Illustrator and Visual Narrative - Task 4
Picture Source: Case Studies: Book Illustrations for Visual Storytelling | Marina Yalanska
04/11/24 - 05/01/25 / Week 7 - Week 14
Aquela Zefanya Soares / 0374377
Illustration and Visual Narrative / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INSTRUCTION
TASK
Task 4: Monkey's Paw
1. References and Rationale
For the cover, I started by researching existing covers of The Monkey's Paw. Then, I looked into cover artwork that Dave McKean has created. After analyzing both, I came up with the idea by combining elements from the works I had seen.
For the comic, I started by choosing a part of the story that I enjoyed and thought would be interesting to animate. While researching further, I came across an intriguing layout on Reddit that inspired me to create a similar composition. To emphasize the main points, I focused on capturing expressions and making them stand out, referencing Establishing Shot from Framed Ink. I also applied Scott McCloud's transitions to create a dynamic flow between panels, ensuring the reader could follow the story while staying true to the original novel.
2. Sketches
A. Cover
At first, I was confused because the theme was surrealism. I did a quick Google search and saw that most of it seemed to be abstract art, so I went with an abstract approach, using lots of stretches, distortions, and just making it weird. However, when I asked for feedback, Mr. Hafiz explained that surrealism isn’t necessarily abstract. Exaggerated expressions that don’t reflect reality can also be surreal. Realizing my mistake, I decided to dig deeper and do more research.
After referencing Dave McKean's artwork covers, I decided to focus more on texture and lighting. Because of this, I kept the sketch simple and planned to experiment with Photoshop to achieve the look I wanted.
B. Comic
For the comic, I did my best to incorporate the techniques from Framed Ink and Scott McCloud's transitions into my artwork. When I asked Mr. Hafiz for feedback, he told me it was looking good overall but pointed out that the pop-up panel disrupted the reading pattern. It made the focus shift to the smaller panel instead of the larger one in the middle.
I decided to remove the mini pop-up panel and add a new one that better correlates with the novel. Honestly, one of the panels feels a bit out of place because the part of the novel I chose didn’t provide context for it. However, since I wanted to stay true to the part I picked, I decided to leave it as is.
3. Digitalization
A. Cover
First, I traced my sketch using the pen tool.
Since I know that Dave McKean is known for his mixed media technique, I decided to keep the hand as a drawn element and use photography and textures for the rest of the artwork.
I added a fur texture to enhance the detail and depth of the artwork.
I added a monkey's face, erased most of it except for the eye area, and placed it in the background.
Then, I added fire and made some adjustments to the lighting to enhance the overall effect.
Finally, I added the hand I created earlier in Photoshop and made further adjustments to refine the artwork.
Once I felt like the artwork was surrealistic enough, I moved back to Illustrator and added the text that I had downloaded from Dafont.
B. Comic
First, I traced my sketch using the pen tool.
Next, I added basic coloring and refined it by adding the background and adjusting the lighting a bit.
I then moved to Photoshop and applied a gradient map to the base color.
After that, I added texture and applied a gradient map to each panel.
On top of the comic, I added another gradient map and a scratch texture.
After that, I worked on the animation, but I only animated the text.
Next, I moved to After Effects, where I animated the eyes in the fourth panel and the background in the first panel.
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