Viewpoint

Illustration from my point of view!

“One compositional element suggests and asks for another. This is what makes the activity interesting.”

Robert Genn

As I have said before, I have a keen interest in photography.
While I rarely get out with my Canon anymore, I always have my mobile camera handy and viewpoints are really something I like to explore.
Over the summer I’ve watched a fair few photography classes on skillshare, I find like art/illustration, Photography is never ending always something new and interesting to learn. AND like most thinks creative it can go hand in hand with my art/illustration.

I found after these classes my viewpoint changed, My angle often has me looking up which is most likely my go-to when I take portrait style photos of people.
Just last summer I was on the beach on the ground taking pictures in the sand as found could fit more and was something interesting and new.
I also took on a viewpoint “look up” taking pictures above, such as building etc.

A lot of my knowledge comes from my self study of viewpoints for use in comics/graphic/novels for my own personal project of webtoon. I’ve been investing time to find way to get a viewer drawn into my world. One of the methods I’ve been doing is watching a T.V show or movie and pausing the scene and quickly sketching the composition/viewpoint and interaction between characters, all while working out WHY? why have we got that viewpoint, why is the director showing it this way ? Also the visual art of the layout. I find chinese dramas really good for this as it has a interaction with the characters and scenery I just love.

All this being said, my own work (other than webtoon story boards) changing the viewpoint is still very early days. I tend to go for a lower view point for a more dynamic / powerful imposing angle.

The angle is on purpose in the piece on the left. I did this to make sure she seem empowered / strong / sure of herself, full of conference.

I looked into viewpoints in illustration I liked, thought about how I felt about the pieces in my pinterest moodboard.

I really wanted to get the angle that had the whole “morning after” a heavy night. In my sketchbooks I explored these as a collection of pencil and ink thumbnails.
Moving on to the angle I seem to expressed “waking” up hung over the best.

I even had an idea to let the bottom of my wine glass to strain the paper a little in the corner (I like this as added something a little more to my drawings)

I used for the “main” by no way a completed drawing. A2 sketching paper and wanted a size and shape that was long to give the impression of slowly and painfully opening your eyes.
I pretty much “cropped” a thumbnail design to work from.

With the morning after mood set it my mind I found myself being very sketchy and making lines messy!
I did quickly try to darken a little to help the “mood” and “setting” but I do not thing this is working (left side) and was in danger if to work on more this piece will seem “completed” as an inked piece.

The viewpoints I was naturally drawn to based on the emotions were looking up as if the viewer was laying on the floor looking up. Waking up the next morning, the others would be overlaps with viewpoint though the glasses. I felt this added a “blur” that a natural impression of “hung over” or “still drunk”.

I did think about doing this almost like a spot so peeking but do not want to open eyes fully. But I settled on long as I felt could give the impression of waking up in the morning.

Changing the format made me wish I had the beer cans closer or more in the background to add more cluttered mind.

This was an insightful exercise, while wasn’t working toward something complete the questions made me think more about my choices. I think prior I wouldn’t think to put myself in viewers shoes in term of format.

I’m keen to take this new mindset forward and help me grow as an illustrator more.

As said above I wish I made my objects more cluttered in this viewpoint, to both build more visual interest and make it feel more like a morning after mess of objects and the mind.