ILLU6040 - Exquisite Corpse - TheElliotWatson.GRILLUST.UK

ILLU6040 - Exquisite Corpse

28/9/2021

The Brief

This project is a collaborative effort across third year illustration students to create a book full of "exquisite corpse" (a form of surrealist collage) artwork. Each participant has been given four random Characters Of Note™ to create a full-body illustration of. Once the illustrations are all completed, they will be cut into sections & compiled into a book to create a dynamic exquisite corpse work.

The Art Of Visual Thinking Exquisite Corpse Blog Post

Drawing & Composition Blog Post w/ Exquisite Corpse Examples

Exquisite Corpse Project Blog Post

Blog posts containing & discussing the concept of "exquisite corpse"

The outcome of this project is self-determined, so the parameters of our illustrations are decided as a group, they are as follows:

A4 book trimmed down & ring bound, resulting in an illustration-working-area of 170mm x 297mm.
Illustrations cut into sections of 3.
Text with character details will be on the back of each section:
- Name - On top section
- Profession - On middle section
- Description - On bottom section
Fonts will be consistent to each character, rather than uniform over the whole book.
28 pages of illustrations (56 sides) with a front & back cover.

Research & Inspiration

The subjects for this project are distinct fictional or historical characters with often absurd descriptions, so their illustrated portraits will have to capture the same energy as in their descriptions.
I see this project as a challenge in character-design, so I will need to explore means of conveyance within that concept.

Character No. 36 - Tokyo Sexwale
(Historical Figure)

"Profession: Businessman and Politician from South Africa.

Notes: Anti-apartheid figure. He was imprisoned alongside Nelson Mandela and won a government position during his country’s first democratic election."

Post with a summary of Tokyo Sexwale's activism

Anti-Apartheid
Movement History

Character No. 41 - Papá Gonzalez
(Fictional Character)

"Profession: Mexican Outlaw

Notes: The biggest sombrero and moustache along the Rio Grande."

I'm going to place this character's style & aesthetic to the very general "Wild west" era (mid 1800s to 1910-ish). A very stereotypical western character (see Bandito).

Article on potentially relevant historical details

Character No. 46 - Stanley Judkins
(Fictional Character)

"Profession: Professional Footballer

Notes: Played for Preston North End 1922-23. Famously used his shiny, bald head to temporarily blind the opposition."

1888 - 1889 Illustration Of Preston North End FC.

Preston North End Kit 1914 - 1930

1920s Football Boots

Character No. 54 - Terry Austen
(Fictional Character)

"Profession: Writer

Notes: Jane Austen's younger brother, wrote action-adventure novels. Suffered from gout."

Jane Austen was active during the Napoleonic Wars, publishing works of writing near the end of the conflict. Her real brothers (Francis Austen & Charles Austen) both became Officers in the Royal Navy from the 1790s onwards. Therefore, this fictional brother should have some sort of link with the military at the time, after all, there's plenty of action & adventure in the military.

Article on era-specific fashion

Initial Sketches

Papá Gonzalez Sketches

Trying to establish the size of the sombrero & moustache within the limitations of the frame.

Papá Gonzalez Sketches

A more rotund build fits this character better than a wiry body shape, and uses more of the space available.

Papá Gonzalez Sketch

Exploring treatments to keep the moustache length appropriate, but also within the top segment.

Fitting the bodies' proportions within each section is challenging for some poses. Very "Big head mode".

Stanley Judkins Pose Sketches

Exploring more dynamic poses that fit within the frame for Stanley Judkins while keeping his shiny bald head in the forefront.

Terry Austen Pose Sketches

An overly muscled character will contrast with the delicate fashions of the 1800s. Is there such thing as a standing dynamic writer's pose?

Tokyo Sexwale Sketches

To convey the politically rhetoric nature of Tokyo Sexwale, I've used various scholar's cradles & hand gestures in these sketches; the body-language of a speaker.