Some drafts of mine

I want to learn the style of very famous digital band "Gorillaz". The way they draw their character is really simple. It's like some cartoon (Samurai Jack, Powerpuff girl), they are all easy to regconize. The expressions of the character are also incredibly cool! And here are some example of their adorable Magazine and CD cover designs.

Panorama

Shutter speed: 6 sec

Aperture: F6

ISO: 250

I took this one really late at night, about 1 AM. I used 17mm focal length. I didn’t use tripod because I didn’t have enough space to do so. I have to hold the camera by hand and try to make it stay still. I took about more than 40 photos and merge all of them together. I took that much of photos to get a smooth horizontal curl. The shape of the big building on the left appear really attractive. Furthermore, there are rhythms of villas on the photos make it more interesting. Also, I took it nearly 180 degree wide and look down a little bit. With this fish-eye-lenses-like effect, the depth of the space was shown. The main light source is the city street lights and it’s soft. The mood is peaceful and a little bit strange city at night. So it’s still life but it’s lively. About balance, it’s a little bit dynamic balance.

Montage

2

I start with this one, however, it's too flat and hard to continue developing with other element. So I start drawing by mouse to approach simplicity and organic.




And here is the result, I tried to be concise and simple as much as possible. Also, I used the same style of line to make it unity.











How about this one?








I combine they all in to one. What's your opinion ? Please leave some comments, thanks!

9th

uhm, I took this photo several days ago. I feel like I started to have something call passion in photography ^^. Also, taking photos in day time is easier for a beginner like me. I don't have to set up light too much, or worry about blurry, noise because of not having enough light. I only pick one photo from the series because I found it interesting.

I decided to took this photo in portrait mode instead of horizontal to have the composition that I want. The girls - the dominance in the photo. She stands out from the background with the size bigger, in focus and the colors of her clothes. Furthermore, in the background, there's a couple, they were also taking photos for their wedding day. The are also make the photo balance. However, thing that I found interesting the most is the parttern perspective lines: the ground, the tree, the seats, all of them are pointing to the couple in the faded background. With all those diagonal lines that lead to a vanish point, we could easily see the depth of the photo. The photo was fullfil with the tree leaves on the white sky, without them the photo will look imbalance or uncomfortable to the eyes. I also apply the rule of third in this picture by positioning the seat of the main character, it's also the begining of pattern perspective lines.

I shot this photo at:

Shutter speed: 1/400
Aperture: F3.2
ISO: 250
Flash: no flash.

I really like this photo, please leave some comment so that I can improve myselft!

8th

7th

6th

I start making the "Carhartt" with the basic shapes. It's the square and a quarter of the circle. I only stick on that two shapes. After that, using Abdobe Illustrator I made a grid (I called it character generator ^^). As you can see, here's the character a.

I'm gonna show some variations of the characters and steps that I went through.



The first one is too heavy, the second good enough. However, I made the last one it's look stylized





Similar problem happened with the letter "H".








The letter "t"













First I want to make uppercase C but it's ugly. The last 2 "c" are good, hard to decide.


Finally, here are the clean, clear result. I also created other version with softer edge. (I added curl to each char to remain make it consistent in style)






I end up adding color, using some color theories to make it colorful but still comfort to the eyes.

5th entry

4th entry

I'm start doing a new one. I use a spiral line to draw the sun. Draw some star to make it balance with the sun's heat line. Also, draw some circle to describe the moon's surface.







And here is the final piece, after scanning, tracing and coloring it. I made all those stuff look like cartoon, it's will help the viewer easy to understand. I also put a little bit light of the moon toward the black background so that it could blend in softly (and it look shiny, but not too hard light).

3rd entry

I combine my last 2 ideas, using the sun-curve-heat-line and the circle representing the earth.
With the curves the sun may appear softer rather than straight.

2nd entry

First I drafted out my idea, I'm using a spiral line to represent the sun (also the heat of the sun). The so called "leaves" of the moon were added to make it unity with variety in size (to avoid boring). I applied that style to the moon too. Somehow, with a single star and without the background, the sun&moon become off balance.



After scanning the draft, I traced it in Illustrator so that I can have organic lines and adding some color. I want to make the sun a powerful look. and the moon, smaller and more peaceful. Adding some stars.

After saw this picture, some says they didn't know what I tried to draw. It's look like a flower (sunflower -.-).






Here is other version of it, with straight line instead of curves. I still keep the spiral and the shape of the moon. The sun will look more shiny with the variety of straight heat line in this case.
















So I start making a new one with simple line and shape (Circle, triangle and square). With this one the viewer can easily tell what the picture is about. This one I made the picture/logo appeared in a square shape. I made it simple, more is less (!?)











This picture/logo appear in a circle.

















This one: I put the sun on a horizontal line (represent the sea level). However, I need to put a little circle on top to balance with the moon at the bottom.

First entry

I took this photo about 1 month ago with my friend at "Thap but" Sword lake, Hanoi. I kinda like the look of old buildings.

We were there on a sunny day so that I could take the photo in a good condition. I used my canon 40D and took the photos at:

Shutter speed: 1/50 (help me avoid blurry by shaking the camera)
Aperture: f/3.2 (so that I could have small depth of field)
Iso: 200 (clear photo, without noise)
Focus length: 70mm

I used the depth-of-field method for her to be in focus with a blurry background. The viewer could be easily recognize her as the dominance of the photo (by appearing focused, the color of her clothes). I put her on aside to make her of center. Also, with a diagonal line of the mid-ground the photo appeared more depth to the eyes of viewer. Furthermore. the background with a gate (which lead to the "The Huc" bridge), viewer could see there: it's really a sunny day. The other small gate on the right with the color, and the shape kind of balance off the dominance.

Overall I like this photo. My friend she smiled naturally. It was took on the right color balance, exposure and I don't have to edit, crop or retouch it afterward.