time to complete these to a presentable standard so instead I decided to create one single high quality illustration instead, considering I will be working on a completely new style of illustration for this task as well.

I like certain elements of this design such as the composition and layout of the characters, however there are many areas which I would like to work on further. For instance I feel the main component for improvement would be my harsh use of black outlines throughout the design. I feel this makes the illustration appear rather dark and unfriendly compared to the style I was aiming for. I guess I defaulted back to this style for my first attempt as it is a way in which I’m comfortable working. However, I am keen to return and remove all of these areas in order to make a more appropriate aesthetic which will support the concept of my illustration better.

Next up also don’t like the way the sofa has turned out at all, I feel its shape and colouring is confusing and dislike the way it appears so flat. This will definitely need to be redrawn, perhaps I could reduce the amount of cushion separations to help with this or add some pillows or a throw to make it feel more used.

Following this I am not so sure on the chosen overlays I have incorporated within the illustration, I used an orange overlay as I wanted the overall design to feel warmer however I feel I may have set the opacity too high as looking at it now it appears a bit too saturated. I was aiming to create more of winter mid-morning, afternoon appearance where it would still be sunny yet look a lot cooler. I feel to resolve this I will merely need to reduce the opacity further. However, the other textures such as the paper overlay and the metal texture, I’m not certain how much of a positive impact these are having on my design. I feel the metal texture is far too detailed in comparison to the rest of the design and too realistic whereas the paper texture makes the whole illustration feel flat and generic.

I feel in my next attempt I may remove both of these components to see whether this will help improve the overall aesthetics of my design.

Furthermore, I would also like to look into changing the style of shading I have used for this design. I originally chose to use a soft airbrush effect as I felt this would help create a soft sensation around the design, making it look friendly and appealing. However upon closer inspection I feel it works against those goals and ends up making the design look rough and unfinished. Due to this I would like to attempt the use of cell shading as I have seen this method used within other examples of work and would like to explore how this could improve my creation.

I feel this was a positive first step as it has allowed me to identify important areas of improvement, but has also provided me with a good base to work on since I worked so hard on the initial composition so thoroughly. I will take these areas for improvement into consideration for my next attempt which will hopefully have more of a children’s illustration style now that I have had a chance to practise and explore this technique.