Initial Ideas and Development

Initial Ideas

For my first initial designs I did rough sketches in pencil before I made them on the computer and I used my research for inspiration for the flowers and the girl. After looking at these three designs I decided I liked the third one the best because the layout of the flowers filled more of the page than the other two and the illustration of the girl was the simplest but also the boldest because of the thick black lines so it looked least likely to get over powered by the flowers. I decided to do the girl in black ink because I thought this would create the boldest lines for scanning in and to make the flowers I decided to draw the outlines, scan them in and then live trace them and create water colour circles for the backgrounds and scan them in and this I did this because I thought this looked like how some of the flowers in my research were made and I really liked the style of them.


Development

I drew some flowers, leaves and flower centers out in pencil and then some in black ink so that the outlines would have varying thicknesses when scanned in and live traced.

Next I made the colour fills for the flowers by using water colour paints and using the paintbrush in a dabbing motion. I also made some fills for the leaves that could also be used on their own to keep the flowers varied. I used warm toned paint colours to help represent my theme of 'love' and give it the collage that atmosphere.

I then made the drawing of the girl using black ink for the main outlines and then going back in with dark grey ink to highlight pieces of her hair and make it look more 3d and stand out off the page.

I then scanned it in to the computer and used levels to make the colours darker and the lines bolder so that it would stand out more. I think it ended up looking really effective because the lines are really bold and I think because of this it will stand out against the flowers and not be too over powered by them.

Next I scanned in and live traced some of the flowers and leaves and then also drew some extra ones by hand to add more variety to the flowers. I kept varying thickness of strokes to keep the flowers looking interesting and varied. I think these turned out really well because the outlines came out bold enough to be placed over the watercolour backgrounds and contrast against them.

Next I put all the elements together to make the first draft of my first collage. I decided to have the woman at he edge of the page so that the flowers could take up the majority of the space because I wanted them to be the main focus. To make the flowers I placed the water colour backgrounds behind the black flower outlines to create coloured flowers.

I thought the background looked a bit plain so I added this water colour gradient background using the paint brush tool and one of the nature brushes. I used warm tones to keep it within my theme.

I thought the white behind the woman was too much of a contrast against the background so I decided to blend the pink up into the drawing so that it become part of the collage instead of looking seperate and I think this was a lot more effective.

I thought there was a lot of empty space above and below the flowers so I decided to try the collage in landscape. I think this worked quite well because it meant I could fit more flowers in and there was less empty space. I also tried a variety of different water colour background colours to check if I had chosen the best one.

I think the light pink works best because with this layout the gradient is too much and over powers the rest of the elements whereas the pink just compliments them and helps them stand out.

I decided to keep the layout as portrait because it allows me to add more colour by using the gradient background and to use the whole of the drawing because I dont think it looked quite right with half of it cut off.



Collage #2 Development

For my second collage I decided to use photography for the woman instead of a drawing because I liked the look of the black and white photography mixed with coloured objects that I found in my research. I tried out a variety of different images before choosing the first one because I think this face worked best as it was a full side profile, the quality was quite good and it fitted in well with the length of the page.

I exprimented with using photographs of flowers to make the whole collage photography based. The photos are ones that I took myself for a previous project and I layered them together to make the cluster of flowers. I dont think the brightness of the colours worked with my collage as they overpowered it and in my theme I wanted warm tones as opposed to bright tones so I changed them below to add some more reds and oranges and pinks and purples and to make more variety as before there wasnt much variety in the colours.

Next I wanted to edit the photograph to put my own twist on it so first I duplicated it, added a colour halftone effect to get the dots and then lowered the opacity and placed it behind the photo. I think this was effective because it made the collage look more 3D and helped the photo to stand off the page.

Next I tried adding this effect on top and using layer modes to get the brightening effect but I think this was a bit much and too bright so I decided not use this.

Next I tried using layer modes just on the photo to brighten it and although I liked how the effect looked I dont think it works for the collage as it competes against the brightness of the flowers.

Next I tried adding the same effect as behind the photo on top but I think this blurred the image too much and made it too dark so it darkened the tone of the whole collage.

Finally I mixed the lightened photo the same as 2 above with the colour halftone photo the same as the one above to create the perfect mix of the light and dark. I think this worked really well because it gave a texture the photo helping it stand off the page and also brightened it a little.

I wasnt happy with how the flowers were looking so I experimented with different ways of doing them.
Here I mixed my orginal hand made flowers with some of the photograph ones edited using colour balance to make new colours. I dont think they blended very well together and the photo flowers looked too seperate so I didnt use this idea.

Next I tried using just the flowers I made above and I think these worked best for the actual shapes of the flowers as the original was a bit cluttered but I think the colours were too bright.

I added a fading effect to get the colours more subtle and I think they blend together better with the rest of the collage now.

I wasnt happy with the background colour as it made the overall tone too cool toned so I added a warmer orange watercolour background, a drop shadow under the flowers to help them look more 3D and stand out against the background and also some lines from the poem to connect the collage with the poem.

I wasnt happy with the flowers because I didnt think they blended well with the rest of the collage especially because of the colours and harsh edges so I went back to my origanal flowers because they work better with the background colour and give a warmer tone to the collage.

Collage 3

My first two collage were too similar so I created a third one with a different layout using an image I found of grace kelly in a long dress.

I decided to use the skirt of the dress to cover with flowers but as these are the same flowers as in my second collage I decided they looked too similar so I added water colour background over them which gives a subtler effect and tone to the flowers. I lowered the opacity to let the lines of the flowers show through but not the colours. I also added a very subtle watercolour background as anything too bright would overpower the subtle pink of the skirt.

I then experimented with layer modes to edit the photo and make it stand out more.

Next I made some butterflys using a live traced outline and filling the middle with the flower photographs used in my second collage making some black and white for a variant. I placed them so they looked like they were flying around the woman.

I also tried a couple of other images for the background. For this one I made the butterfly bigger and used layer modes to blend it but it began to look more like just part of the background instead of an extra image element so I decided not to use this.

I also checked to see if the collage would look better with the original flowers but it was too much with the butterflys and again too similar to my first one.

Next I made some rain drops out of the watercolour flowers but these were very bright and bold and over powered the rest of the collage so I didnt end up using them.

I also experimented with having the watercolour flowers in the background and blending them in using layer modes to make it more subtle. I then tried this behind the butterflys etc but they were too overpowering and made the collage look cluttered and messy and took away the strong focal point so I decided to keep the background with just the watercolour.

This is a black and white version to try to make the dress stand out but it ended up taking to life and warm tone out of the collage.

I also tried adding the flowers in a subtler way by just adding them to the side but if I did this I couldnt use the butterflys as it was too much so I decided not to use it in the end.

I moved the layout of the girl over to the right side because this meant there was more space for the butterflys and I could have them flying off the page. I added flowers without the effect to the skirt but they didnt blend in very well and stood apart from the rest of the collage and took all the focus.

I then added the butterflys to the edge of the collage so that they looked like they were flying off the page and I think this layout works best because its more subtle then having them surround her keeping the focus on the woman.

Then I tried various layer modes to help blend them in better with the rest of the collage because without any effects they stuck out a bit.

I added a couple of butterflys to the bottom of the skirt to blend them in with the skirt and make them look more a part of the rest of the collage.

I then experimented with placing a copy behind each butterfly to make them look more 3D and stand off the page better.

I finally decided with this speckled effect because it made the butterflys look alot more 3D and helped them stand off the page.

In this image I tried a single line of butterflys but I think it looked better with the bigger mix of sizes because it make the butterflys look more like they were flying off the page.


Overall I am happy with this collage because it has a warm tone because of the pink dress and pink toned background and it also represents the poem with the flowers growing to make up her skirt.