Exercise: choosing content

In this exercise I read an extract from a book called the Daffodil Affair and then brainstormed on the following:

If this were to be made into a film, I think the main character would be gruff and angry on the inside at the crimes he is witnessing and trying to solve. Although how the author describes him solving crimes that happen to ‘feeble minded’ girls I find quite negative and also very of the times (1942 amidst the Second World War) so I also see this as showing disdain and perhaps an element of disgust or exasperation. Given the period and being a detective; polite, austere and very correct. He would be serious, reserved, calculating and perhaps even solemn and sombre in a kind of tormented way. So even though he might not show it, his emotions would run deep and he would often frown. I envisage his eyes being very perceptive, darting around, taking everything in and quite slow to move yet precise and agile and even fierce when necessary, like a cat poised to spring.
The character is a Scotland Yard detective so of course we get to the classic straight trench coat with a 1920s straight edges and wide legged grey suit underneath together with a tie of course. He would probably also have a hat from that time too, bowler style with a rim.
The furniture in the main area where the action takes place in this excerpt is clearly his office, with a large, heavy and austere desk and chair, un-curtained windows and nothing much else. Nothing is described but perhaps a waste paper basket, some papers and a pen, some files.

After which I collected relevant reference material which can be found here in my Pinterest and I also created a physical collection as per the below image. Since this exercise had to culminate in creating an illustration of a simple portrait of the main character, I gathered portrait figures too that could represent the above description, images from 1940s London and of policemen and Scotland yard etc. I also collected book covers of crime novels too to get ideas and inspiration in terms of colour, look, position. I realized that this was all starting to have a very ‘crime comic’ look and subsequently discovered that crime comics arose in the 1940s so I also found some interesting images from there that I found inspiring for my portrait illustration.

I was then to choose a word that best captured the mood I was to convey. It was a hard choice but I chose ‘grim’ – it was war time after all.

Based on this I created the below moodboard to reflect this word. I chose dark blues, blacks and greys as the overall colour and tone with some flashes of yellow which seem to be common in crime novels and then started adding in texture and colours that complemented this general impression (grimy tunnels, brick walls, dark textures found on the internet).

Based on above, I then had to create a simple portrait of the character using the reference gathered. I started planning ideas in my sketchbook and looked at other book covers with portraits on them with the same genre. I also very much liked the comic style so I first trialled out a lot of ink and acrylic or pen and ink to get that flat colour and shadowy comic look. However I started to think that such flat coloured look was best done digitally and was too ‘clean’ looking to convey the ‘grim’ look I wanted.

Then, given that in the story the man is peering out of the window, I chose to envisage this as the ‘position’ for the portrait and tried to do it at an angle so I could get good shadow features. I have never really done portraits so I googled for some ideas and discovered the Loomis head and followed some online tutorials and trials until I found my favoured position looking downwards as if out the window.

Using the basic Loomis position I favoured, I traced various of the same to be able to try out different facial expressions. I used a mirror to check my own expressions of anger and disgust and frowning as well as googling some drawing techniques. I practiced different features until I got to one I really liked and then went back to perfect that one and darken the lines so I could also trace it, make copies and try out colour or black and white.

I then made thumbnail copies and went back to trying paint, acrylic, oil, pastel etc and different colour combinations.

I liked the darker blacks and blues best and then tried to add a highlight as it the sun/light was coming in the window. However I wasn’t convinced about the white background so I decided to try out coloured paper to get darker mood.

At this point I was convinced that a grey or black would be best and to use pastel to get a grainy look that gave the texture I wanted. I bought a new pad with quite textured cotton paper and decided to go for a mid grey with blues whites black and a little yellow highlight.

In terms of how I evolved with the reference material and used it to inform my illustration, I was convinced I was going to use charcoal or pastel but then I discovered the comic style look so I went back and added more reference to my mood board. However, as above and after experimenting with acrylics and gouaches etc, I then decided it wasn’t grainy enough for the look I wanted and I also don’t yet have the skills to manage this level of drawing digitally so I went back to my original idea but I did try to bring in the shadows and highlights that gives so much atmosphere to these comics. I also had to go back and find more images and support to be able to draw the 1940s hat, the tie, the portrait itself and getting eyes and ears right and the angle of looking down.

References:

Having not a great amount of experience doing portraits, I tried to also find some ideas on how to draw expressions so I used a few tips and ideas from the net and tutorials by artists: