Drawing Stories: Developing a Range of Illustration Styles to Enhance Graphic Storytelling by Tyler Brown
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Drawing Stories: Developing a Range of Illustration Styles to Enhance Graphic Storytelling by Tyler Brown A final project submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the North Carolina State University College of Design in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Art + Design Animation/New Media Concentration Raleigh, North Carolina July 2015 Marc Russo, Committee Chair Assistant Professor of Art and Design Tania Allen, Committee Member Assistant Professor of Art and Design Patrick FitzGerald, Committee Member Associate Professor of Art and Design Acknowledgements I would like to first thank my committee, Professors Marc Russo, Pat FitzGerald, and Tania Allen for all of their help and counsel throughout this project, as well as Mike Bissinger for serving as a Technical Advisor and Traci Temple for guiding me through the research class. Another big thank you goes out to all the other instructors, classmates, and friends that I’ve learned so much from during my time here at NC State. I also want to thank my family for all of their support over the past few years, Susan my ever-patient wife, my parents, the in-laws, and all the rest! Finally, I’d like to dedicate this project to my grandmother, Judy Brown, who passed away during my time here. She was the most wonderful woman, my greatest confidant, and a huge supporter of my artwork and continuing education. It was with her encouragement that I was able to summon the strength to continue and finish this program. Thanks ya’ll! - (read with a smile and a yankee tease) Tyler Brown, 7-20-15 TABLE OF CONTENTS 7 Abstract 8 List of Figures 15 Introduction Background of Study Statement of Work Paper Summary 19 Story Generation Form as Content The Rashomon Effect Story Creation Process Non-Traditional Narratives Choosing Comics 35 Theoretical Assumptions Levels of Representation Expressionism Drawing in Animation Line Drawing 53 Illustration Style in Comics The Development of the Comic Book Aesthetic Contemporary Digital Practice Style and Content Aligned 73 Creation Process Techniques, Tools, and Materials Iconic Abstraction Photorealism Non-Representational Abstraction Adding Interactivity 103 Conclusions Summary of Experience Future Work Significance of Work 109 Glossary 111 Annotated Bibliography 7 ABSTRACT This paper serves to document and support the art direction for a three part interactive comic titled, Drawing Stories. The piece tells a singular fiction story from three different points of view, each in a visual style that represents the personality of its protagonist. Using representational style as a metaphor for the subjectivity of perception, the work attempts to reveal the impacts of drawing style on communication in an artistic way. By demonstrating style’s effects, the project defends the design approach toward illustration, in which, an illustrator must work in a style most suitable for a given prompt and not rely solely on a single identifying manner of drawing. Additionally, the project puts forth a model for understanding illustration style and suggestions for developing a set of well-rounded drawing abilities in order to change one’s style based on the needs of a project. The supporting research includes an analysis of drawing for visual storytelling, with a particular focus on the development of stylistic trends within comics. Theories behind cartoon imagery are discussed, including levels of representation, visual stereotypes, visual metaphors, caricature, expressionism and the formal element of line. Pulling ideas from drawing for animation, industrial, graphic, and entertainment design, the paper argues that, when illustration style and content align, a more effective piece of communication is produced. 8 Drawing Stories: Developing a Range of Illustration Styles to Enhance Graphic Storytelling LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 1. Alain, 1955 New Yorker cartoon ...........................................................................................14 Fig. 2. McCloud, Big Triangle Diagram ...........................................................................................14 Fig. 3. Tyler Brown, Big Triangle Reinterpreted Diagram ...............................................................16 Fig. 4. Tyler Brown, Plan of Action Diagram ...................................................................................16 Fig. 5. Madden, 99 Ways to Tell a Story ...........................................................................................18 Fig. 6. Madden, 99 Ways to Tell a Story ...........................................................................................18 Fig. 7. Madden, 99 Ways to Tell a Story ...........................................................................................18 Fig. 8. Madden, 99 Ways to Tell a Story ...........................................................................................18 Fig. 9. Madden, 99 Ways to Tell a Story ...........................................................................................18 Fig. 10. Madden, 99 Ways to Tell a Story .........................................................................................18 Fig. 11. Madden, 99 Ways to Tell a Story ..........................................................................................18 Fig. 12. Madden, 99 Ways to Tell a Story .........................................................................................18 Fig. 13. Futurama "Reincarnation" Episode, still .............................................................................20 Fig. 14. Futurama "Reincarnation" Episode, still .............................................................................20 Fig. 15. Futurama "Reincarnation" Episode, still .............................................................................21 Fig. 16. Futurama "Reincarnation" Episode, still .............................................................................21 Fig. 17. Futurama "Reincarnation" Episode, still .............................................................................21 Fig. 18. Marvel Knights Spider-man: Fight Night, page ...................................................................22 Fig. 19. Marvel Knights Spider-man: Fight Night, page ...................................................................22 Fig. 20. Holmes Self-portraits, Screenshot .......................................................................................23 Fig. 21. Cartoon Kevin website, Screenshot .....................................................................................23 Fig. 22. The Powerpuff Girls "The Bare Facts" Episode, still ..........................................................24 Fig. 23. The Powerpuff Girls "The Bare Facts" Episode, still ..........................................................24 Fig. 24. The Powerpuff Girls "The Bare Facts" Episode, still ..........................................................24 Fig. 25. Rashomon, Movie Poster .....................................................................................................25 Fig. 26. Kurosawa's Rashomon film, still..........................................................................................25 Fig. 27. Kurosawa's Rashomon film, still ..........................................................................................25 Fig. 28. Kurosawa's Rashomon film, still..........................................................................................25 Fig. 29. Tyler Brown, Character Plan Diagram .................................................................................26 Fig. 30. Tyler Brown, Character Plan Diagram with Sketches .........................................................26 Fig. 31. Tyler Brown, Grub's Version thumbnails .............................................................................29 Fig. 32. Tyler Brown, George's Version thumbnails .........................................................................29 Fig. 33. Tyler Brown, Beauty's Version thumbnails ..........................................................................29 Fig. 34. Tyler Brown, Character Interaction Diagram ......................................................................29 Fig. 35. Block, Traditional Story Diagram .......................................................................................31 Fig. 36. Tyler Brown, My Stories Diagram .......................................................................................31 Fig. 37. McKee, Story Diagram ........................................................................................................33 Fig. 38. McKee, Story Diagram Reiterated.......................................................................................33 Fig. 39. McCloud, Big Triangle Diagram..........................................................................................34 Fig. 40. McCloud, Big Triangle with Cartoonist's Mapped ..............................................................34 Fig. 41. Tyler Brown, Modified Gamut .............................................................................................36 Fig. 42. Tyler Brown, Modified Gamut with Art History Mapped ...................................................36 Fig. 43. Tyler Brown, Schema Development .....................................................................................36 Fig. 44. McCloud, Universality of Cartoons .....................................................................................39 List of Figures 9 Fig. 45. McCloud, Universality of Cartoons