VDIS10015 Developing Visual Imagery - Lecture 2

VIRTU DESIGN INSTITUTE
Written by Rachel Hawkins
Developing visual
Imagery
Visual Communication Skills
VDIS10015 - Lecture 2

VIRTU DESIGN INSTITUTE: Visual Communication Skills, VDIS10015 - Lecture 2 2
In Lecture 1 we discussed Visual Communication and
the designers goal to communicate information and
messages with intent. Image is the most effective way of
communicating a message or concept quickly. Image,
photos, pictures and illustrations can tell us so much more
in a single look than words on a page. Colour, texture, tone,
line, scale and perspective all communicate simultaneously
to evoke memory and emotions.
In this lecture we will discuss how to develop and refine
drawing and other visual representation tools that can be
used to create original imagery. We will look at different
ways of creating image as well as ways to improve our
skills. These skills are physical but also cognitive tools for
professional practice. Our focus is on the development of
drawing rather than a particular level of drawing technique.
Assessment task one and two requires you to create original
imagery for inclusion in your design.
“A picture is worth a
thousand words”
When talking about drawing there seems to be
two distinct groups of people, those that can draw
and those that say “I can’t draw”. When we were
children and given pencil and paper no one put their
hand up to say we couldn’t draw, we just went for it.
There was no judgment on our creative outcomes
other than pure brilliance. As adults we place too
much pressure on ourselves to have ‘perfect’ results.
The first step in improving your skills is to remove
judgment and give it a go with child like playfulness.
For those that have refined skill in drawing, I
encourage you to try something new. Use different
materials or try drawing with your eyes closed.

Refining mark making skills
This skill of drawing and painting involves making a
series of marks that together make up an expressive
representation of something. It my be figurative or
abstract. A mark itself may be a line or a dot. There are
many different ways to combine these marks - cross-
hatching, shading, stippling, scribbling, random marks –
small patterns, swirling circles.
A good way to refine your mark making skill is to
experiment with the pressure and movement applied
different materials to create marks. Document the results
of your experimentation with notations for your future
reference.
Improve your hand control for drawing with a pen/pencil
by practicing different line movements. See the example
on the next page. You can vary the pressure applied to the
drawing tool to change the line weight. The fluidity of your
movement will determine how controlled or expressive
your line is.
You may think that these drawing skills are not required
anymore due to digital software however tools like
Wacom tablets mean you can draw directly into software
http://heidiandtheprojects.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/mark-making-techniques/

Refining mark making skills cont.
http://www.artofwa.com.au/?page_id=810

Mastering the art of drawing is not limited to
our penmanship. Perhaps the most challenging
aspect of drawing is our observation skills. The
way our brain observes and analyses objects
and then translates it into our mark making.
A good drawer is able to separate what they
“see” from what their “brain tells them they
see”. A good drawer is also well practiced
at making the connections from their
observations to their marks.
Below are observations you need to look out
for to improve your drawing. Try setting up
a still life to draw from when practicing your
observation skills.
1. See edges
Identify the edge of an object or space and
its contours. You are looking for where one
thing starts or finishes and another begins. In a
landscape drawing this might be the horizon.
Edges are often either the lightest or darkest
points in the gradient of a shape. Defining
edges is important at the beginning of a
drawing. Children often only draw the edges
while adults tend to focus to much on the
contents. Try and find the median between the
two.
2. See scale & proportions
Map the relationships between the shapes in
you see. Look for differences and similarities in
size and proportions. Observe the difference
in size in relation to the distance or proximity
of the object. You may know that objects in
the distance are smaller however the eye may
observe optical illusions that translate into your
drawing.
3. See angles & perspective
Angles in our drawings help to communicate
perspective. Observe the relationships of
the angles of shapes and the negative space
around them. Observe the focal point and
vanishing point of the perspective. You can
establish the perspective by first identifying
the primary vertical and then the primary
horizontal in your drawing.
4. See gradient/light/shadow
Light is what allows us to see form. When
light hits an object it throws a shadow. It is
important that drawings reflect both the shape
and shadow. Observe the highlights and
mid tones of the object/shapes lighting. Use
shading to express shadows. Directional light
often has angles to be observed. Observe the
gradation of light and dark in a shadow.
5. See negative spaces
We are conditioned to pay attention to things
and objects which results in us ignoring empty
space. Shape observes objects while negative
space observes everything around an object.
Try drawing only the negative space. You may
reveal that without the negative space the
image is flat with no object.
6. see color
Observe specific color changes created by
lighting and reflected light. Observe where
one color may end and another begins without
their being an edge or contour. Color in your
drawing can provide emotional and sensory
motivation. It’s depth can enrich shadows and
gradients.
7. see patterns and textures
Observe any repetitions of shape or texture
in your drawing. The pattern may be part of
a shape or cause by the lighting. It may be a
repeat pattern or random pattern. Texture and
pattern ad richness to surfaces in your drawing.
Pattern insists on being seen and can produce
great eye movement in a composition by virtue
of repetition.
8. See holistically & draw
expressively
Move between observing your drawing as a
whole and then as detail. Ad the expression
of emotion and feeling to your drawing by
allowing fluidity and gesture into your mark
making. Try to capture a moment in your
drawing by using both observation and
gesture together. A gestural drawing may pay
less attention to edges and outlines.
Observation drawing skills

Photography is possibly the most used type of
imagery used in modern design. As a designer
you have access to photos you have taken
yourself, stock imagery you can purchased or
photography that you have commissioned. The
style of photography and lighting used can
determine a mood, error and feeling.
With digital cameras built into our phones,
photography is everywhere. Software like
Instagram allow you to apply mood enhancing
affects instantly for sharing.
As a designer, you need to be able to
understand how to use such affects and
imagery appropriately in your design work.
Carbon Paper may be a thing of the past but
it is a great way to reproducing your drawings
onto other mediums to ad texture and pattern.
It is a great tool if you are most comfortable
tracing. It can help you to reflect your drawing
and still achieve a hand drawn result.
Stencil art can be as simple or complex as you
make it. It is a great way to create powerful
silhouettes using block shapes. Stencil art
focuses on the negative space to create an
image. This is a great tool for those who are
not that confident with their drawing skills as
you can use solid objects, paper and folding to
create your stencils.
Carbon paper StencilsPhotography
http://www.sherwoodonline.com/images/products/P-8.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-056w5IG3CjI/TyYTkbhieiI/AAAAAAAAAeI/
rIjMxheXkx4/s1600/cutting+the+stencil+02.jpg
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3427/3362398500_42f095be80_z.jpg

If you lack the confidence to draw directly
from observation a great tool is tracing. You
can use a transparent tracing paper to trace
from a photo or physical object.
Another option is to trace onto normal
paper or fabric using a light box. This
illuminates the image and paper to make it
more easily visible for drawing. If you don’t
have access to a light box you can try taping
your picture and paper to a window during
daylight hours for the same affect.
It is important not to misunderstand
tracing for copying. The idea is not to copy
someone else’s work but to use tracing as
a tool to enhance your observation skills to
create something new. Tracing from your
own original photos is a good way to ensure
the work is 100% your own.
Observational drawing requires our brain
to translate from 3D to 2D. When tracing
we are already dealing with 2D. Taking out
this step often assist our brain in observing
shapes and gradients better making the
process easier.
You can use tracing paper to slowly build
up an image through layers of line. The use
of multiple layers often ads depth and
texture to a drawing. This tactile aspect
enriches the drawing by creating more
interest for the eye.
When tracing, our main observation
and focus are ‘edges’. This can mean
that our finished trace is a silhouette.
Silhouettes are powerful images
often used in design and marketing.
Silhouettes allow for implied meaning
and for the viewers memory and
imagination to be activated. For this to
be successful the edges and contours
must be detailed and accurate.
Tracing shape & form
http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FQC/JD7R/
HJZ860MK/FQCJD7RHJZ860MK.LARGE.jpg
http://www.mightyartdemos.com/bookdemosimages/borg-step-2.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PSEBi6Z1OzM/T_ti_1C-_cI/
AAAAAAAAD9E/bst5AvBLZoY/s1600/AdornedTrace.jpg

Another way to generate visual imagery
without drawing is Collage and
Photomontage. You may even draw or paint
over a collage to enrich it.
Collage involves using glue to assemble
different forms from materials such as
newspaper clippings, ribbons, bits of
colored or handmade papers, portions of
other artwork or texts, photographs and
other found objects to create a whole new
image. The finished image may be on paper
a piece of wood or a canvas.
A collage made primarily from photographs,
is called a Photomontage. Historically the
finished Photomontage was sometimes
photographed again as a whole so that
the final image is converted back into a
seamless photographic print. Today we
achieve the same finish by scanning the
imaging and using image-editing software
like Photoshop. The technique is referred to
by professionals as compositing.
Collage and Photomontage is commonly
used commercially to create new and
creative imagery from both stock and
original photos and illustrations.
Collage &
Photomontage
http://fudgegraphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/
FYI-inspiration-by-Gordon-Reid-chew-cover.jpg
http://www.dp-illustrations.com/Bilder/discover_the_
world_poster_collage.jpg
Romare Bearden, The Calabash, collage, 1970,
Library of Congress. http://upload.wikimedia.
org/wikipedia/en/9/9a/Romare_Bearden_-_The_
Calabash%2C_1970%2C_Library_of_Congress.jpg
Kurt Schwitters, Das Undbild, 1919, Staatsgalerie
Stuttgart. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/
thumb/f/fc/DasUndbild.jpg/473px-DasUndbild.jpg

Digital Image development & manipulation
A significant amount of visual image creation
and manipulation is now done digitally
through image specific software such as
Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
Each of the softwares is programed with a
series of filters and effects to individualize and
enrich your visual imagery.
There will be two short videos on the youtube
channel that explain some basic tools in both
Photoshop and Illustrator.
Photoshop:
Often an original image or illustration is
scanned into the computer for use or an
original photograph is edited.
The software allows you to edit every aspect
of the image and this is frequently done in
industry. Most commonly a designer will be
required to deep etch or retouch an image in
Photoshop.
Deep etching - This means to cut out an
object or person from a background. It also
implies that there is a transparent background
in the image.
Retouching - The means to edit a photo so
to enhance the appearance of objects or a
person. It may involve editing the lighting,
colouring, saturation and contrast in the
image as well as the removal of blemishes.
Illustrator:
Illustrator has seen the growth of Vector based
illustration. The software allows the user to
trace objects digitally or draw from scratch
using a series of shape and line tools. The
software allows you to cut shapes away from
one another or link them. You can ad texture,
transparency, gradient, colour and perspective
to create complex illustrations that can be
reproduced at any scale.

VDIS10015 Developing Visual Imagery - Lecture 2

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VDIS10015 Developing Visual Imagery - Lecture 2