This exercise is an introduction to abstract illustration.
From a suggested list of musicians we are asked to listen to a piece of instrumental music, and to create marks which convey our interpretation of the essence or mood of the piece. To then stand back from the worksheet and choose a word that describes the tone of the piece.
Being conscious of the mood, and continuing to listen to the music, to select a square area of the worksheet that communicates the meaning of the chosen work, to reproduce it and develop it to enhance the representation.
As I don't know anything about music of any type, this exercise would have to be approached entirely spontaneously.
From the list of suggested composers I selected George Gershwin, and using Google to find free downloadable versions of his work, I found Rhapsody in Blue.
I chose to use only part 1, from the original recording in 1924. It was written for piano and jazz orchestra, and in this recording, the piano was played by George Gershwin himself.
reference website for music download:
https://archive.org/details/rhapblue11924
I first of all listened to the music a few times and then started creating marks in my sketchbook - with a graphite pencil at first, and then soft coloured pencil crayons to give a more textural appearance, and watercolour - all in shades of blue and grey.
I looked at the marks to decide upon a word that I considered was a reasonable interpretation of the music - and the word that came to mind was 'loopy'.
I went back over the pages again and selected a square area that I felt communicated the word and tone of the piece of music.
I then had a go at reproducing just that square, and developing it so that communication of the mood of the piece of music, through the original marks that I made, was enhanced.
Below is a photo of the original square selected from my sketchbook.
I reproduced it including only the essential elements needed to communicate the message of the music.
Then used Photoshop to give the marks a bit more oomph!
The next image is a photograph of wax-resist on watercolour paper. I wanted to use this for the background of the illustration. Again, I took the photo into Photoshop just to increase the intensity of colour from the original, and experimented with effects to get a more granular look to it.
Next are my experiments in Illustrator using the prepared background image together with the original marks used in different ways.
Each time I look at these I seem to change my mind about which one I think works the best. I still don't know. I think each one has different merits.
I like the simplicity of this one, but maybe it's not bold enough for the music.
I also like the simplicity here. I've made it blue and bold and fluid.
It shows the liveliness of the music and the different types of sound within the piece.
For this one, the marks are less bold, but retain the appearance of the original lines, which I like.
But are they too much like the tone of the background? Although I quite like the subtlety, I think it probably isn't bold enough for the music.
Sometimes I think this looks too busy, but other times I think it's ok.
It has a liveliness that works well with the music.
I like the appearance of the marks in this version - they look like original lines drawn in crayon on rough paper. The different colours and shapes represent different styles within the music.
But it may be just too busy.
Would the illustration be suitable as a CD cover? Well, because this exercise is totally subjective, I must say yes it would be fine. If I said otherwise it would mean that I hadn't carried out all the processes spontaneously - and I did!
I really enjoyed this exercise. It was entirely a new experience for me - I just had to follow the instructions and go!
From a suggested list of musicians we are asked to listen to a piece of instrumental music, and to create marks which convey our interpretation of the essence or mood of the piece. To then stand back from the worksheet and choose a word that describes the tone of the piece.
Being conscious of the mood, and continuing to listen to the music, to select a square area of the worksheet that communicates the meaning of the chosen work, to reproduce it and develop it to enhance the representation.
As I don't know anything about music of any type, this exercise would have to be approached entirely spontaneously.
From the list of suggested composers I selected George Gershwin, and using Google to find free downloadable versions of his work, I found Rhapsody in Blue.
I chose to use only part 1, from the original recording in 1924. It was written for piano and jazz orchestra, and in this recording, the piano was played by George Gershwin himself.
reference website for music download:
https://archive.org/details/rhapblue11924
I first of all listened to the music a few times and then started creating marks in my sketchbook - with a graphite pencil at first, and then soft coloured pencil crayons to give a more textural appearance, and watercolour - all in shades of blue and grey.
I looked at the marks to decide upon a word that I considered was a reasonable interpretation of the music - and the word that came to mind was 'loopy'.
I went back over the pages again and selected a square area that I felt communicated the word and tone of the piece of music.
I then had a go at reproducing just that square, and developing it so that communication of the mood of the piece of music, through the original marks that I made, was enhanced.
Below is a photo of the original square selected from my sketchbook.
I reproduced it including only the essential elements needed to communicate the message of the music.
Then used Photoshop to give the marks a bit more oomph!
The next image is a photograph of wax-resist on watercolour paper. I wanted to use this for the background of the illustration. Again, I took the photo into Photoshop just to increase the intensity of colour from the original, and experimented with effects to get a more granular look to it.
Next are my experiments in Illustrator using the prepared background image together with the original marks used in different ways.
Each time I look at these I seem to change my mind about which one I think works the best. I still don't know. I think each one has different merits.
I like the simplicity of this one, but maybe it's not bold enough for the music.
I also like the simplicity here. I've made it blue and bold and fluid.
It shows the liveliness of the music and the different types of sound within the piece.
For this one, the marks are less bold, but retain the appearance of the original lines, which I like.
But are they too much like the tone of the background? Although I quite like the subtlety, I think it probably isn't bold enough for the music.
Sometimes I think this looks too busy, but other times I think it's ok.
It has a liveliness that works well with the music.
I like the appearance of the marks in this version - they look like original lines drawn in crayon on rough paper. The different colours and shapes represent different styles within the music.
But it may be just too busy.
Would the illustration be suitable as a CD cover? Well, because this exercise is totally subjective, I must say yes it would be fine. If I said otherwise it would mean that I hadn't carried out all the processes spontaneously - and I did!
I really enjoyed this exercise. It was entirely a new experience for me - I just had to follow the instructions and go!
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