Illustration and Visual Narrative - Exercises

22.4.2025  - (Week 01 - Week 14)
Lee Xiang Ling / 0384095 
Illustration and Visual Narrative / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylors University
Task 1 / Exercises

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Exercises

Week 2

This week, the professor gave a brief introduction to the functions and tools of Adobe Illustrator and assigned an exercise and homework. We were instructed to use the Pen Tool to create a line drawing based on an image.

Fig. 1 - Example Image

Fig. 2 - Practice 1

During the drawing process, I spent a lot of time on the first character due to unfamiliarity with the Pen Tool. The professor guided us in using various shortcut keys to make the drawing process easier. We also learned how to adjust line thickness using the tools, which made the image appear more dynamic.

At the same time, the professor assigned the first Adobe Illustrator exercise. This exercise requires us to generate a character using ChatGPT and create its line drawing.

Fig. 3 - The Character generated using ChatGPT

The character above was created based on an animated series I watched when I was younger. Since it has been so long, my memories of it are a bit fuzzy, but I still have a vague recollection of the characters. These characters also incorporate my own personal ideas, with the animated series serving as a reference.

The characters are as follows:

• Adolf -- the lively and brave werewolf who loves adventure but is a bit careless.
  
  
• Oscar-- the meticulous and sincere dragon who is also quite timid.
  
  
• Davis -- the smart, clever, and calm cat who has a bit of a perfectionist streak.

Fig. 4 -  Line Art of Characters

Week 3

Fig. 5 - Character coloring work from class 

This week, our professor taught us how to use real-time coloring tools to apply color and lighting effects to our characters, making them more vivid and expressive.

After spending some time practicing, I finally mastered the use of real-time coloring tools and applied a basic color scheme to the character I designed, ensuring that both the outfit and overall look reflect the character’s personality.

Fig. 6 - Character design with basic coloring 

I spent a great deal of effort adjusting the lighting and shading. Figuring out when to add highlights and when to apply shadows had me quite confused at times, but in the end, I managed to finish the piece successfully and was satisfied with the result.

Fig. 7 - Character design with added lighting and shading 

I found that after adding lighting and shading, the character not only became more vivid but also significantly enhanced both the character's presence and the overall visual impact.

Fig. 8 - My Final Piece

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Introduction