melissa crowton

88
A Thesis Project by Melissa Crowton MFA Illustration Practice 2016

Upload: melissa-crowton

Post on 29-Jul-2016

241 views

Category:

Documents


1 download

DESCRIPTION

MFA ILP 2016 Thesis Book

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Melissa Crowton

A Thesis Project by Melissa CrowtonMFA Illustration Practice 2016

Page 2: Melissa Crowton
Page 3: Melissa Crowton
Page 4: Melissa Crowton
Page 5: Melissa Crowton

This is a story about an idea. An idea that got so big it turned into words. Which turned into sentences and then turned into a book with color and pictures. My work on Inside, Outside, and Inbetween grew out of a desire to better understand the magic of everyday landscapes and the surprises they hold for the most perceptive of observers. My thesis is the development of the writing, sketching, planning, and making of a picture book and other various components.

Page 6: Melissa Crowton
Page 7: Melissa Crowton

IN(PROCESS)I grew up in Utah next to the rural Rocky Mountains. With the nearest

house half a mile away, I was often forced to look for play outside of traditional parameters and I lost myself in the art and language of storytelling. Reading became my world. I developed a hunger for anything new and exciting on each page of every book that I claimed as mine. This love only continued to intensify as I grew older.

During college, I completed my degree at Brigham Young University (BYU) where I chose to study a combination of the things I loved: illustration and English literature. After graduation, I re-evaluated my professional goals and chose to attend Maryland Institute College of

my artistic vision. During my time in the program, I sought to produce work that was authentic to my interests. Having developed narrative work in my other classroom projects, I knew that I wanted to dedicate my thesis towards a serious study of both the written and the visual. My work primarily focused on style and content: what did I want to say and

the craft of illustration and how I could set up my own practice when creating personal imagery. I strengthened my skills in hand lettering, book design, pattern making, color, composition, and character development. However, because each project was compressed in time, I was unable to fully develop a long-term project. My thesis was the

aspect. I made the decision to narrow my topic and chose to explore the process of picture book making.

stories interested me. I paid attention to books that I gravitated to as an adult and also to books I remembered loving from my childhood. I studied classic illustrations from experts such as Ludwig Bemelmans, Hilary Knight, Mary Blair, Barbra Cooney, Ezra Jack Keats, and Virginia Lee Burton, to name a few. I also enjoyed the inventiveness from modern bookmakers such as Oliver Jeffers, Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen, Carson Ellis, and Peter Brown. Their products were wide in scope but all had compelling stories told in appropriate language for their mood and audience intent.

Over the course of four months, I wrote four different picture book manuscripts. I chose a variety of characters, tones, and approaches to better understand my interests as an author. These projects served as the jumping off point for the beginning of the semester and in a larger sense, the beginning of my personal professional goals.

Page 8: Melissa Crowton

WRITINGWriting is the foundation for me to approach any

project. Having practiced creative writing in the past, I was experienced with writing poems and personal essays; however, I was undeveloped in writing picture book stories. To help facilitate my lack of skill, I took a picture book writing course taught by Amy Eisner so that I was able to explore other book formats. During each project, I learned something new. The class developed character-centered stories and I learned more about rhythm and rhyme. Word choice was examined on a more intimate level. Consistently I tried to push outside of my comfort by approaching each manuscript with a different intent. Overall, I learned to trust myself but to also take the advice of my peers and my intended audience.

Going forward with my project, I chose to develop two picture books, Inside, Outside, and Inbetween and Knock, Knock, Knock. Each project presented its own set of challenges. Inside, Outside, and Inbetween was developed in a common rhyme scheme. While the story stayed mostly consistent, I was aware of its challenges. Its mood displayed a more quiet tone so I had to keep the momentum and surprise through the various arcs of the story consistent so as to make it more successful and unique. Knock, Knock, Knock was harder to tackle. Originally it was a story that examined a child’s capacity for noise in the form of dance. Through different story revisions and reinterpretations, it changed from human to alligator to swamp and ended up as a story about a mail mix-up. While each change felt necessary, it started becoming a manuscript that demanded further investigation. Writing is still a process that will continue to be developed and strengthened. However, I learned that constant revision continues to play an important role in the picture book making process.

Page 9: Melissa Crowton
Page 10: Melissa Crowton

WRITING

Page 11: Melissa Crowton

LEFT: Idea exploration for Two Little Feet

RIGHT: First draft of Two Little Feet

WRITING

Page 12: Melissa Crowton

WRITING

Page 13: Melissa Crowton

LEFT: First draft of Inside, Outside, and Inbetween

RIGHT: First draft continued

WRITING

Page 14: Melissa Crowton

WRITING

Page 15: Melissa Crowton

WRITING

LEFT: Additional work from Amy Eisner’s class

RIGHT: Notes on research on anthropomorphism

Page 16: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHINGSketching was an opportunity for me to examine

multiple styles and media without feeling constricted by the end result. Often the most fun part of the process for myself, I enjoyed being able to see the project go from words to images. I heavily examined character development and environment creation during this stage. Almost immediately, I ran into problems related to look development. Because I explored a wide variety of styles, I was unsure how to solidify my characters. Each iteration contained certain characteristics I wanted to maintain, and I struggled with how to pull those points all together into a character that closely developed the one that I had written from the beginning.

At this point, I more heavily developed the work from Knock, Knock, Knock. This character during

from a human girl Patti to a female alligator Priscilla. While the character personality stayed the same, the look and anatomy was completely different. The shape language changed and the environment in connection to its animal habitat also began to shift. While I struggled to keep a consistency, I learned that as an author and illustrator, it was important for me to have the freedom to lengthen my schedule at certain points of the process than what was initially planned. Up until this point, I had in mind a certain time line I had developed before I was deeper in the process. As the controller of both components of the book, it was pointed out that “Melissa the Illustrator” needed to be separated from “Melissa

As the semester continued, I began to develop

took shape and started becoming consistent. The world of Inside, Outside, and Inbetween was also becoming more concrete as the project progressed.

Page 17: Melissa Crowton
Page 18: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Page 19: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

LEFT: Dance reference from 1950s icons like Fred Astaire

RIGHT: James Marshall’s George and Martha & Roger Duvoisin’s Petunia

Page 20: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Character sketches for Two Little Feet

Page 21: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Knock, Knock which was titled Two Little Feet. This character was a little girl named Patti. I tried to keep her age, personality, and energetic dance moves in mind with these sketches. I referenced vintage clothing and looked at different vintage pictures of children at school in their uniforms. Driven by a sense of playfulness in the sketches, I wanted to reference nostalgia but still keep the character fresh and modern. This characteristic was essential.

Page 22: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Page 23: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Character sketches for Two Little Feet

Page 24: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Character sketches for Two Little Feet

Page 25: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

When I changed my character from Patti to Priscilla, the alligator, I had to immediately tackle the shift in visual language. While the personality initially stayed the same, the sketches revealed other aspects of her personality that could be further explained in the text. At this point of the process, the sketching helped to inform the writing, which was addressed at later revisions.

Page 26: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Page 27: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Character sketches for Two Little Feet

Page 28: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Page 29: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Character sketches for Knock, Knock, Knock

Page 30: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Page 31: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Character sketches for Knock, Knock, Knock

Page 32: Melissa Crowton
Page 33: Melissa Crowton

LEFT: Color Inspiration, Matisse

RIGHT: Carson Ellis, Emily Sutton

SKETCHING

Page 34: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Character sketches for Inside, Outside, and Inbetween

Page 35: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

When it came time for me to work more closely on Inside, Outside, and Inbetween, I started by looking at illustration work that captured seasonal moods successfully. I was drawn to artists and paintings that use broad, colorful strokes. I also looked at artists who sometimes use limited color palettes in their work like Carson Ellis and Emily Sutton. I wanted to try a different approach than what was more comfortable for me to produce. By limiting myself in certain elements, I could focus on making other aspects of my illustrations more strong.

Page 36: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Page 37: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

LEFT: Character sketches

RIGHT: Page layouts for Inside, Outside, and Inbetween

Page 38: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Page 39: Melissa Crowton

SKETCHING

Page layouts for Inside, Outside, and Inbetween

Page 40: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

is planning the story out into a dummy book format. This preliminary book gave me a sense of what the

difficult at first, I started having more success when I began laying out the look of the book in small thumbnails. By mocking the dummy up into miniature scale, I could quickly see if the narrative was maintained from beginning to end. During this stage I referenced a lot of books, articles, and online resources to help me better understand how successful authors and illustrators were able to tackle challenges that I may have been facing. Molly Bang’s Picture This: How Pictures Work and Ann Whitford Paul’s Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication were books I heavily relied on for composition and writing revisions. I also kept books close at hand that interviewed authors so I could hear about the experience of writing a book from other

Ways of Telling: Fourteen Interviews with Masters of the Art of the Picture Book by Leonard Marcus and Writing with Pictures: How to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books by Uri Shulevitz were also very helpful.

At this point, I was half way through the year.

was at a similar point. Originally, I had planned on moving forward with Knock, Knock, Knock, but after receiving feedback again on the story structure, I felt that Inside, Outside, and Inbetween had greater potentially and less of a story structure problem, so

project. Although one project had to be pushed to the side temporarily, I still kept in mind the critiques and feedback on that work so that I could continue with that work in the future.

Page 41: Melissa Crowton
Page 42: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Page 43: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Research material on picture book writing

Page 44: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Page 45: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Thumbnail exploration for Two Little Feet

Page 46: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Page 47: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

LEFT: Thumbnail exploration for Knock, Knock, Knock

RIGHT: Dummy books in various sizes

Page 48: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Page 49: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Thumbnail exploration for Inside, Outside, and Inbetween

Page 50: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Page 51: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Thumbnail exploration for Inside, Outside, and Inbetween

Page 52: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Page 53: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Two Little Feet

Page 54: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Page 55: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Two Little Feet

Page 56: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Page 57: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Inside, Outside, and Inbetween

Page 58: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Page 59: Melissa Crowton

PLANNING

Inside, Outside, and Inbetween

Page 60: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISHInside, Outside, and Inbetween was intended as a

book that hearkened back to nostalgic childhood space. I wanted to create a certain mood that echoed the feeling of my own childhood. Each image should reference certain moods, atmospheres, and seasonal

sketches, line, and textural scans that were then used to enhance the digital process I used to complete

to echo the freedom I often felt as I created the initial sketches. Digital manipulation was also then helpful for me to pull the color palette together once I had established a general theme.

When it came time for the exhibition, I wanted

process. I approached the space as if I was a child in an art museum. What type of things would l like to see on the wall and what could I do to help me better engage in the space? At the suggestion of various critics, I came up with the creation of “art cards” that would act as a family guide that led you through the space. Each stage of my process was broken down into four parts and then corresponded to different sections represented on two pedestals installed in the space. I also complied three books that collected all of my materials, sketches, and drafts I used during the year. For me, it was as

show my learning experience. Taking the time to add something else to my work helped me see my project more objectively. I utilized other skills and I approached the gallery space in a more playful way. This opportunity opened up even more projects which was unexpected. Giving myself the freedom to do something I was passionate about yet at a low-pressure commitment allowed my work to take on a new dimension.

Page 61: Melissa Crowton
Page 62: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

Page 63: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

Inside, Outside, and Inbetween, pages 1-2

Page 64: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

Page 65: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

Inside, Outside, and Inbetween, pages 3-4

Page 66: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

Page 67: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

Inside, Outside, and Inbetween, pages 7-8

Page 68: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

Page 69: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

Inside, Outside, and Inbetween, pages 13-14

Page 70: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

Page 71: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

Inside, Outside, and Inbetween, pages 21-22

Page 72: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

Page 73: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

Inside, Outside, and Inbetween, pages 35-36

Page 74: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

Page 75: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

LEFT: Exhibition materials and art cards

RIGHT: Gallery exhibition space

Page 76: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

Page 77: Melissa Crowton

THE FINISH

LEFT: Writing art card, Sketching art card

RIGHT: Planning art card

Page 78: Melissa Crowton

IN ACTIONAs part of a collaboration with Jia Liu, Ashley

Yazdani, Cinyee Chiu, and Ricardo Nunez, we created a space in the middle of the exhibition gallery space and organized free art workshops to local Baltimore residents. This “Tell and Create” event was a way to engage with the community and teach activities that were related to our individual interests yet still connected to storytelling. This was one of the more rewarding aspects of the gallery experience. Having previously worked with groups of children in other jobs prior to graduate school, I enjoyed presenting my material on a more specialized basis. My workshop presented various activities on the theme of book making.

To begin the workshop, I let the group choose a picture book from a pile I provided and we read it together. After pointing out the different parts of a book like the spine, dust jacket, and author’s bio, we discussed what was the difference between book dummies and published books. I then read them my story, which was extremely helpful in pointing out to me what was working and what needed to be further polished in future revisions. Having a variety of age groups gave me the opportunity to see where I needed to balance text vs. image.

The remaining two activities focused on developing imaginative storytelling skills as a group and as an individual. Each child was given multiple post-it notes and told to draw anything they wanted. As a group, we told a story together with the different images we drew out. It was amazing how imaginative the group became the longer the story was created. Everything from volcanoes to swords to monster palaces were incorporated into a cohesive story. We then folded paper into a book with multiple pages to give each of them the opportunity to write their own narrative. I wanted to empower each attendee with the skills to continue their own book creation.

Page 79: Melissa Crowton
Page 80: Melissa Crowton

IN ACTION

Page 81: Melissa Crowton

IN ACTION

LEFT: Workshop materials, Book making project

RIGHT: Product of storytelling activity with post-it notes

Page 82: Melissa Crowton

IN ACTION

Page 83: Melissa Crowton

IN ACTION

LEFT: Pop-up card workshop with Jia Liu, Storytelling activity

RIGHT: Building a story together

Page 84: Melissa Crowton

WHAT’S NEXT? Overall, looking back, I could not have predicted

the way my thesis project would ultimately have been completed. Grown from the beginnings of a simple idea, this project expanded into an immersive experience as I rediscovered my interpretation of the picture book. Through each transformative step, I

and where I needed rigidity. Unable to fully conceive

has allowed me to become not just an illustrator but also an author. As an artist in a world of dynamic visuals and immediate information, the picture book for me still stands the test of time. Children live inside special moments when they claim a story of their own and I feel privileged that I may one day facilitate that experience.

As I move towards graduation, I begin as always at the beginning: what comes next? My future

move forward with a storytelling spirit as new ideas and more books wait to be written. Pencil in hand and paper at the ready, the most important story is

some of the greatest mentors, teachers, peers, and friends that have made all of my work possible. Without their polish and patience, this project would be much different. First, thank you to the inimitable Whitney Sherman for seeing what I couldn’t see and always being there to show me. To Kimberly Ellen Hall and Joyce Hesselberth, thank you for your advice and kind words. We are lucky to have you. To

and forever friends. To my family and most especially

this journey. There will always be time for another one.

Page 85: Melissa Crowton
Page 86: Melissa Crowton
Page 87: Melissa Crowton
Page 88: Melissa Crowton