Tight Sketches

The question of what is a tight sketch is often asked by young artists. The tight sketch is exact blueprint you will base your final image on. 

YOU DON’T WANT YOUR HOME BUILT WITHOUT A BLUEPRINT!!!

In the design process, we usually begin with mind maps and thought trees to get our ideas. Once we have finished our mental exploration, it is important to visually explore our ideas. The initial visual explorations are called thumbnails or thumbnail drawings.

Thumbnail drawings are quick gestural sketches that are meant to get our ideas on paper. These usually are imperfect, hastily drawn images taking no longer than 5 minutes that allow the artists to quickly see how their ideas are forming. Thumbnails sketches also inform the artist on what exactly they need to research for their final product.

The difference between a tight sketch and a thumbnail is that tight sketches can take up to an hour or even longer. At this point, the artist should have amazing reference that they are testing out. The composition of the piece should have been already decided based upon the thumbnail work. 

After a tight sketch you can explore colors.

So, all the elements of design are pretty much decided, what is important is to see what the components are going to look like together. Even more important, the artist is going to test the value. Without testing the light sources the final blueprint for the final image will be for nothing. No amount of color will save bad value. The tight sketch is the key to a successful final image.

Flight Check List!

 Flying is one of the safest modes of transportation. So as artists we can learn from the success of the airline industry of how we can take our product from where it starts to how it gets to its destination. 

Review the checklist below to make more successful art!

Introduction to Value...Frank Miller

Frank Miller revolutionized the comic book industry by actually saving it from economic collapse. Entertainment powerhouses like Marvel and DC were on the brink of bankruptcy. 

One of the major comics in his career that he did before saving the entire industry was the revolutionary 300. It was a blend of historical fact mixed with comic book flair and artistic license to create a dramatic account of the Battle of Thermopyle.

The graphic style and dramatic storytelling would eventually capture the attention of Hollywood, and debut the famous movie director, Zach Snyder.

What he is most famous for is evolving one the most important comic book characters of all time,..Batman.

Batman was originally closer in design to a literal bat. 

Some of the early Batman depictions look like hooded pajamas with a cape and safety belt. 

As a result of designs that didn't represent a darker and more complex world comic book sales began to decline. So Frank Miller said, he wanted to write and draw a more realistic and brutal Batman story that would reflect the effect of years of crime fighting.

The result was the Dark Knight Returns. Frank's sharp value style added intensity and edge that resembled the grittiness of the movies and news at the time. 

The elevated drawing style was a departure from typical cartoony comic books and encouraged fine artists and other famous illustrators to try their hands at comic books too.

Artist's inspired by Miller's work...

Don't forget to draw your two value Batman!

Exam!

Don't Forget to bring your Gig Poster!!!

User Experience

One of the most important things to think about is how are people going to interact with your poster. These people are called "users" and you need to think about what experience your poster will evoke with them. 

Your poster should have a focus. We call this a target. You are trying to grab a specific audience so you aren't wasting your time, money and energy. Marketing for products are often carefully designed to meet the needs based upon the demographics. 

Creating work for specific groups works, and evidence is the billions spent each day on getting people to purchase the next thing. What works for toddlers will not necessarily work for teenagers, or the elderly. So it is critical that there is a design awareness for what the product is for and whom it is intended to use it. 

Culture isn't only based upon factors such as religious backgrounds or different nationalities. Culture could also be an example of what is trending and what isn't. For example words used just three years ago may not be used today. It is important to have the design awareness to know what to use so you don't offend your audience, or turn them off by being lame. 

Below are examples of posters for very different demographics. Therefore the intended UX is varied.

Composition

http://brhscomart2.blogspot.com/2016/10/composition-how-do-we-piece-our-images.html

Gig Posters

Gig posters are what bands use to get their fans in the door. What they are not is album or CD covers. The point of gig posters is to sell the music of your favorite band to a specific demographic. 

Gig posters are part of the life blood of the modern music era as current technological trends make touring more important than music releases. Bands make most of their money from their shows versus track sells. Often bands don't even control what goes on their album or CD covers because they technically don't own the music. It is the music publishers that do. What makes gig posters special is bands or recording artists do control the gig posters. There is a direct relationship between artwork, the fans, and the musicians in gig posters.

 You are to select your favorite band, rapper, recording artist, or orchestra and begin designing thumbnails based upon your love of their music. Remember it is your job to demonstrate your knowledge of their music visually while trying to create new fans.