Pictoplasma 'Character Stare Down'

I decided to enter this years 'Character Stare Down' with an animated gif of my dog, Douglas, also known to our family as 'Bean'.

I created a looping animation in which Doug is staring at the viewer from an upside down position, with his tongue out and tail wagging. I chose to do this as I had a browse through the other submissions before I entered and found this idea to be unique as well as fun.

My entry can be found here

Questions for a Shelter Employee

My friend works part time at a homeless shelter in Leicester and she gave me permission to interview her with regards to the people she helps. This was in order to become more informed when I write my picture book.

1) What do homeless people do while they are on the street?
A lot of people who stay in shelters aren't allowed to be in them during the day so many people who beg on the streets are staying in a shelter at night. But shelters aren't always a good place, they are filled with drugs and this guy I was speaking to today who got out of prison two days ago said prison was nicer than the shelter he's in. So a lot of people choose to stay on the street. A lot of people stay in tents, some say they are roofless not homeless because they have a home. (As for money) They get benefits, but the government is essentially making it more difficult for them to get money.

2) Do you see a lot of people with dogs and how do they benefit from their company?
Won't really be able to answer this as nobody we know has a dog! Most people don't because the can't keep them in a shelter. I've seen them (people with dogs) but nobody with one comes into the shelter which is sad.

3)Do you think people need to be made more aware of the homeless?
It's the way people in society look at and perceive the homeless which is the main issue. They're viewed as less than people so maybe focusing on a way to show that they are people is a good way of framing it (my book). Like this guy told us that the worst part of being homeless isn't the cold or the lack of money but the way people pretend they haven't seen him or look away and ignore him.

4) What do the homeless people you help go on to do?
Some homeless people work by doing odd jobs by doing odd jobs like handy man things, pretty sure one guy has his own flat now because he kicked his alcohol dependancy is working with diggers. One person is a painter and decorator.

I then pitched my book idea to her, telling her my planned storyline and this was her feedback.
Focus it on perceptions of the homeless and how the dog looks at him without judgement, because societal views of the homeless are the most important thing. I think not revealing that he (my character) is homeless right away is a good idea as the readers will not judge him straight away.

This information will be very useful when it comes to creating my characters and storyboarding my picture book. I will be sure to ask my friend for more feedback on my work further into the project.

Bridie Cheeseman's Composition Workshop

Today I had my second workshop with Bridie. As I was the only one who attended, I spend a lot of time discussing my ideas while we worked through what she had planned. 

I told her in depth about my story idea and how I aim to focus of the subject of homelessness and the company of a pet. She liked the idea and was very helpful in advising me in how I could go about creating this narrative. Bridie said that it would be good to have the man's homelessness revealed towards the ending, which I also agree is a great idea. And to further imply the notion that we shouldn't ignore them I aim to show them being ignored by the public, and then force the reader to notice them at the end, while looking into the relationship between the man and his companion.

We discussed possible angles as I progressed in the workshop, talking about interesting perspectives such as viewing the character through a crowd, or through a shop window. This suggests to the reader that he is ignored as we never directly see him, and then it is revealed that he is homeless, showing there is more to someone that we realise. I also wish to show the kindhearted nature of the man, as homeless people are often viewed as being unsavoury and this is an opinion that needs changing.

We also watched a reading of 'The Clown of God' which was something that my story reminded Bridie of, and looked at work by other illustrators such as Owen Davey, that could inspire the colour scheme for my work, which Bridie suggested to be a mute grey (to highlight my characters) with accompanying tones of blue and green. 

As for the actual workshop, we looked into forcing compositions using various methods and avoiding centring. 

The first stage was to draw some squares with lines in them. Bridie showed examples of how lines crossing are used in illustration, and then I had to draw scenes over my lines using tracing paper.

We then went on to look at how illustrations can be derived from a composition of shapes, and how shapes can be used to see how successful a drawing will be. I firstly drew my shapes, and then some compositions over the top.

I then had to take a successful composition, and draw the scene from above and below.

I then had to use directional lines to tailor my drawing to follow in a specific direction. Bridie was especially fond of this composition.

 We also worked on compositions using multidirectional lines and natural curved lines, my takes on these were not as successful but could come in handy in the future.

Overall, a very very useful workshop, it has given me a lot to think about and has really excited me for the development of my book.

Bookbinding with Jenni

Today I went to see Jenni about making myself a new sketchbook for this project using some special paper of mine. When we sat down, we spoke briefly about what I intended to make. I originally wanted to bind my books using perfect binding, but Jenni later told me that this was not ideal for a book to draw in and was more suited to completed work.

She told me that to bind a sketchbook it is best to use either staples or saddle stitch, so I decided to go with the saddle stitch method. Jenni printed off a little guide for me and then walked me through the process.

Here is the diagram showing how to stitch together the book.

I started out with my A4 paper sheets and cover.

I then had to fold each sheet in half and crease using a bone folder.

Once I had folder the cover it was then time to bind the book.

Using a paper guide, I poked holes through the paper 2 sheets at a time at a 45 degree angle, with one central hole and one other on each side, all equal distance apart.

Using the method shown in the guide, I then bound the book with string. Using a needle, I threaded through the middle, out the bottom hole, in the top hole and then back through the middle, tying a bow to finish.