Idea Pictures - Reflective Report

I began work on this brief with thumbnails largely based on McCarthy's novel 'Blood meridian', as this book was the one I had read most recently and subsequently freshest on my mind. I became very involved with researching theories behind it and symbolism in it etc. but actually, which wasn't really an appropriate way of working in response to an editorial brief about the author himself. I tried too hard, initially, to create visual metaphors which I could relate very clearly to his writing in my own head, specifically 'Blood Meridian', but which wouldn't have seemed as relevant to other people and didn't create particularly strong images. This is why my initial thumbnails didn't end up having much bearing on my final outcomes.  

After trying to force ideas into visual forms that couldn't really accommodate them, I came to the conclusion that visual metaphors weren't the right approach for me. I found that once I relaxed into making work which I wasn't trying to connect to McCarthy's writing too literally, the images I created were stronger and reading his work at the same time was influencing them, just more subconsciously. This more holistic approach works much better for me, as I usually create my best work spontaneously. It meant that my final images were imbued with a McCarthy-esque atmosphere in a subtle and more general way which seemed to me to answer to the brief more adequately. 


Square Illustration
      

For my square illustration I decided on a portrait of Cormac McCarthy, which I initially thought was a boring idea. In the end, however, the way I drew this image, and the colours I used were conducive to an appropriate tone of voice. I was initially intending to layer up the pencil sketch over a painted, red pattern background, but that was too overpowering so I had to play around in Photoshop using the different blending presets. I took this approach for all my finals.



Landscape Illustration



For my landscape illustration I decided on this drawing of a dead horse, it seemed appropriate owing to McCarthy's tendency to write about death and horses. This is my favourite of the three, and I was originally going to finish the drawing off but ended up liking the unfinished version a lot so never bothered. I particularly like how the red areas in this image make a suggestion of the horse's viscera without being too gratuitous or literal. 


Cowboys (Portrait Illustration)





Finals


I decided on the first image from each of these slides, on the basis that it's not so off white that it is too obviously trying to look old. 
Overall I am very happy with my outcomes for this brief and enjoyed working on it. The use of largely analogue media reflects McCarthy's rough and unrefined view of the world and the colour red enabled me to hint at the violent nature of his writing without having to literally depict it (which may have seemed clumsy). My biggest regret is the fact that I think all these images would have worked better as vignettes, particularly in terms of how they would be embedded onto a page with an editorial article.