PROMPT
A troll in some relation to a hot air balloon.
SUMMARY
I had several different ideas about how this might look, but I knew right away that I wanted a very specific theme and aesthetic for this. My plan was to create a fun, whimsical, kind looking troll, rather than an ugly mean troll, maybe in some kind of magical forest or village. Fun colors, shapes, etc.
I thought about the troll being in a hot air balloon or watching hot air balloons go by, but then I had the idea to add humans in the mix and it took a fun turn. I wanted to have a sense of friendship between the two species.
NARRATIVE
The concept is a large troll standing in a fantasy forest with a hot air balloon going by with a human inside, admiring the troll. The troll will be colorful, cheerful, and whimsical rather than a dirty, ugly, mean troll. Think Trolls the movie!
The forest is the troll’s home. In this world, trolls are like friendly wildlife. Humans fly in hot air balloons to be able to see them in their habitat, because they are so tall.
Initially, I planned on making funky shaped trees and lots of different colors. However, once I saw it all together, I decided on a more muted forest so as not to distract from the troll and the hot air balloon.
The troll and the human wave to each other and smile. The overall vibe is happy and fun! They are simply admiring each other in a peaceful way.
THEMES
Friendship
Peaceful Coexistence
Fiction/Fantasy
IMAGERY
Pastel color scheme
Sunset
Fantasy/magical forest
“cute!” :)
PRELIMINARY SKETCHES
While my expert drawings may look like people, they are all meant to be trolls in this set of drawings :)
I have a hot air balloon festival with two trolls watching below, a single troll watching them, a single troll in a hot air balloon in the clouds, and a scene where two neighbor trolls wave to each other as they head out for the day in their form of transportation, hot air balloons.
The only really interesting one to me was the last. I loved the idea, but never found a way to get the composition right.
Next, I have two trolls in a hot air balloon overlooking a field with imaginary animals, a king and queen troll floating over their kingdom, two trolls racing through the clouds, and last, I had an idea to add a human in the mix.
This last panel would be the one I chose to go forward with because it stood out to me the most, and the dynamic between the human and troll seemed fun and had lots of potential.
FINAL SKETCH
My final sketch! The finished product is not too far off from this sketch. I added more trees and depth, and took away some of the oddly shaped trees, as well as the clouds and birds.
GOALS
KNOWLEDGE OF ILLUSTRATOR
Before this class, I had never used Adobe Illustrator at all! I’ve already learned so much doing demos, but I’m excited to expand on that with this project and become comfortable creating more complex compositions and intricately detailed subject matter with more ease and confidence.
PRACTICAL FIELD APPLICATION
As an Art Education major, I think the techniques I will learn while working on this project will be very valuable to me in the future as an art teacher! The overall theme and aesthetic I have chosen to apply to this project is similar to what I envision for my future classroom and teaching style. I want to be able to create fun, exciting, whimsical infographics and study tools for my students, so I’m excited to gain skill in this area.
REAL LIFE APPLICATION
I want to be able to more skillfully create art for fun! I had a lot of fun during learning demos creating stickers and vector animals. As a beginner in Illustrator, they weren’t perfect, but I hope that while working on this project my skills and craft will improve and I will discover new ways to polish and refine my work, so that I could make fun projects for myself at home and be able to share that with my friends and family!
PROCESS
I started with the sky. I wanted a sunset with soft pastels, and for this I used the gradient tool.
After that, I added in the two main aspects of the prompt. I wanted to get a general idea of where I wanted them to be situated, and then I started working on some basic details from there.
After trying out a few different styles of treetops, I decided to go for a classic pine forest. My original idea of funky shaped trees was not looking great, so I wanted something that wouldn't distract from the prompt.
I created these trees by making rectangular shapes and then distorting with the "roughen" effect. After that I added the "arc" warp effect to create upward limbs.
Once I had several trees I liked, I created groups of them to make a forest. Then filled in the space below with a rectangle of the same color.
I added a second tree line for more depth and made it slightly lighter for some atmospheric effect.
Next, I made the human! After I had a good basic shape and location for everything, I went in with lots of details. I used the gradient tool for more interesting color palettes on the troll and the balloon. I also played with some special effects to add some fun texture to the basket and the troll's hair.
I found a pattern I loved for the balloon, so to add that on, I created a copy of the balloon and filled it with the pattern, then increased the transparency and laid it overtop the original so the pretty gradient would still show through.
Here I added a few more trees in the foreground so that the troll appears to be in the middle of the forest. I also made the balloon and the lady a bit bigger. They felt too small to me, and I wanted more detail to be seen.
After that, a few tweaks and adjustments and I was ready to call it finished!
FINAL WORK
I’m really happy with the final result!
The composition is balanced well and uses the rule of thirds. The idea of friendliness and peace between the two species and the magical feeling I was hoping for was really brought to life. I was able to refine my original design and stay true to my original ideas about a colorful, whimsical theme without overwhelming the viewer with too much.
KNOWLEDGE GAINED
After working on this project, I have become so much more confident when using Illustrator!
I struggled with the pen tool quite a bit when first learning to use AI, but all the practice I had using it for this project has made me much more proficient and confident. (I even prefer it over the paintbrush tool now!)
Shortcuts in AI are my new best friend. Specifically, my favorite and most used were:
“V” for select.
“A” for direct select.
“Z” for zoom in/out.
“H” for hand tool.
“P” for pen tool.
Switching tools using shortcuts instead of the mouse when making intricate designs is insanely easier and faster. I became so much more productive when I started using these, and eventually they became second nature.
With this particular project, I learned that it's ok if your finished product doesn't look exactly how it originated in your brain. I started this with ideas about rainbows and sparkles and bright colors everywhere and weird shapes. That didn't work for what I wanted the message to be, and it would have distracted from my prompt if I went through with it instead of allowing myself to make some different choices.
In the end, I was able to expand my critical and creative thinking to both achieve the aesthetic I had in my original vision and maintain a well-balanced, more direct composition that helps me tell my story a lot better. This was super helpful for me (a huge control freak!) to learn, and in future classes and professional endeavors, I can always remember that it's ok to change things up and that I'm a better artist for it!
