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Dear friends
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I would like to show you one more book
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that I find very beautiful
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illustrated by Ekaterina Dubovik
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the story is about Peter Pan.
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The artist used a peculiar, but stunning
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mixed media technique - ink and acrylics.
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The layout itself is very pretty too,
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as well as the headpieces.
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The right ratio of the text to margins
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page numbers are placed on the sides
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the printing quality is nice
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all the colors look natural
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the illustrations themselves
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are very vivid and expressive.
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If we try to remember what we've analyzed
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using abstract examples
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and use this knowledge for the real pictures
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what we can see?
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The composition is dynamic
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the artist used framing
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big objects set against small ones
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the perspective is quite clear
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we understand that a man and the dog
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are on the foreground
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the mom and the kids are on the background
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a very interesting approach to illumination
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we can observe here.
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The artist uses linear graphics
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and hatching and the same shade of color
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bring the elements together.
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At the same time the white areas,
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free from any colors
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work as illumination of this scene
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and we can help but notice
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how the man drags this dog
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forward, in the darker part.
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The artist did a good job on his face
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and these details give the work
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the effect of radiance,
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which is even more enhanced
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by the way she did
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the shading of the figure.
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Very beautiful.
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All the characters are well-thought
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their moods are clearly identified
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and the artistic technique
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is very well-balanced and beautiful.
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In this particular book
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I'd like to honor the original composition,
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as all illustrations here are different
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but harmonious.
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One more example -
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remember I told you about
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that a bright white background looks
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nice and pretty
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so when you read the book
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and then open a double spread
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with lots of free white space
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you feel as if it is filled with air.
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You start studying the details,
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your eyes get some rest from reading
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there are a lot of textures here
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and composition has a complicated plot
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so in general and even the outlines
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are interesting.
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The combination of the hatching
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and pervasive white color,
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that brings everything together,
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it is light, it's airy, not overloaded
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and artwork is stunning.
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Here, if you study
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the use of the ground, we'll see
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the fisherman and his net on the foreground
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the net is full of sea animals
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fishes, crabs -
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all of them are depicted beautifully
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a lot of small details, textures
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but it looks wholesome
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if we ignore the details
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which is obviously impossible here
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but if we do, and think
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of all these elements just as spots
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this one is clearly in the foreground
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the man as we see is right in front of us
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another boat and the birds
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on the second ground
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and the third ground is a sun
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and a beautiful, beautiful sky
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amazing drawing of the sky
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and figurines of the kids
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that look just like a flock of birds.
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This composition is very interesting too
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the axes here are contradirectional
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as we discussed recently
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for example the axis of the boat
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is diagonal to the page
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the axis of the bow backed pirate,
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that looks at the other characters,
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contradicts it.
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They are on the very edge of the boat
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so we feel this instability instantly
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we see they outbalance the boat
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another tiny move
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and they will fall overboard
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and all these
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all the stunning textures
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look patchworky
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as textures are pretty different and
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every single one of them was elaborated,
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invented, thought through.
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This neat green
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contrast them a lot
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and works as a background
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and brings the group to the front one
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as it is very dimensional and textured.
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And I can't help but notiсe
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this bright white moon
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that, like a spotlight,
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illuminates the kids on the back
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the rocks.
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and again, this pervasive white color
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becomes the light.
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Great work.
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And here we can see what we discussed
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about the characters and the glances
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we follow the direction of their glances
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and see that all these characters
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look right at each other.
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The pirate looks at him,
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he looks at the other
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the kid looks at the scene
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from the back and sees everything.
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But he has a different point of view
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as he looks from the back.
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So all these glances and their directions
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may be even arranged as a system
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we can track them
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we can analyze them
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and thanks to this sharpness
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and clearly depicted emotions
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we feel like we are interacting
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and feel emotional tension in this work.
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Another wonderful double spread
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very neat again
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I believe the main motif here is a red color
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which, one way or another,
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was used for every element.
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the central figure here is this bird
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another interesting approach
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as it is technically
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a center of a composition
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it draws all the attention
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however, it is more undrawn that drawn.
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This is an original, smart,
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non-standard move
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to leave the most important thing
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clear and free from coloring
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but to draw the background around it.
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And this texture of the water
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brings everything together
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and brought our main character
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on the scene
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made it outstanding, noticeable.
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All the elements here are also distributed
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throughout the grounds
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the boy for sure is on the foreground
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then goes the bird
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and then we can study
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everything that lays in the back.
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Another tool is a scale if you remember
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compare how big is this boy in the front
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and how tiny these figures are on the back.
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It is clear that the distance is big
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between the boy and the people
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as they are really small.
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Beautiful headpieces can be found
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throughout the book
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Very neat and lovingly-drawn.
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This work is stunning too -
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the painting is beautiful
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and an arrangement is interesting.
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The main character is cropped by frame
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Katya (the artist) pretty often uses
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a broken outlined frame for her works.
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These are tiny details
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but when you read them
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you understand, that this white color
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looking more like a light
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merging into the margins of another page
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comes back to the artwork.
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Even if we imagine
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this line to be uninterrupted
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it will fall apart -
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the illustration and the text.
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But since we have here this open space
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they merge into one another
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and the spread looks as one,
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uniting a picture and a text.
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Again, the light here
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is beautifully depicted
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through these contrasting green shadows.
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She did a very good job
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on elements of the ship
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we understand where the source of light is
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and look, the light, coming from the left
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this part is in shade
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and the main character is in backlighting
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and the kids are here
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bound with ropes.
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Great idea
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as we see how uncomfortable they are
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feel this tension, how the kids feel.
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The emotional picture is clear.
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As we discussed
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during the lecture on character design
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- look at these beautiful patterns
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very sophisticated cut
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nice clothes overall
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well thought-out
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and fit this pirate like a glove.
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He looks great!
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Another double spread pic
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This one here -
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we can understand the arrangement
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of the composition.
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Notice the division
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as we discussed
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into the equal and unequal parts.
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These two look alike size-wise
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But the armchair, in fact, takes more place
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it is not the center
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the center is right here
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this vertical line
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this is bigger than that
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The armchair is heavier
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as it is filled with this solid green
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so all the "weight" of the composition
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goes to the right
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and on the left is the airy newspaper
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where we can find a lot of details to study
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and a green wall on the back
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is balancing this green armchair.
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As for the axes and their directions
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here is the axis of a newspaper
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another one
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axis of the armchair
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this hand - very big and active
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that reaches towards us
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has another direction,
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the dog looking outside - different again
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So if we compare just the directions
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of every element
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all of them are placed precisely
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and the structure here is noticeable.
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here are some more - the curtain
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the shadow
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these
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elements are not exactly parallel
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but they give a hint of a general direction
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the main diagonal goes here
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and it is contradicted by another one
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the opposite direction.
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The newspapers and a hand
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are on the foreground
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this hand looks much bigger than a head
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as according to the anatomy
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the palm is almost as big as face
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it should be this big
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another one here is close to the right size
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anatomically correct
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but when it becomes this big
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is goes to the foreground
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and becomes very active
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and gives the space a dimensional depth
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and dynamics.
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Very cute little headpieces,
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a lot of free space
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looks very nice.
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a very beautiful book.