final image

I decided to add a border to make it look more professional and finished - also that way when I print and cut it down I won't have a chance of cutting the main image. 

I added little hammer and sickles on the border as well to add more of a communist propaganda touch, I think it had come out looking quite smart.
Originally the image was going to be 3 metres long with only the height of an A4 sheet of paper. I felt that was too long and would be difficult to print in all the different sections - especially if I want it double sided. So I've managed to squeeze it down to about 20x192cm. I still want it to be an impressive size - and so I don't lose any of the detail. But I want to be able to print double sided which can only be done on A2 paper, the cover will also be double sided and that will be a bit wider than the main image so everything has to fit. 
The back of the concertina will just have this simple red design:

I was originally going to have the timeline on the back but getting it to aline exactly right when sticking the sections together would be really difficult, and this way the image can be put on a wall with all the information on the same side. I thought it should have some sort of back colour as the cover will also be red, that way there will be no bright, contrasting white anywhere. 

adding text

I decided to add the text on the bottom of the image with the date and events under the right image that way it will be easier to read and understand rather than having to relate back to a separate timeline somewhere else.

I planned out where I wanted everything to go and then just started writing - I used bits from my essay and the rough narration for the book I was initially going to do. It's more factual rather than descriptive which works better for this as it is just a timeline - and the image can do most of the describing. 

I chose the 'Geo Medium' font for the titles and dates as it has the novelty russian aesthetic, but I chose 'Gill Sans' for the main writing as it is more eligible. I initially had the titles in black but they stood out more in red. I was dreading doing the type as I haven't had luck with it in the past but I think this has turned out pretty well.

I added lines under each date to section off each year as the amount of events in each year differs - so this kept it cleaner and more understandable. 

I also learnt about this tool which kept all my text boxes in line with each other, making it much neater. I found it difficult in in the middle section as there was so much going on during one year so keeping each event under its image was challenging but I think I managed. 

development

I haven't blogged in a while as I just wanted to get the image basically done before christmas, and have managed to which I'm pleased about:

the three separate sections:

Each section definately has a different atmosphere about it - the first is the start of revolutionary feeling, lots of smoke and destruction but not too much happening, but then in the second section it is very busy as a great deal happened in only the space of a couple of years. Then in the last section it is a lot more spread out as the big changes were being made to the country over a longer amount of time leading up to Lenin's death. I'm particularly happy with the very last bit:

Where Stalin starts to take over and everything gets a lot darker with all the smoke, factories and barbed wire as he wanted a much more industrial russia as well as being a more brutal leader - he carried out many 'Great Purges' where thousands of people were killed, he was not remembered fondly. So I think I have lead into the next section/book well, which I will be proposing. 

posters

These are all the russian posters I used within my illustration:

 Nina Vatolina - Fascism: the most evil enemy of women 1941

Artist and name unknown

 El Lissitsky - Beat the whites with the red wedge 1919

 L.G Brodaty - Women workers! Take up your rifles! 1920

Dmitri Moor - Have you volunteered for the Red Army? 1920

Artist Anonymous - We smite the lazy workers 1930

development

I've finished my second section, really pleased with how it has turned out - I feel like it flows together better than the first section, so I might go back and edit it; make fit closer together. 

I tried adding text, but I felt it just looked messy and not very clear. So I have decided to not have text on that side and add a timeline with the main events and a description on the other side, I will use key elements of each image to indicate which bit the timeline is talking about. I could either make a small card that comes with the concertina or try and put it onto the back of the image, which will probably work better. 

I had to go back to a few of my figures because once I had layered them onto other images they got a bit lost:

So I added white bits so the gaps within the shapes weren't filled with the background image - I think it makes them much bolder and striking:

I also added actual posters from the russia revolution to continue with the photomontage feel of the illustration

I bitmapped them and then painted sections in red, I feel they definitely add to the sense of revolution within the composition while also educating about what the artwork and propaganda actually looked like. I am really pleased with this section:

I think I have managed to combine the succession of events into an interesting composition. I will be adding text but I think the image manages to speak for itself in a lot of parts - like the civil war section, the two sides of soldiers are each standing on their flag with Lissitsky's iconic 'beat the whites with the red wedge' image above. 

I was slightly worried about using photos and the posters because of copyright but because copyright runs out after 80 years, the creators of the pieces are most likely dead as it was 100 years ago and I won't be publishing/selling this book I think it'll be alright.

setting/contextual references

Visual references I have been looking at the create my concertina:

I wanted it to have a strong sense of russia, communism and constructivism. The photos of the time period helped when deciding on clothes for the figures, how the buildings should look and what actually happened during the revolution. I have used some within my image in collage style and some just for reference.

fonts

 I found some different fonts which are similar to the type face used by the russian constructivists

Geo Medium

Russian regular

Molot

I think I prefer the last font, although that one isn't a font I can download - it was made by August Heffner for Marina Abramovic's art exhibition 'the artist is present', inspired by Rodchenko.
http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2010/03/29/different-strokes-custom-alphabets-help-us-introduce-audiences-to-artists

The top three fonts are from royalty free sites so would be fine to use but the last isn't - so if I was planning to publish the book I wouldn't be able to use it.
They are all quite similar fonts, but I feel like the first three are more novelty fonts imitating the constructivists. I will have a play around and see which fits best with the image.

mock ups

After that peer review I thought I should make some concertina mock ups to make sure the format will work before carrying on with the image

The first one I did to the same width and the image, and I worked out that the work I have done already is pretty long, and if I was to shrink it a bit I don't think the detail would be in danger of being lost. I found it quite difficult to stick together, when I print out the sections I will have to make sure everything is the exact right size.
It will also be quite heavy and big when all folded together, so I might thinking about making a hard bound cover - possibly print the cover design onto fabric so it is nicely bound.
I made another mock up with the imagery I have done so far

I worked out that I had to take apart each section and add a black opposite for the next section to stick onto

It worked out alright, I'm just worried about my abilities with sticking the pages together because it could easily get quite messy, I'll just have to practice on similar stock as well as binding and make some proper mock ups

peer review

We had another peer review, I felt more confident with what I was doing compared to last time. The comments were positive with some useful feedback:

appropriateness/ambition 
- good application of illustration, has an educational element to it
- ambitious yet do-able 
- think about how I might package the book - how will it look when it is bought? Maybe make some sort of educational pack?
- animation could work well, with the facts popping out as you scroll along
- a digital version wouldn't take too long as I would already have all the imagery

quality/quantity
- collage investigation in sketchbook is good and relevant to constructivist aesthetic
- high level of quality to work produced
- good level of consistency and a strong tone of voice
- start mocking up concertinas

documentation on blog
- really good evaluation of image development, constantly linking it back to the aesthetic I want to achieve
- lots of contextual research
- thought process is clearly explained
- consider context of the work; why is it being made, why did I chose that particular audience 

decisions on production
- in a good position to finish on time and maybe even make an attempt to do all the proposed outcomes
- think about what stock I want to print onto
- talk to james about double sided printing and what is the biggest scale he can do 
- consider scale because it could end up being huge

extra
- test out the text with the images and decide whether it would look better on the back, although little amounts of text seems like it will work
- concertina format is a lot better than one big image as it allows the audience to handle it/engage easier
- photos look good with the collage, it is similar to the photomontages used by constructivists
- will the book have a font cover? hardback? 
- use of photos can look a bit jarring in some places, look into how to make the photos blend in more

What I found most useful was form the talk after where we thought that printing onto one long piece of paper might not be a good idea. Seeing s the image at the moment is longer than A0 it could be very long which will be expensive, annoying for james and easy to mess up when trying to fold. So we came up with the solution to cut it into separate bits - like how concertinas a meant to be made. That way I will be able to definitely print double sided and if I mess up when sticking/folding I won't have to print the whole thin again. 

development

I made some changes which have pulled it together more I think
- added the off white background which works a lot better than the grey or white; allows the imagery to be the main focus without having too much of a contrast
- changed the hand drawn smoke to flat texture which is a lot less distracting 
- unsure about the flags because the blue ruins the limited colour palette, so might have to alter it slightly; make it less bright
- I think the barbed wire works really well to create the 'ww1' atmosphere
- need to start working on text haven't really left much space to fit it in

bloody sunday

I've managed to finish the bloody sunday section, I'm really pleased with how it has turned out, there is definitely a brutal, bloody atmosphere surrounding it - the colour scheme works really well for this.
I added some photos taken during 'bloody sunday', they make the piece more graphic as well as resonating with the photomontage used by the constructivists. 

What I am a bit worried about is the scale - what I am working on at the moment is longer than A0 on photoshop, if I have to shrink it some of the detail might get lost. I need to check if james in digital print can print on really long rolls of paper, longer than A0

development

I started working on what I want to be the final image. It has started pretty well I think, and I'm having fun making the imagery

I am making it all on photoshop but using my mono print textures - I would love to try do it all by hand but it would take far too long. Also this long image would look good if it was slightly animated, which I might consider if I have enough time - so to make that easier it is best to have all the bits made on photoshop. 

This is it so far which I am happy with. I want to try and limit the colour palette as much as possible to make sure it flows nicely. I'm a bit stuck on the background - I definitely want one but the one here is a bit too distracting. 

Some initial ideas for the synergy between essay and practical:
- essay looks at ways propaganda filtered into culture, children's books was one of them. 
- these books were very educational, didn't encourage imagination of fictitious characters, they often involved lenin, and working class people being the heroes
- communism was conveyed (subtly and unsubtly) as the dream
- in my concertina, it is aimed at educating children about the complex history of the russian revolution
- but it isn't objective, there is definitely a stand being taken that Tsar was bad, and Lenin was good, that he was the hero and communism was the right way to go - could be seen as propaganda?