ANM 324 Project 2-Variations

This was a very challenging project because it demands understanding 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

Anita Kunz Group

Maria Morales
- Your interior looks very good and you’ve used layers effectively to arrange and stack content in your scene. I especially like the glow from the right (not sure what the source is ) that is reflected across the floor and walls. Nice use of gradients to illustrate the continuity of light. I think the interior would be even stronger if you did not make the strokes, such as in the furniture, visible. Rather than defining the sides by the border, it’s more effective to change the color slightly to show how the surface is illuminated. Very good detail in the TV and painting!! Your second illustration was labeled as complimentary but was actually analogous. I know, I may be asking a lot to expect you to become color experts. Overall you’ve demonstrated good control of the tools and have a strong sense of lighting effects.

Pam Redlew-I really love the sense of depth and texture you’ve incorporated into your room. The bedcover and pillows are incredible. Those subtle folds
make the surfaces so believable. The walls are another highlight in the scene…the change of pattern color really gives the viewer the impression of light streaming in the window. You have a great sense of subtle color variations and the painterly effect of light. Clearly you understand layering and pen tool skills. You’ve done an outstanding job on your interior!

Liubov Voronina-
Wow…I can’t take my eyes off of the lamp and table! The detail and color is spectacular. You’ve incorporated excellent lighting effects too with the shadows on the wall and cast shadow of the lamp. Note: your lamp shadow would be more accurate if it showed the variety of forms in the lamp stand and post. The couch is not as strong, which is due to your decision to apply a pattern to it’s surface. A pattern is a much more challenging surface on which to apply subtle lighting effects. I would have rather seen you define the back arm and sides independently and fill with solid colors in your chosen palette. The complimentary color palette is not actually complementary.

Jamie Ly
-Your interior has a lot of charm and I like the painterly style the strokes are showing. In some cases, such as the table, you have layers with the outlines and then you added a layer with the color. In contrast the back wall and lamp look like they are shapes filled with color. I would recommend keeping with a consistent technique. You have some very interesting detail, such as in the lamp and end table and the dresser and arrangement on the back wall.
Highlights and shadows are rather inconsistent. You’ve used blurred cast shadows for the table. which are very dark and imply a strong light from the windows. To be consistent, I would expect to have shadows cast from the back of the couch and shadows from the vases on the table…consistency is very important to give the viewer a sense of reality in the scene. You’ve done a good job with layering and color.

Rosenwald Group

Vicky Chen-
Your interior looks beautiful. I especially like the detail in the table and accessories. The highlights and shadows really make this area come alive. The couch is very strong too…it looks like you’ve used the gradient mesh tool to give the pillows and cushions a soft natural look. It’s obvious you’ve fine-tuned your illustrator drawing skills and you have a great sense of color and light. Excellent work!

Michelle Naas-This was a great image to work with because it has lots of variety in shapes and there’s a very strong light source with lighting effects to work with.
You’ve done a very good job of illustrating the shapes in the room but it would help if you used named layers to help organize. The advantage is being able to selectively lock and select elements in the room by their name or function. You’ve have done especially well with the area closest to the window. The lamp, widow frame and vases are really well done. As you move across the room the detail is still good but the lighting effects are not as effective. The folded blanket appears to float a bit due to the soft drop shadow. There should be some cast shadow under and off of the left side of the bed as a result of the strong window light. Overall you’ve demonstrated really strong drawing skills. Your second file was named complimentary but it is actually monochromatic. Complimentary palettes are based on opposite colors on the color wheel.

Steven Tuck-Your interior had lot of potential with interesting furniture and both artificial and natural light to work with. The blanket or throw in the foreground has the best combination of rendering and lighting effects. The cast shadow on the couch arm looks very realistic and the couch itself is well drawn. The other elements in the room have a varying degree of accuracy. The floor is very good and the back wall and accessory detail is very well done.
The couch in the back is not as well defined..you need to draw the cushions, arm and pillows as individual closed shapes which will then give you controlled color fills and the ability to apply consistent lighting effects. You might also consider not showing the stroke around all the objects. This has a tendency to confine the shape and make it less realistic. Practice makes perfect!

Yelena Volkova-
I can’t take my eyes off that glass table! You’ve done a spectacular job in drawing the table shape, filling with color and applying transparency to make it look absolutely realistic. The detail and structure of the back wall is also very well done but the drop shadow gives the impression that it’s floating. If the structure is on the ground then the shadow would be more well defined to ground it. The chair also looks like it’s floating…OK there may be a few areas that could be improved but I still can’t take my eyes off that table! Wow.

Kroencke Group

Mary Urtz-Your treatment of the back wall and the curving shelf structure is excellent. You’ve incorporated strong forms and the lighting effects are very well done. The accessories are rather one-dimensional compared to the rest of the room with the flower arrangement looking a bit like a paper cut-out. Having said that, the dish on the table is very realistic and the furniture is also illustrated beautifully. Lighting effects, such as cast shadows off the visible table leg and perhaps under the far couch would add consistency. This room is illuminated by a variety of lights so it does make it difficult to establish a common source. It looks like there are a few “odd” shadows on the couch…I think you may have been trying to show small cast shadows but the blur doesn’t look very natural. Overall you have great control of the tools and coloration is excellent. Recommend you use named layers to help organize your illustration.

Scott Lockhart-It’s interesting to compare the different style of illustration in your drawing of the same interior as Mary. Your room is bright and defined primarily with the visible stroke drawing style. This technique does define the shapes but also tends to make shapes more static. You clearly have good control of the drawing tools. You have considered lighting effects with the highlight on the globes and a brighter surface color on the bottom shelf and electronic boxes. I would like to see the lighting effects on the couch surfaces. For example, the top of the arms should be lighter than the side or back…a very subtle change of color tone will add volume to those objects. This is where a good range of color tints can help. The dish on the table and the flat screen TV have the most effective lighting. I would recommend you incorporate more well-defined cast shadows on the table legs to ground it more accurately on the floor.

Melissa McGregor-
Your interior is bright and colorful with the triadic palette. You have used gradients to effectively show lighting effects. The gradient in the foreground coming from the right establishes the dominant lighting in the scene and is consistent with the brighter front surfaces of the table and sideboard. It would be more accurate if a subtle cast shadow came off of the table legs to both ground and reinforce the lighting direction. I like the cushions on the couches but the coloration of the couches with gradients, looks a little over-done. Those globe lamps are fun..might be interesting if there were either very soft shadows cast from them or a subtle glow on the surfaces that they are above. It looks like you really had fun with the illustration. Consider using named layers in complex drawings like this to keep things organized.

Melissa Villarama-The extreme depth and perspective of this hallway makes it a challenging subject for the project. The basic shapes that define the windows, walls and door are well drawn, however I can see some slivers of white where paths do not quite meet. Lighting effects are best illustrated in the window frames where you’ve used brighter tints in your palette to show highlights. The bright triangular highlight looks rather unnatural…I think if this were just reflected off the two inside surfaces and not the glass, it would work better. You chose to use a pattern fill on the floor but it doesn’t fit the perspective…this is difficult to do with patterns. It would probably be better to draw tiles or fill with a solid color gradient to illustrate the depth of the hall. Consider not using visible strokes…if you remove, you’ll see that the drawing will look much more natural.

Frazier Group

Andrew Jozwiak-Wow! Your interior is one of the most effective in the class. You’ve combined excellent drawing skills with good choices of color and subtle but consistent lighting effects. I especially like the look of the divider wall which has lots of detail as well as highlights and shadows. The arrangement of chairs presented some drawing challenges but they look great. I might suggest using a more subtle color palette to render the various surfaces but that’s a matter of taste. Excellent work!

Glenn Lopez
-I really liked the analogous color palette you chose for your interior. It’s very rich and inviting. Lighting effects are good with the most effective area being the reflections on the coffee table and the color values in the couches. You’ve obviously put a lot of effort into drawing and detailing the objects in the room. I would like to see less dependency on the visible stroke…in some cases you’ve relied on it as a surface detail to define shapes such as the ottomans in the foreground. This would be more accurately drawn with multiple closed shapes. Closed shapes allow the illustrator to control color fills and take away the visibility of the stroked outlines. Without strokes on surfaces like the couches you can then fill shapes with various colors or gradients to give them form and show subtle lighting effects. The detail in that cushion on the right it amazing!

Ken Rathbun-What an interesting effect you’ve created with your monochromatic color palette. The room is almost like it’s enveloped in light. You’ve clearly got a good understanding of the drawing tools and the use of your color palette to show highlights and shadows. I particularly like the nightstand and windows on the right! Great job with the application of those slightly blurred cast shadows. They really reflect that light streaming in through the window-panes and columns. I would challenge you to remove some of those light strokes, which are most visible on the nightstand on the left and the headboard…they aren’t necessary to define the surfaces and the overall illustration would look more natural without them. Excellent work!

Anna Volkova-Your interior has lots of potential with strong forms in the couch, table and pillows.
Because you chose to fill the soft shapes with a texture it makes it much more difficult to show the curves in the cushions. I agree that textures are perhaps a more accurate depiction of the surface of the couch and carpet. One way to add lighting effects to a texture fill is to duplicate the shape and add a layer on top with a very transparent gradient. The gradient would give the texture some variation in brightness to imply a curved surface. You have used a drop shadow under the couch and along the table legs. The area under the couch looks good but the shadow along the vertical leg of the table is not consistent with the dominant lighting. I do like the shadow behind the couch which shows it’s relationship to the back wall. Color palettes are not quite accurate as complimentary or analogous.

Michelle Bridwell
- Your room is bright and the color palette is playful. Excellent use of layers to organize your room and the objects. The pen work is good with the rectangular shapes. The couch has been drawn with some freeform stokes which give it a more natural outline but the individual shapes, such as the cushions, arms and back would be better if drawn as closed individual shapes. This allows for separate application of color or gradients and results in the ability to render the lighting effects more accurately. You’ve depended on texture fills for all the objects in the room…OK, I know it’s fun and more realistic for fabric and carpet but it’s much more difficult to show perspective and lighting with texture fills. You have added drop shadows to the main objects in the scene but the shadow is, in most cases, set too distant from the shape and results in them looking like they are floating. For example, the coffee table legs should have a shadow that starts where they meet the floor. This will “ground” the table and give the illusion that it’s firmly sitting on the carpet. This project is a great opportunity to learn the skills that make Illustrator such a powerful drawing tool.