ANM 324 Project 2-Variations
This was a very challenging project because it demands an understanding of layers, closed shapes and the unique features of the pen tool.  It also requires that you understand the relationship of elements in a scene as well as how light affects the scene. In addition, you had to learn about color palettes and how to apply different colors to your interior. You all have begun to see the incredible potential of Illustrator….the possibilities are endless.  I appreciate everyone’s efforts on this project…keep up the good work!
 
Here’s my general grading criteria for this project:
95-100-drawing is accurate, demonstrates good control of tools and includes accurate lighting effects, used of named layers and accurate color (high level of difficulty)
90-95-drawing is accurate, shows adequate control of tools lighting and fills considered but not complete or accurate. Layers used effectively
85-90-drawing is accurate, fills not complete with open shapes and lighting not adequately considered. Color palettes not accurately identified.
80-85-drawing and use of tools lacks control, lighting not adequately considered. Only submitted one file instead of required two.
70-80-drawing not controlled, lighting not considered did not meet requirements
 
Late -10
No Group Critique -5

Frazier Group
Joseph Leclaire-You definitely have the brightest most eye-catching interior in your group. The color palette you chose is not a harmonious palette as required in the project….still, I like the richness of the palette and patterns that you incorporated. I noted that you used layers effectively and used them to organize your illustration. From a technical perspective, your interior has a variety of structures and surfaces to draw, but you’ve depended on strokes to define most of the shapes. For example, the walls and ceilings are separated by the black stroke to illustrate their relationships. A more effective way to draw this would be to not use visible strokes but instead use color to differentiate the surfaces, which would have slightly different tints of color in a room. The same rational goes for the chairs, couch and tables. As is, their surfaces are quite flat. A gradient would help give them form. I do like the rays of light coming in from the overhead window and the strong cast shadow off the table. Good use of patterns to fill some surfaces…as small fills they work fine…the carpet is larger and the flat fill pattern doesn’t have perspective that’s consistent with the shape of the carpet. Patterns can be modified to match perspective.

Julya Matsakayan-Your interior is very modern and minimalistic, but it’s very precisely illustrated. I especially like the use of gradients on the couch and table, which have excellent form and lighting. The use of a gradient mesh on the pillows gives them great form. Lighting effects throughout the illustration are based on the strong illumination from the right. The cast shadows off the frames on the wall are especially strong but I would expect to see a shadow from that table cast across the end of the couch. Your color palettes are more “realistic” than based on a full harmonious palette as required by the project. A monochromatic palette would use only one solid color, such as a strong red, and tints of that red for all fills.

Lucha Olguin-This is a rather simple interior but I really like the perspective, interior structures and the lighting effects. You’ve used layers to effectively arrange and “stack’ content in the room. The most interesting areas in the illustration are the beams in the ceiling and the pool table. In both cases, you’ve used tints in your palette to show highlights and shadows…they are very effective. With such strong light coming in from the windows, I would expect to see the shadows of the window structure across the floor and perhaps against the wall. This would add consistency…nice job! The pool balls are great!

Christina Tovani-Your interior is very inviting…I especially like the chair in the foreground. With that chair you’ve chosen to not use visible strokes and applied gradients to give it a more realistic form. As a result of this treatment, it looks more believable than the chair to the left. You’ve used black strokes in all the other major elements too…it’s much more effective to not have those visible strokes unless they are actually part of the shape. I do like the use of gradients, which look very good..they would stand-out even more without the surrounding strokes. Lighting effects are good…the room has an overall glow that’s coming from the left…I like this. That pot on the stove is especially strong and reinforces the direction of light along with the gradient on the ovens on the right wall. I would expect to see a couple more cast shadows to effectively show the light in the room. For example, the island on the right now has a drop shadow…this would actually be a cast shadow going onto the floor and perhaps onto the wall in the back. Good use of layers to organize your drawing!

Alaura Glenn-I’m sorry your illustration came in a little late and missed the feedback from your group. This is a very complex interior and you’ve done a good job of illustration an exceptional amount of detial. Your use of gradients gives the room volume and a clear sense of strong light from the left…which must be coming fromt he lights since it looks pretty dark outside. I especially like the form on the stool to the lower right and the pillows. The only suggestion I have is to make the illumination of the lamps less intense…rather than an overall glow, it would be more directional. The lamps for example would have an hour-glass pattern of light..use the same blur techniques just draw a more accurate shape for the basic illumination. Excellent use of layers and your color palettes are accurate!

Rosenwald Group
Malcome Blackhall-You’ve incorporated excellent detail and lighting effects in your interior. The table and chairs are especially well done..I hope you were able to draw on and duplicate to save time. The structure on the back wall is well illustrated too. I especially like some of your lighting effects…the gradient on the table implies a smooth reflective surface and the very subtle cast shadows on the floor give us a clear idea of light direction and intensity. I would expect the bowl at the center of the table to also be reflected on the surface. You’ve used gradients very successfully to give depth to the room. The highlights around the window and dark gradients where the back walls merge look great. While your colors of walls and accessories do meet the color palette requirement, to be precise, the table, chairs and floor should also use the same harmonious palette. Good use of named layers!

Sitarah McDonald-This is a bright, inviting interior and the triadic palette is very effective. The structure and objects in the kitchen are somewhat simplified but you have drawn them well and used gradients to colorize and add realistic lighting in the room. I especially like your illustration of the counter stools. With the strong lighting in the room, I would expect to see a cast shadow off those stools. By selection all the parts of one stool you can copy then go object>group, fill with darker tone and use this as your shadow by inserting into the appropriate layer and modifying as needed to look realistic. A drawing strategy you should consider is to not use a visible stroke. In reality these shapes are defined by their fill color..you don’t need the stroke. I tried this on your illustration and it looks great…give it a try and see!

John Pastor-It was interesting to see your interpretation of the same interior that Malcome illustrated. Your color monochromatic color palette is right-on! I’m impressed with your solid fills, without gradients, they are effective in giving the room depth and also illustrate the changing light on the various surfaces. Shadows could be more complete…the small shadows off the legs might be accurate on the front legs but the back legs, with chair seat above would look different with a cast shadow of the seat itself on the floor. The table would also dictate some shadows whether off the table legs or the table itself. The bowl also needs to be grounded with a shadow. This scene would be a good one to add a highlight from that overhead lamp (even if it wasn’t illuminated in the original scene). I do like the fact that you didn’t use visible strokes on the majority of shapes but wonder why you did use them on some chair parts. The named layers provide excellent organization.

Ruchi Shah-Wow—you’ve incorporated outstanding detail in your illustration. You have added excellent depth and the lighting effects give the room volume. The detail on the lamps is exceptional. I’m very impressed with your illustration of the soft bedding which looks very natural and realistic. Your lighting effects imply light coming from a variety of directions which would be the case with both natural and artificial lighting. The drop shadow on the plant is a little harsh and as a result the small part inside the bowl looks out of place. I’d suggest toning the shadow down a bit and, to be precise, edit the branch of the plant that’s casting the shadow so that the base of the plant does not have a shadow applied. You’ve used a combination of visible (the accessories on dresser and dresser pulls) and non-visible strokes. I’d go non-visible on all and just use color to define shapes. Excellent work!

Kroencke Group
Roxana Jonczyk-What a fantastic interior! The curve of the room, fixtures and accessories make it very dramatic. my eye is drawn to the sinks and faucets which have been drawn precisely. The illumination from the top is reinforced with the strong cast shadows. You’ve used gradients very effectively to give the objects and surfaces form. My only suggestion with lighting is that the cast shadow off the stool on the floor is quite strong and as a result makes the slippers, which have no shadow, tend to stand-out as if they are floating. The monochromatic version is much stronger than the triadic. You’ve used layers very effectively to organize and layer content. Excellent work!

Damon Lyon- It’s obvious that you put a lot of effort into your interior and there was a great variety of subject matter to illustrate. I especially like your treatment of the couch and pillows. Both of the couches really stand-out due to effective use of gradients and consistent shadows. I also like your coloration of the walls which emphasizes the perspective in the room. Lighting effects are stronger in the tetrad version. The analogous version is really a monochromatic grayscale with some added color highlights (pillows). I think shadows on both versions could be more consistent…base on the plant (placed photo)the light is very intense from the left..I don’t see this with the shadows you’ve applied to the pieces of furniture. Perhaps they should be stronger or the plant shadow more transparent. Layering looks good!

Anita Kunz Group
Tanea Devriend-You chose a very complex interior to illustrate…there’s great perspective as the room recedes into the background. I especially like that transparent stair rail…looks great. The furniture looks quite hard..this is primarily due to your use of visible strokes on all the shapes. Sometimes the strokes are important (the pillows might actually have piping around the edges which could be surrounded by a stroke….but the furniture isn’t defined by visible edges…if you make the strokes non-visible, then the gradients you applied will give the objects a softer form. Give it a try…select them all and turn off to see how it looks. The lighting effects look a bit random because there’s a mix of natural and artificily light in the original scene. I do see the strongest light coming from the left and this is reflected in highlights on the center table and couch fronts. the highlights on the chairs are a bit random…should be shadows off the legs onto the floor to be consistent. I can see your layers…must have been flattened during the save process?

Melissa Whaley-Wow…look at all those layers and named sub-layers. That’s a great way to organize your illustrations. You obviously put a lot of work into your illustration and it shows. I’m very impressed with the detail in the dresser hardware. The furniture is very precisely drawn too…I know it took some time to draw that detailed chair back. Lighting effects are subtle in the monochromatic version, stronger in the analogous file where shadows are more visible, although that chair back would likely cast a shadow on the wall. I like the fact that you chose to not overuse gradients…solid color variations can be just as effective. I do see modest gradient application on the curved vase and accessories. The lamp shade might be another place where a gradient would best render its curved shape. Your illustration is one of the most successful in class!

Jorge Oceguera-You’ve done an excellent job illustrating your interior. I really like the complementary color palette version. It’s bright and inviting. The interior is bathed in light through those large windows, which adds highlights and shadows to the furniture and accessories. The table and chairs are the main focus in the room and they are exceptionally well illustrated. The shapes are well organized and you’ve used gradients effectively…the table cloth looks great. Gradients on the arm chair may be a little off on the foreground side based on the dominant light direction, but that’s minor. The cast shadows are outstanding…the light causing them is bright and intense. Outstanding work!

Christina Richardson-You definitely had fun with your room. That “jack” was such an unusual, and challenging, object in the room. I was interested to see how you would handle it…very successful indeed! I like to see all the detail in the interior…this definitely tested all your drawing skills. The room has excellent perspective which is highlighted by lighting effects. There is some inconsistency in the shadows…you’ve drawn cast shadow shapes in the foreground but relied on drop-shadows on some objects further back. The small table next to the chair in back looks like it’s lifted off the floor due to the drop shadow. You have also chosen to use visible strokes in some areas to define shapes….if the stroke is actually part of the object that’s fine. You are using visible strokes to outline some shape such as the sculpture and pull-out on the wall behind. I think it would be more consistent to just go with no-stroke and use color variation to define the surfaces. Good use of patterns for the floor and artwork. Patterns typically don’t show perspective but these are random enough to work nicely.