Research: Alchemy

After sketching some rough thumbnails on Photoshop, I decided to try Alchemy. As we were told, I found Alchemy hard to use. However after trying all the tools and practicing for a few minutes, I was able to draw silhouettes purposely. I thought I had a good variety of shapes and form although it did lead to some questions that I referenced in my previous blog post. It seemed like I could make an infinite amount of these silhouettes and the for the time were were given for this project. I needed a guideline to help me speed up my process while not compromising the quality of my work.

I've never drawn creatures in the past and silhouettes like the ones above made me feel confident because I thought I was stepping out of my comfort zone. Only after some reflection did I realise that i could take it further by choosing to make an original and non-fictional insect.






These are the silhouettes that I made after researching what insects are:

It clearly shows that practice is important because my second batch of silhouettes have more definition and better form that my first ones. I enjoyed layering the shapes by altering the transparency and using gradients to make some if the wings appear lighter. By using Alchemy, I was able to create quick thumbnails that I thought are perfect for the brief. I don't think I would have achieved the same effect on Photoshop and if I tried it would have taken me hours rather than minutes. Not having the option to undo was also helpful because it taught me to embrace accidental shapes and have it as a part of my work. It made me worry less about my preconceived notions because I was forced to adapt to unexpected strokes.