Character Development and Storytelling: Cameo and Caricature
Introduction
For this project I was challenged to use the Adobe Illustrator Draw app on the iPad and then it's parent application, Illustrator CC, for refinement, in creating a cameo and caricature of my classmate, Emma. After creating these portraits I was challenged to explore how to collaborate with my classmate through Adobe Creative Cloud, as well as to store and organize files within it, and then to document the entire process with screenshots from the Adobe programs on Behance.
Materials
Hardware: iPad
Software: Adobe Illustrator Draw, Illustrator CC, Photoshop
Platforms: Creative Cloud, Behance
Creative Process
For the cameo part of the project, I wanted to depict a mood of sadness by having Emma lean her head, and point her eyes downwards. I also had her give a neutral frown. I wanted to show this frame of mind in my depiction of her because most cameos have a very neutral expression.
For the caricature part of the project, I first had to interview Emma to find out what her likes and dislikes were. She told my that she disliked spiders and that her favourite food was pizza. Therefore, I decided to depict her with a large piece of pizza and a very - very - excited expression on her face. But in order to make this the main focus of the caricature I needed to enlarge the head/face; especially when it came to the mouth and eyes. With the big, wide open smile and eyes it is very evident that she truly loves pizza.
Production Methods/Workflow
My first step was to take a side profile, portrait of my classmate on Illustrator Draw.
I then drew an oval around the head and shoulders of Emma using the eclipse shape tool (adjusted to oval). Once oval was drawn, I deleted the shape underneath.
I then drew the outlines of the face, hair, and clothing with the Basic Taper brush using the stylus pen. Once that was complete I was able to press and hold down the pen on the background space inside of the oval to fill it in with black.
After completing the illustration I signed into Adobe Creative Cloud on the desktop. Then, on the iPad, I opened the cameo under Adobe Desktop Apps -> Illustrator CC. The cameo was then sent directly to Illustrator CC on the desktop.
Once on Illustrator CC, I was able to add a fancier border around my cameo. I did this by going to the Brush Definition panel -> Brush Library Menu then chose the border that I chose fit best. Unfortunately, the border I chose was green rather than black so I needed to select the border then go to Object -> Shape -> Expand Shape, then Object -> Expand Appearance. I could then change the fill colour to the desired black.
I then selected the whole cameo, including the border and simplified the lines.
And Voila!
After the cameo, I then began to work on the caricature of Emma.
After first taking a photograph of Emma in a position that makes her appear to be holding something, I began to outline her on the iPad. I outlined her head separately from her body so that I was able to increase the size of her head, which allowed me to better amplify her expression. I then outlined her body, shrunk it, and drew a large piece of pizza next to her head.
And Voila! The Caricature!
Conclusion
Overall, throughout this project I learned how to work with Illustrator Draw on the iPad in order to create a portraiture in cameo and caricature form. I enjoyed using the iPad for the illustrations because of the many different pen options and the fact that I am able to draw overtop of an existing image for better accuracy.
My favourite aspect from the entire project was learning how to use the Creative Cloud between the iPad and desktop computer to send files to other softwares likes Illustrator CC and Photoshop. Also, how easy it is to share and collaborate with other Adobe users through the Creative Cloud, allowing multiple people to place all files into the same folder. All of this made the process of working with the cameo and caricature a lot smoother and way less complicated than having to send emails etc.
Throughout the entire process, I found Behance was a great platform to organize my thoughts and steps, and has helped me track what I could do better next time; such as, refining more lines or adding colour to the caricature to give it more life.
