Hey guys! Hope you’re having an excellent week so far – it’s currently beaming with October sunshine as I write this here in Hampshire, UK – so I definitely can’t complain!
I’ve been re-designing my logo recently, as I feel my current logo needs an update, to offer more of a taste of my illustration work (as I feel my current logo doesn’t achieve this). I’m aiming for a new logo that reveals more of my personality into my brand too.
Heck, you could be reading this blog post and the logo would already been updated (woop woop)!
I’m really happy with how the new logo identity is looking, as I’ve only recently finished it – so keep your eyes peeled in the next few days.
Today though, I want to reveal this brand new illustrated map of Hitchcock’s filming locations in California, which you can see more of my illustrations within my portfolio.
If you didn’t know already, I’m a massive Hitchcock fan, especially the films of Psycho, Vertigo, and my favourite, Rear Window.
His films are a master of composition, suspense, and tension. He’s able to build tension with ease, and his classics have gone down in history. As a result of my love of his films, I thought it would be a great idea to produce a map showcasing his Californian filming locations.
I’ve been fortunate enough to visit San Francisco, but would love to travel to other parts of California or the rest of North America (apart from NYC – I’ve been there 3 times already!).
Before illustrating the map, I had no idea so many of Hitchcock’s films were shot in this famous American State – Golden Gate Bridge for Vertigo, Paramount Studios for Rear Window, to Bakersfield for North By Northwest, so it was certainly interesting finding out more!
So How Did This Map Develop?
Working in my sketchbook to develop this map illustration, I firstly sketched the elements that I wanted to include in the map (including Hitchcock’s portrait), so I get a feel for the things that I wanted to paint.
Like I revealed in my latest commission blog post, I start every project (personal or client work) within my sketchbook.
This gives me the opportunity to work on idea generation, development, and to play around with the composition of an illustration.
I find it an crucial part to any creative project, which you can see more of below.
Next: Colour Tryouts
Next up it’s colour! I find this stage important to work out the colour of the illustration. This gives me the chance to determine exactly what colours I’m going to use when I produce the final artwork.
Sometimes it’s hard to choose from several colour combinations (which you can see below), as they all give off different messages to the viewer. I decided (in the end!) to go for more traditional colours for the map. Using cold colours of green, yellow and blue, whilst bringing in a complimentary colour of red.
Final Illustration Time: Painting & LOADS Of Editing
Like a lot of my illustration work, I tend to use gouache and watercolour to construct illustrations. I find these two mediums easy to work with, and achieve the desired effect that I want.
Back in the day I used to work with acrylic, but as this is a plastic based paint, I didn’t get on with it as well as the two above. It dries quicker, and you can’t work into it like gouache (as gouache is like oil in many ways).
However, it’s usually not finished there! After the paint stage, I scan the map illustration into Adobe Photoshop and edit the hell out of it (correcting mistakes and making it all look tight!).
I never used to edit my illustrations a few years back, and what a fool I was back then! There were mistakes, and I placed too much pressure on myself to get a painting correct the first time of asking.
If I make a mistake now, it doesn’t matter too much, as I have Photoshop there to help me. Of course, I doesn’t mean I set out to make mistakes, but if I do, it’s no problem.
Enjoy The Illustration Below!
I hope you enjoy this new map illustration of Hitchcock’s filming locations in and around California, it was really fun to create and retrace the steps of these famous actors and actresses.
If you would like to find out more about my illustration work, head over to my portfolio, where you can see more of my map projects, including Singapore to New York City (my favourite city on Earth). Otherwise, check out my other blog posts, here to help you with freelancing, creativity, or finding out more about my work.
Many thanks for listening and visiting my news page today. You can follow what I’m up to on my Twitter, Facebook or Google + pages, I’ll really appreciate it if you do, and don’t be afraid to say hi to me! Many thanks again, and have a great day!
9th October 2018
