Read the following extract and then answer the questions on the next page:

The room was void and unquickened; it was like a room in a shop window but larger and emptier; and the middle-aged man who sat at the desk had never thought to impress himself upon what he entered every day. Comfort there was none nor discomfort; only did the occupant deign to qualify the pure neutrality of his surroundings, it would surely be austerity that would emerge. The spring sunshine turned bleak and functional as it passed the plate glass of the tall-uncurtained windows. The windows were large; the big desk lay islanded in a creeping parallelogram of light; across this and before the eyes of the man sitting motionless passed slantwise and slowly a massive shaft of shadow. Perhaps twenty times it passed to and fro, as if outside some great joy wheel oscillating idly in a derelict amusement park. And the man rose, clasped hands behind him and walked to a window – high up in New Scotland Yard. He looked out and war-time London lay beneath… on his brow was a fixed contraction; this he had carried from desk to window, and now there was neither hardening nor relaxation as he looked out… during 15 years he had controlled the file of police papers which dealt with the abduction and subsequent history of feeble minded girls. Here lay his anger as he looked out over London… year by year the anger had burst deeper until it was now the innermost principle of the man.

Michael Innes Adapted from The Daffodil Affair

Make notes on these questions

• If this were to be made into a film what would the main character be like?

• What clothes would the character be wearing?

• What furniture is in the main area in which the action takes place?

Collect visual reference for the items on your list

Find a reference book or website for this era.

Use the internet and do an image search. Be selective – don’t go for the first image you encounter. Try to remember your own vision of the story and reflect this in your choices. Stick these images onto a large sheet of paper or in a visual notebook.

The next process is about textural and colouristic visual brainstorming and idea generation

Chose a word, which you feel captures the mood you would like to convey.

Collect and create textures and colours you associate with this word to make a moodboard. Start with a broad vision to describe the overall colour or tone of the image, not specific elements of it. Be minimal and selective and gradually add textures and colours that complement this general impression.

Create a simple portrait (figure, or head and shoulders) of the character, using the reference you have gathered.

Use sketchbooks to help you to select and edit from your reference materials and to explore where to position your figure within the frame or format of the picture. Make the shape based on any book you have to hand.

Use the colours, textures and qualities you assembled for your moodboard to render the portrait. You may literally collage these textures into a drawing, or convey the tonal qualities of the moodboard through the way that you use materials and mark making.

Notice the extent to which you have evolved the reference and used it to inform your illustration. If at any point you felt that you had insufficient visual information what steps did you take to address this? Make notes of this evolution in your learning log.

OCA Key Steps in Illustration

In this exercise I had to read a passage from The Daffodil Affair by Michael Innes and answer some questions to inform research and create an illustration.

To be completely honest, I had to look up several words in the passage. As a non-english native speaker, I found it quite hard to grasp what was the meaning of the text as it was very flowery. Once I looked up the words I better understood what was the content about, and felt more ready to get started with the exercise.

If this were to be made into a film what would the main character be like?

I think the main character is a very stern, bored middle aged man with a rugged face and attitude. I think he would be very grumpy and eternally angry.

What clothes would the character be wearing?

The passage mentions war-time London. So I believe this passage may be referring to the 1940s. He would wear a 1940s New Scotland Yard uniform as a police man. Utilitarian uniform, sharp but tattered, kind of rough looking.

What furniture is in the main area in which the action takes place?

A desk, a chair, the large window, maybe a filing cabinet based on the fact that the man is dealing with police papers. Nothing else is mentioned in the passage.

Collect visual reference for the items on your list

https://www.shutterstock.com/search/office+1940

Also found this awesome project on Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/VOrl8

I really liked the attention to detail in this 3D render. Thought it was pretty well researched.

Also found this archive by London Evening Standard, which I think will be helpful. https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/30-brilliant-photographs-show-life-at-scotland-yard-through-the-years-a3358481.html

Chose a word, which you feel captures the mood you would like to convey.

My chosen word is bored/boring. I think this would be an interesting feeling to convey in this piece. I think that was the first thing that came to mind. I also think that making something that meant to convey that boring feeling somehow interesting will be a good challenge.

My mood board

I started by looking at colour schemes, and try to find something that resembled what I had in mind. The colours I had in mind were muted and pale. Greys, beiges and light browns. Maybe adding some very pale blues.

I collated some images on a Pinterest board.

I found scribbles a very good way to show that feeling of being bored and stale, I think this is the mark I will want to use when creating my illustration. I went ahead and created the below mood board of marks, colours and some general doodles that convey the feeling.

I think after creating the moodpboard I had a strong vision in terms of the marks I wanted to use, however I was not at all confident in my technical ability to achieve something that is readable as out of the scribbles, and something that is will be interesting to look at but shows the bored stale state of the main character. I was also not so sure about the colour scheme. I think the character and the scene in my head is quite masculine, but this colour scheme was quite feminine. I think I need to drop the pinks and replace them with dirty browns and dark blues.

I think changing my base colour to a blueish hue worked better as it has a more masculine effect. I think I will be ready yo create something that is using interesting line-work to convey the bored feeling.

Portrait

Reflection

I think this exercise was very interesting in terms of how the story should inform the feeling your final illustration gives off, and how employing things like colour and using appropriate marks can do this. Again, I think I went out of my comfort zone slightly, and did something that is different from how I would normally draw. I keep on surprising myself. I think this turned out very interesting. I shown it to a few people and asked them what feeling they got from the image, and I got responses like depressed, bored, dark etc. I think that is exactly what feeling I got from the passage and what I wanted yo convey in my finals. I am glad that the image has achieved that. The only part I feel like I haven’t really managed to do a good job with is capturing the era that this illustration should show. I tried adding more details in the clothing and the hair, but I think since the whole of the drawing isn’t very clear, I found this difficult. Overall, I think I am happy witch what I was able to come up with.