1: Key steps in illustration

Exercise 1- The History of Illustration

I chose Eric Ravilious from the given list of illustrators. 

Ravilious was creating work at around the time of ww2 and was commissioned as a war artist from 1939. He is well known for his watercolours of the South Downes, depicting rolling hills and valleys, I found his work very atmospheric and loved the colours he uses and his use of lines and blocks to create texture. I particularly like the skies which are often grey or cloudy but with a kind of soft hidden light.

HMS Glorious in the Arctic-1940

           The Vale of the White Horse by Eric Ravilious

He was also known for his block prints and large mural work.
I think his work seems very contemporary and there is nothing that comes across to me as being old fashioned about it- the muted colours for instance and the monochrome of the block prints, seem fairly modern to me.

                                        

Sussex Landscape by Eric Ravilious

My choice of illustrator- David Roberts

David Roberts is a contemporary childrens illustrator whose work I really love. Although I didn't find Eric Ravilious' work to be old fashioned I think that David Roberts' work in comparison, is very modern in it's style which is more sketchy and expressive, with lots of movement and great characters- he says he loves illustrating the darker stuff which is great fun. I especially like his black and white ink drawings for older children.


David uses, watercolour, ink, pen, pencil, crayon, pastel 'anything that comes to hand' to create his illustrations which are all done by hand, he doesn't use digital art as he admits he doesn't know how, I think this shows in his work and that having some limitations can be a great boost to creativity.

My attempts in the style of-

1.Eric Ravilious

This one went a bit wrong but rather than waste more time labouring over it I decided to just upload it.

2. David Roberts