Coloring images for children

This summer, I took an internship in Qingdao press, in the department of children's education, I helped to color the line drafts which were created by drawers.

Those three are of my favourate ones, I only did the coloring part.





There are certain rules for making illustrations for children, some of the widely accepted ones are, the characters should always look cute and friendly, with innocent gestures, big heads, delicate colors etc. They tend to use tiff format to make the coloring, and in CMYK color mode. They always adjust the color of the skin to the same color value, like C 15%, M 10%,Y 0%,k0%. I did lots of coloring and re-coloring work in three weeks time, and I learnt some techniques, also my memory of childhood has been awaken in the process of coloring. Also, I learnt that, there's a mass production running, so time is always limited, the persuation of quality is always ignored facing the huge tasks. Creativity is not very much encouraged in press, in this aspect, making our own children's books can be a good solution.

Travel Illustrations

I did use text and illustrations to make record of my trips to Shanghai and Beijing this summer, it was my first time trying to document my own experience by using this combination.I haven't learnt anything about others works on travel illustrations, and I get interested in this area by doing more research.

Below are my works:








From my illustrations above, I used quite a lot of texts instead of images, which I suppose could develop more texts into visual language in the future.
I mainly drew objects and architectures, but used texts to tell stories, and I think story telling is the next step I can develop myself into.
I could make more research about others work and finally make my own book.Blurb is a good website which can help you make your own photo book:http://www.blurb.com/

Pencil drawing

This summer, I took pencil drawing lessons for a few times, for an improvement of my previous skills. Below are works that I drew copied from books, for learning the construction techniques.

However, the best way is always to try to depict the original objects on one's own instead of copying, even without the guidance of a teacher, by observing and translating visual language, one can capture the nature of the objects gradually.

Works and comments:



I really like this set of still life, especially it's classical feeling. There are various kinds of textures in it, so I tried to use different ways of shading to create different feelings. It was important to stress the hard parts and soften the weak parts to generate the correct rhythm of this picture.



I'm quite satisfied with this piece of work overall. I made it in a short time, around 2 and a half hours only. The whole feeling is really clear and silent, peaceful. Maybe because it's the same tone of voice of my own characteristic, so it's easier for me to reach this. The lines were simple, some unique points were perfectly stressed.



For this drawing, I used line as the only element to draw the whole image, so it appeared to be quite gruff and boring. Various elements can make the picture more vivid.



This drawing is the one I experimented with using tortilon to help shading the midtone at the beginning of shading and also can be used to help shading the dark tone and create a soft feeling.



I did this not very accurate in proportion, and I didn't capture the original feeling of the boy, which is pretentious and stubborn.

Summarizing the basic steps when creating portrait pencil drawings:

1.Establishing the basic features

Most artists make the greatest number of changes at the start of a drawing. Therefore it is important to draw lightly at first, as lightly drawn lines are easier to erase.
Begin a portrait with the eyes as they are the main focal point. Take care where to choose to position them on the page as this will affect the overall balance of the portrait.
The size and position of the other features are directly related to the scale and placement of the eyes.

2.Building the outline of the portrait

The next step is discover the size of the head by establishing the distances between the eyes and the top of the head and the eyes and the chin.
The main features are then framed by the outline of the face and hair, while the neck and shoulders form an angular support for the head.
At this stage, the drawing is no more than a set of carefully measured features that establish the final proportions of the portrait.

3.Building detail in line

The forbidden city

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government.

I visited the forbidden city for the second time during this summer holiday, on the 23rd of June, and took photographs with my canon 1000D camera, those are some of the selection I made to represent my memory of the forbidden city.



The name

The common English name, "the Forbidden City," is a translation of the Chinese name Zijin Cheng.Zi, or "Purple", refers to the North Star, which in ancient China was called the Ziwei Star, and in traditional Chinese astrology was the abode of the Celestial Emperor. Jin, or "Forbidden", referred to the fact that no-one could enter or leave the palace without the emperor's permission. Cheng means a walled city.



Symbolism

The design of the Forbidden City, was meticulously planned to reflect philosophical and religious principles, and above all to symbolise the majesty of Imperial power.

* Yellow is the colour of the Emperor. Thus almost all roofs in the Forbidden City bear yellow glazed tiles.
* The sloping ridges of building roofs are decorated with a line of statuettes lead by a man riding a phoenix and followed by an imperial dragon. The number of statuettes represents the status of the building — a minor building might have 3 or 5. The Hall of Supreme Harmony has 10, the only building in the country to be permitted this in Imperial times.
* The layout of buildings follows ancient customs laid down in the Classic of Rites. Thus, ancestral temples are in front of the palace. Storage areas are placed in the front part of the palace complex, and residences in the back.





The walls

The Forbidden City is surrounded by a 7.9 metres (26 ft) high city wall[11] and a six-metre deep, 52 metres (170 ft) wide moat. The walls are 8.62 metres (28.3 ft) wide at the base, tapering to 6.66 metres (21.9 ft) at the top.[31] These walls served as both defensive walls and retaining walls for the palace. They were constructed with a rammed earth core, and surfaced with three layers of specially baked bricks on both sides, with the interstices filled with mortar.



Comments:

I spent one day exploring through the great architecture, however, this is far too limited time for one to get a understanding of such a great architecture. It's like a maze, full of wonders and imagination inside. From every single details, there's always a reveal of the deep Chinese culture, there's always meaning in it. I think, whatever the outlook maybe, it is very important for an architecture to have meaningful sybolism inside. The appearance and technique maybe really simple, but there should always be a space for people to think through.

Shanghai 1933 building

I visited 1933 building in Shanghai on the 16th of June, which was my birthday, and took photographs with my Canon 1000D camera.

Set in Hongkou district in Shanghai, 1933 was designed originally by British architects, and built in 1933 by famous Chinese developers. The 1933 building had a variety of functions during its history, from abattoir to medicine factory.It is now undergoing extensive restoration – and through this, a major Shanghai landmark is being created. The central building marries classic architecture and Art Deco styling with beautiful geometric motifs. A complex system of sculpted concrete ramps, flyovers, flowering columns and spiral staircases form dramatic spaces for creative-driven tenants and events, leading to the grand centrepiece: a theatre-in-the-round with a polished glass stage and expansive rooftop terraces.

The unique complex, which is set to become operational in March 2008, will be a cosmopolitan collection of cutting-edge design and creative offices, creative retail, restaurants, bars and clubs, artist’s guilds, galleries, culture, arts and educational institutions across four heritage-listed buildings.