Exquisite Corpse.

10/8/2021

Our first project given to us in third year was to collectively create a book containing exquisite corpses. We each received four character prompts, from which we had to design and illustrate the character in a way in which they could be cut up into sections and mixed with other characters. We also had to decide the ways in which the book was made and put together as a group. I was really looking forward to this project as it was very free, with not much direction aside from the short prompts, so it was possible to take the characters in any direction that you desired.

The four characters I received were:

Drew Ackerman
Profession: Podcast maker.
Notes: is possibly the world's most boring man. The 45-year-old from California is so boring, in fact, people who listen to his podcast are tipped into a state of total unconsciousness, usually within minutes of hearing his nonsensical, monotonous rambling.

Susan Random
Profession: TV War correspondent
Notes: Famous for wearing full body armor.

Roberta Hood
Profession: Outlaw
Notes: Robin Hood's forgotten elder sister. Multi-tasker, could do everything Robin could whilst also cooking, cleaning and sewing. Resented Robin's fame and propensity to 'snag' his tights.

Amédée Connepa
Profession: Dancer at the Folies Bergère
Notes: Invented the Can-can when a wasp lodged in her bloomers.

Dimensions of book:
- 170 mm by 297 mm
- 99 mm by 170 mm (section size)

General Research.

Exquisite Corpses.

I had a fairly good knowledge on what exquisite corpse art is so I didn't need to collect tonnes of general research. Once I had a good understanding of how the sections worked and came together I felt that I was ready to move on.

Character Design.

I found the Art of Adventure Time book in the library which I found to be massively helpful, specifically looking at the character design pages. It gave me a good point of reference to start from in character design, and felt appropriate as the majority of the characters in the cartoon are weird, and abstract.

I also collected some inspiration together on Pinterest.

Drew Ackerman.

I started with Drew Ackerman as I had the clearest initial idea in mind when I first saw the prompts for each character. For all of my characters I took a similar approach to what I used last year in terms of development as I felt it worked very well for me. Therefore, I started with Pinterest research.

I followed with my initial sketches for my design ideas.

Then I did some colour scheme exploration for him.

It didn't take me long to feel happy with his colour scheme so then I moved onto creating my final. For all of my characters, I decided to go with my usual drawing style and technique that I use on procreate as that way I felt comfortable in my abilities to play with shapes and stylization. It also meant that I knew which brushes worked best for creating specific details and textures.

Final.

Susan Random.

Pinterest Research.

When I first read through the prompt for Susan, I honestly had no idea where to start so I gathered a selection of different images on Pinterest.

Character Sketches.

I didn't find the Pinterest research as useful as usual so the sketching stage took me quite a while in comparison to my other characters. In the end, I did manage to pull everything together in a way that I felt worked.

Colour Sheet.

I wanted to go for a formal, militant colour scheme for Susan so this stage was rather straight forward, it was mostly the smaller details that I needed to figure out.

Final.

Amédée Connepa.

Pinterest Research.

I knew a little bit about Can-can girls before I properly researched them and the aesthetic surrounding them. However, the image research stage was crucial, especially for understanding and gaining a knowledge of the clothing worn by Can-can girls around the time that the dance was created.

Character Sketches.

As an action was described in the prompt, I really wanted to focus on getting the body language correct so you could get the feeling of movement in the illustration. After I had decided on a pose, I quickly got down the characteristics and details that I wanted to include.

Colour Sheet.

For the colouring, I knew that I wanted to take inspiration from some of the old photographs that had been rendered, as I thought that the colours worked really nicely together, and would evoke a playfulness in the illustration.

Final.

Roberta Hood.

Pinterest Research.

Roberta's character was also one that I had a rather clear idea of the direction I wanted to take her when reading the prompt. I immediately thought of Madam Mim from The Sword and the Stone, as for both personality and body type, I felt that she reflected the kind of character I wanted to create.

Character Sketch.

The sketch for Roberta was the most straight forward out of all of my characters as I was pretty much happy with her as soon as I was done sketching. I think as she was my final character, I had a good sense of how to implement the prompt into the character, meaning I was ready for colour almost immediately.

Colour Sheet.

The colour sheet was also rather straight forward and quick as I had Robin Hood to reference from. I wanted to make the clear link between the two characters, so replicating the colours seen commonly on Robin's character was an easy decision.

Final.

Finals in Motion.

Front and Back Cover.

Izzy and I collaborated on the front and back cover, both using Procreate and then piecing the two elements together. We were inspired by old book covers.

Finals.

Izzy created the decorative elements of the covers, and I did the typography.

Final Assembled Books.

Mocked Up.

I wanted to do a mock up as well just so the final book looked a little neater and cleaner.

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