update 3/30

hello, hello

Toady I played with some textures. I usually do textures in Photoshop, so it was interesting to do in Illustrator. I was missing being able to spot erase & feather (have yet to find work arounds in illustrator). But I do like that vector form allows for some nice flexibility/scaling options. I need to figure out how to switch the illustrator key commands.

I love the texture in the sky- but I'm worried it is grabbing too much focus. I might try to offset that better in the future, maybe with some better texturing or details to the buildings/street (been avoiding it now that I know how much time they take!). I still feel like it is lacking that something extra, some umph. hopefully i'll scrounge some more time tomorrow to work on it again.

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early morning calm - image 1 - student project

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update 3/24

Thank you all for your comments last time. It was a good motivator!

So despite being familiar with Illustrator, I've never made a full composition in it. Indesign is my usual bread and butter, and so I found myself constantly trying to click the W button (preview mode).

I couldn't find a palette I liked for my original early morning idea...so at first I went for a color palette based on a Kandinsky painting I love: http://www.wassilykandinsky.net/work-86.php

It had a lots of beautiful purple tones to it with some surprise bursts of orange and yellow, and I was excited to apply it. Only once I did, it was a hot mess. I played with the the colors and have (at least for the moment) settled on a much more muted palette and turned it nto a winter night scene. I haven't added all of the details to the buildings yet, but here is the current state:

early morning calm - image 2 - student project

I'm thinking about putting something into the lit window to give the painting a focus and some more life. I was thinking about a coulple holding hands, looking outside- but the idea of trying to draw stylized, vectorized humans is daunting! Maybe I'll move the cat inside instead.

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I originally started dwelling on the thought of my morning commute. Believe it or not- it was actually in reference to the word 'quiet'. I live in beautiful San Francisco- and I drive into a glorious cloud of fog on Golden Gate bridge each morning to get to work. There is a quiet, calming beauty about watching the fog drift infront of you.

I did some quick thumbnail sized skethes:

early morning calm - image 3 - student project

This chain of thought led me to think about a city street in the early morning before everyone starts their day. The city streets are still. A soft golden light reflects onto the buildings. There is a sense of calm that enlives you. It's quite peaceful.

(unless it is garbage day...)

I took my initial small sketch (above, bottom left corner) and make a larger, rough sketch (below). An empty, narrow cobblestone street, handmade signs sticking out from cute old shops, topsy-turby shaped windows/doors/buildings, and maybe a small cat lurking around.

early morning calm - image 4 - student project

I'm hoping to mess more with the shapes. Making them identifiable- but more abstract and stylized.

Jen Wagner

Book designer

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