SBC 5

• I fixed the kiss - the torso of the ghost needed to be more visibly and he hands should be up and together. It makes sense narratively and looks more natural.  
• Throughout the development of this book, I generally stuck to the thumbnails; this helped me stay organised as I had a set time for a page to be complete. The first spread is the only one that changed dramatically. I need up using the new page for the cover (with altered colours) because I liked it would wrap around the book, splitting the ghost and girl apart. 
• I’m really dissatisfied with the text for the cover and would change that dramatically or simply not include any text at all. 
• Unfortunately, when I went to submit this project to the competition, the price for submission was revealed. The price had not been revealed prior to the submission tab being made available. It was too expensive for me to afford this year but I definitely will take this competition up again next year. I think this project challenged me to work quickly at a consistent standard. It has also challenged my organisation skill as I set out a fixed deadline for each stage of each page and had to adapt when there were hold ups or revisions needed. I also think it allowed me to experiment. I have come away from this feeling more confident as an artist and happy with the end result.  
• I intend to print off som physical copies to sell as zines after the deadline. I may also single pages off to open zine submissions I’ve found online. 

(Frontispiece and dedication page)

SBC 4

•  I redrew the layout for the kiss page. I think that the kiss sprawling out over both sides will be an effective use of space but I still think that something about it looks off. At this angle, the ghost looks a bit awkward and should be tilted more. To rectify this, I will tilt the mirror instead so that the flow of the page is still the same. I will also add hair and wafting smoke to make it feel more dynamic and fill up the blank bits to the left. It is the climax of the story so should feel dramatic.
• Another page I have continually reworked is the bath tub scene. The silhouette of the ghost behind the curtain comes off too creepy. It should be eerie but not intimidating. To change this I went for a more human but still nondescript shape. 
• I so reworked the page with ghost in the upper corner. For this project, I have had to be very mindful to use the layout to get across the relationship between the characters. I still want them separated by the split in page, getting closer as it goes on, but I needed a way to still the them together to symbolise the ghost’s interest reaching out. While experimenting with this page, I chose to use a semi translucent smoke as it looked nice and got the feeling across. 
• I also experimented with colour and decided to stick to blues, pinks, purples and greens. I tried to alternate between palettes to give the eye variation through out the book so the reader doesn’t get bored. 

SBC 3

•  From the plot I had bullet-pointed out, I made thumbnails for each page. I made sure to use composition to show the yearning of the ghost and the distance changing between the two characters. I also wanted the character design of the ghost to shift from shadowy figure to a more concrete, physical form over time. 
• Sketching out each page was really important and allowed me to jump around freely as I worked on al the pages. 
• If i had more time, I would have made a full character sheet to follow but I don’t think it was too important for this as the characters do change through out anyway. Instead, I made sure to flick back through the files and make sure details matched when needed. 
• While I have never drawn any rooms before, I think this will be a good challenge for me. I want to fill the rooms in a way that informs the reader that the character has just moved in and progressively becomes more unified with the space (the background getting simpler/empty at the end).
• My process is so sketch crudely first and then refine before doing the final lines and then colour last. Unlike the DND commissions, I want these have marks from the textured brushes and be simpler. This is because I have to make more illustrations for a shorter deadline so more complex rendering would be impossible and I also think the texture will add charm. 

SBC 2

•  I discovered that the Silent Book contest had just been made international and realised that was perfect for this module. The deadline is the 5th of April 2021- right after the 2020 winners are announced. The brief calls for 14 double page illustrations with a couples pages before for the frontispiece and cover. The rules are that there can be no words (bar the title) at all. The size of the project is definitely manageable for one person also. 
• Since my previous ideas did not have a solid narrative tied to them, I scrapped it all to start fresh. My tutors were really encouraging. I first made some sketches to explore my ideas and then nailed down the plot into each image.

SBC 1

•  After Christmas, I reflected on what I wanted to do post-uni and realised I needed to steer myself towards still image instead of producing animations. I thought that the best way to do this transition was to make a set of pre-production work with maybe a couple very short animations. 
• I was worried about how to make this fit the course so decided to work on my own. This would let me tailor it to just what my portfolio would need.
• I didn’t have a clear vision for the purpose such as a festival  or exact finished product so I played around with ideas and sketches. 
• I designed a pair of characters and toyed with scenes from an office romance. I also thought about a mermaid with a shorter, simpler plot. I talked about this with my peers and tutors and was advised to focus n the office romance as it was more developed. While I agreed, I struggled to get an idea of what I was actually working towards as I wasn’t completely confident in what I wanted to do post-uni. It seemed like me and animation had just broken up a little. 
• On the side, I tried to develop my illustration skills since I hadn’t been focused on that in a long time. I did a few studies and a master copy to warm up and get a better idea of what i could realistically achieve.

DND 5

•  The shield has been scraped for now as the commissioner is not dead-set on either design. He may want this revisited later on, however. 
• Both alternatives for the arrows were approved and the napkin version for the holder. 
• Completed the chairs and weapons. 
• I struggled to get the red in the sword to be bright. I think I will rework this post-submission as I still have some time with this brief. Nevertheless, I think the designs are strong. 

DND 4

•  Progress on the chairs. Trying to keep the colours saturated  while they are layered on top of the grey under painting is tricky. With practice it is getting easier. I am very happy with how the egg has come out- it looks really nice and fluffy. 
• Switch form red/blue colour way to purple/pink. I think it has more appeal while still reading as a lollipop and not becoming pastel. The bow and arrow set has already been picked to be more pastel themed. 
• Waiting for feedback on the arrow set. I’m struggling to come up with another way to shape the donut not a bow so I’ve given options for more unique designs for the arrows and carrier. 
• I am also waiting for feedback on the shield designs but these are a low priority compared to the rest of the weapons. 
• Really happy with the axe- I’m proud of the rendering but it was very time consuming. However, the way i colour has allowed it to be quicker than it would have been using a different  method.