Giving Instructions:
How to Make a Cup of Tea
RESEARCH
Image collection for referencing material done over a 6 month period: This is one exercise where I have been 'stuck'. I am trying to solve this in my head instead of by drawing as I intuitively feel I can find a solution by visualising the perfect picture!
I'm inspired by stacked teacups below, but am abandoning this idea because I don't think it will communicate the 'action' part of the kettle and ingredients going into the cup at the top. If I try and replicate them I might lose some of the effects that I had originally sketched.
I also believe now after looking at these pics that I am after 'action' because the angles of the tea cups at the bottom are juxtaposed. If I change angles on my original drawing I can get this effect.
 |
| Above -Source: charlotte-riley.blogspot.com and source below: Tumblr.com |
  |
| Source: Ginger snaps by Jessica Flannery, jflannerycreative.com |
Above: The balance of circles in the text and the images give this a cohesive compositional effect. I also find the colours quite enticing and evocative of the creamy tang of ginger. I'd like to emulate this effect in my tea making drawing.
 |
| Source: Thinkstock |
 |
| https://www.pinterest.com/JanCobaltDragon/tea-time-kitchen-redo-ideas/ Above: Quite an honest, 'flat' patterned representation I think, with the herbs falling into each cup. It's decorative but still communicative. Nice patterns, is it okay to have everything this flat? Are there points for realism and points for proof of drawing practice? (always my biggest hesitation). |
 |
Book cover: Teatime by Tiffany Stone, illustrated by Jori van der Linde, Published by Simply Read Books
Above: Whimsical and so sweet, with fairy figures depicting the sugar lump and spoon. The steam from the pot is such a great communication to depict tea! |
 |
| I tried to create a swirling effect from the steam of the kettle to unify the picture and I got the idea from the illustration aove by Jori van der Linde,
SKETCHES
The act of making a cup of tea is simple so I wanted to convey this in a visually attractive way as it could have ended as a dull and technical drawing.
I sketched some squares to illustrate the logical sequence of tea making and experimented with different perspectives of cups, saucers, pouring and tea. I added orange because I felt it to be a colour suitable for a foodie subject, something that stimulates digestion. I felt that colours were important in this and that they should stimulate and energise rather than retreat so I chose warm colours.
|
 |
| Here I practiced the flow of frames from one to another and the use of just one colour plus black and white for emphasis and directional attention on the cup of tea. I consulted a book by Henri Rankin Poore on composition and played around with different types. |
 |
| I looked at Jessica Flannery's picture of Ginger Snaps and liked here birds eye view of the tea and the swirl within. I introduced a sugar spoon to indicate sweetener and a kettle to depict bo |
 |
| I liked the cloudy steam idea so developed it a bit more but it wasn't clear enough for an informational diagrammatic illustration. |
 |
| Here I used blocks for each picture and let actual tea stain the paper and although I thought this a good effect, my sense of control was too strong to let it be. I enjoyed the milk carton pouring although I wasn't sure that I could convince an audience that it was milk that was being poured. It might be juice. So I changed this to a milk jug, which is more symbolic of milk. |
I decided to revert to the squares idea to convey order to the method of tea making and took bits of my sketches to form a cohesive logic. I liked this font that I saw in a magazine at work and drew the numbers by hand.
 
I introduced texture with wax crayons and used the orange to unify the picture. The red is intended as focal points and I decided to add a 'real' paper cup holder by adding cardboard cutouts to each cup for effect.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment