Gwybodaeth Modiwlau

Module Identifier
AR21930
Module Title
Book Illustration 2
Academic Year
2024/2025
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Exclusive (Any Acad Year)
Reading List

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Portfolio  5 equally weighted projects  100%
Supplementary Assessment Portfolio  5 equally weighted project, different from above  100%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

To find creative solutions to specific briefs, working in styles and media appropriate to the requirements of the set texts, and mindful of the intended target audience;

To establish a disciplined and systematic approach to tackling the brief: e.g. mind’s eye sketches, picture research, reference photographs, thumbnail compositions, colour studies and full-size preparatory drawing leading to the finished illustration;

To consider the importance of typographic design, the relationship between image and text, and the page layout;

To demonstrate a critical understanding of contemporary illustration practice as well as an awareness of how your practice stands in relation to that of contemporary practitioners;

Brief description

As well as seizing and maintaining the readers’ imagination, the illustrator’s role is that of communicating ideas through images that both complement and enhance the text. In so doing, the illustrator endeavours to illuminate, inform, entertain, or incite polemic by interpreting visually, the written word. Through a varied and exciting series of set ‘commissions’, students engage with the materials and techniques of illustration: drawing and painting for reproduction, digital imaging, typography, and page layout design. Drawing is central to illustration as it enables the student to express their ideas. It is vitally important in the student’s development of a personal visual language. Keeping a sketchbook helps students to develop and refine their visual awareness and literacy. In sketchbooks, students examine the world through drawing—it is fundamental to seeing, thinking, and reasoning. Illustration students will be encouraged to develop technical fluency, a personal vision, a distinctive style, and a broad overview of contemporary illustration. [For students who wish to specialize in illustration, it is recommended that they sign up for the complementary art history module AH30510 Drawn to Order: British Illustration since 1800.]

Aims

This module aims to provide a technical grounding in the materials used and techniques employed in book illustration. Through prescribed ‘commissions’, students learn to make illustrations with consideration for the intended audience, stylistic interpretation, and method of reproduction. As an exercise in observational drawing from life, students will be encouraged to maintain and make daily contributions to a sketchbook. In consultation with staff during individual tutorials, students devise and sustain a program of self-directed study within a realistic timetable for the completion of projects. The module promotes and encourages creative thinking as well as professional standards, laying the groundwork for a career in a highly competitive market.

Content

Through a series of lectures, workshops, group tutorials and one-to-one tutorials, students will be taught key skills in a wide variety of subjects. These subjects include:

  • Book design
  • Visual Communication
  • Pen and Ink
  • Typography
  • Figure Drawing
  • Perspective
  • InDesign
  • Photoshop

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Creative Problem Solving Creative thinking. Devising imaginative solutions to prescribed illustration briefs. Analysis and interpretation of texts.
Critical and analytical thinking Developing own practice, research into methods and materials and self-critique
Digital capability Digital painting and image manipulation/editing, scanning for reproduction, printing, and online research skills.
Professional communication Oral communication in tutorials and exchange of ideas through peer group discussion or presentation.
Real world sense Specific project briefs, management of time and transferable skills
Subject Specific Skills Technical and conceptual grounding in the materials used and techniques employed in the illustration of books.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5