Practice and Research - Exercise 3.5: Colour Rulebook Illustrations

I started the colour illustrations on such a high note. Buoyed by my progress with the pencil drawings, I was excited to bring this world in my head to life. The first thing I did was to add in placeholder images to the spaces left in the document, so that I could get a sense of the overall finished article. As much as I dislike the ethics behind a lot of it, this was a useful job to use generative AI for. The quality of what was produced was never going to fit with what I wanted, but it did allow me to experiment with things like composition very quickly.

I first started with the largest image on page 1, having already explored some ideas in my sketchbook. I couldn't settle on a composition that was powerful, full of action but avoided being too busy. I played around with things as much as I could, but quickly became frustrated again.

A sketch from my sketchbook, exploring ideas

I decided to move a different illustration on my list, focusing on the one on page 7. The placeholder was not a strong image, and after playing a while with the original idea I had of a forest scene with a mystical menhir. I changed my idea to think of a chase scene and what that might look like in my setting. Given my level of frustration, I resorted to trying to get compositional ideas using generative AI to just make progress.

It gave me some ideas and reference points, and I sketched out my scene, thinking about how to use the references and adapt them to my own ideas. I had separate references for elements like the wagon, and I tried to start with simple structures to get the composition down before building out the details. I couldn't get it to work, and abandoned this approach to take some time away from the work.

When I came back to the idea, I wanted something more dynamic. Looking at other images for inspiration and to better understand how to add more energy into the piece, this time I started from scractch using my own rough layout. I still used some photo-bashing for things like the horse - adapting and incorporating the information into my drawing. I was happy with the pencil sketch, but was not sure where to go from there. I thought some kind of line and wash render might be good, so I started to place ink down digitally. However, this didn't seem to gel properly.

I thought perhaps I could take a mixed media approach, and printed out my pencil drawing onto paper, adding ink with a dip pen:

I quickly found this frustrating as well. I couldn't get the right feel, and again needed to take time away from the work in general to process things. My third attempt was to try and approach it as if the sketch were that used to start a painting. I switched to using Procreate so I could change the location of doing the image from my office desk, trying to add some change and novelty to get the image done. It seemed to start well, but I quickly got bogged down.

I looked extensively for instructions on how to go about rendering this way, but no matter where I looked, I could not find any worthwhile tutorials that broke things down and explained the choices being made, so that I could understand and create the foundation of my own repeatable process. Everything seemed to be light touch; if I wanted anything in depth, I would have to pay for expensive online instruction. I had finally had enough and walked away from the illustrations. I had lost all joy and couldn't even bring myself to sketch for fun.

An Aside

Whilst I was blocked from progressing further with my project, I got the opportunity to play Daggerheart in person at a nearby games cafe. It was a great opportunity to be a player rather than a Games Master, and a welcome distraction that allowed me to be creative again. I made my character concept, and I wanted to make some art for my new character to show the other players in my group. This was a tonic for me, and I felt more open to experimenting. I was inspired by the illustrations of Will Kirkby, but didn't try to copy his style exactly, using my own choices and marks. I also tried to experiment with line and wash, texture and colour choices (choosing more outlandish colours that - hopefully - still read well together).

I am probably more pleased with this image than any of the others. Because I signed up on a whim, I only had a few hours to put an image together, and that meant I didn't get bogged down with how I was putting stuff together, nor the choices I was making in the moment. I also didn't really care about photo-bashing together references to compose the image - my audience wouldn't care, they hopefully just thought it looked cool and gave them the right impression of my character's personality.

Some Reflections

It felt impossible to go back to my coloured illustrations. I was completely burnt out, and I didn't want to draw in general for months. This was particularly disheartening given that I initially wanted to produce my campaign frame in roughly six weeks. With hindsight, I realised that (having read back over earlier reflections) my choice to match a house style had trapped me trying to chase some kind of painterly style. I felt handcuffed to achieving something that I cannot do well.

I still wanted to create my own setting - I imagined what my Rivenhall setting could look like if I broke the house rules. I also asked myself what kind of game I would have the most fun playing. The best way I could describe it to myself was 'A fantasy version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. This idea quickly took root in my head, and in a matter of days, I had completely written the text for my new campaign frame.

By this point, I had not submitted anything for my coursework in roughly six months. I had managed to get enough focus to reply to my tutor's check-in emails, and not long after, I received an email from the course leader (and former tutor) asking if I wanted a chat. This was extremely welcome, and I spoke with him not long after to discuss this project and how I managed to get burnt out. My recent epiphany had broken me out of inaction, but I was still unsure about where to go next.

Talking it through with the course leader helped me realise the traps I had set for myself. It also gave me ideas on how I can explore things more in my new setting. Looking over Daggerheart's license conditions, matching a house style was of no use to me if I wanted to publish a setting publicly. Normally, a lack of constraints is a bad thing for me, but this time it felt liberating. I could create an approach that evoked the satirical, dry humour I had poured into the new setting. I could experiment with the 'punkiness'. The course leader also gave me some interesting ideas about moving my project forward, as well as integrating it with the written components. In my new setting, there are rifts and portals to other alternate realities (allowing for surreal and silly adversaries as much as terrifying ones!), and we discussed how each of those portals gave an opportunity to think about different ways to render things. It made me think of how this is handled in the movie "Across the Spider-Verse" and some comics that dealt with alternate realities co-existing.

So, I feel happy to let Rivenhall sit on the shelf for a while - I still think it's a great idea. But I now have a way to pivot this project in a way that leans into my personality, allows more humour, and opens up new opportunities to explore layout and graphic design choices (which, as an illustration student, are not always the primary focus). The last thing the course leader reminded me was that each of these projects doesn't have to end with a finished, perfect result - it's called Practice and Research for a reason. As long as I learn from the experience and can move forward, then I should consider it a success. I think it's a good point to submit the project to date to my tutor for his feedback, and then move forward to iterate on this project with my new direction.

I'll write another dedicated reflection post after getting my tutor's feedback.