Bad Apple

Illustration I project 1

  The first day of class was interesting indeed. I was unsure of what to expect in a class based around illustration to be honest. I'm used to going into an art class, being given a still life and told to draw from a specific angle in order to include as much variations of value as possible. So how would illustration be much different? Well for starters- everyone has their own style and way of doing things and that is perfectly acceptable!

 "I'm going to play the role as the art director." The instructor told us and the proceeded to explain the process. We are to be given guidelines, size and media restrictions, but the art is on us.

 This idea excited me. I would be allowed to draw in whatever way I wanted? Awesome! The thrill of the challenge would be placed on subject, media, and format. "this could be fun" I thought as we were given the first in class lab.

-20 Apples/20 ways-

 20 apples? Really? As the class brainstormed the different ideas you could do with apples, I was confused at the process. I sat quietly at first, observing the process and ideas that flowed. Apple pie, apple juice, apple... apple... apple... Sayings, quotes, movie references... What could be done with an apple? Its so simple and boring.

 A paper was set before us. "Now draw 20 apples, you can use ideas from the board or come up with your own ideas. Think of the color, texture, shape and just roll with what ever comes to mind. Drawing 20 apples may seem easy, but it gets harder as you go along."

 My first pencil to paper began. A doodle of a simple apple with nothing special about it began. As I moved on to the next drawing I realized the seed of creativity had been planted and was quickly growing and blossoming before my eyes as my pencil scrawled madly across my paper. Before I knew it, the large blank paper sitting on the table was filled with apples of all shapes and sizes. Apple carriage, apple planets, apple faces. I couldn't get enough of it! Such a small simple object soon bloomed into about 30+ sketches.

"Now take those drawings and turn one of them into a finished project in what ever media you want."

 Hooray! My first assignment for Illustration class. I left first day with a bounce in my step and the feeling of NEED for creativity. I just had to draw! All weekend I took every chance I could to doodle on nearby scraps of paper, trying to develop my apple ideas into something I could turn in and be proud to show the class come next Friday.

 Finally I settled on a design, playing off from words like "Bad apple" and "Rotten to the core" also taking inspiration from poison apples etc. Since the media was of our own free choice I settled for my comfort zone of working with my trusty Wacom and familiar programs. I did decide to try using a couple different techniques though- but in the end I was happy with the result!