Rough Digital Sketches and rough final for project 2

I reshot the images in order to get a better angle and lighting and mood out of the photograph.  I chose some imitation maple syrup for my river as it's color is similar to some types of booze and it was a brighter orange/golden color that gave the overall image some pop.  I lined up the bottles in a path much like trees line the riparian zone of a riverbank.  I then shot different angles and settled on one that had negative space up towards the top so I could have a distinct place to put my title.  I also gathered up some bottles in the corner of the room and shot them for the back cover area to keep the theme consistent throughout the cover.  I need to readjust the author and title and add in the publisher and barcode etc as well as watch my margins and change the font color to white or black rather than the green on green.

Thumbnail ideas for project 2

For my thumbnails I brought in a few (not so great) drawings of my ideas for the book cover.  I wanted to do an HDR image of Logan Canyon for the book, but it wasn't addressing the underlying themes of the book as it was literally an image of a river running through a canyon.  SO I decided to focus on the alcohol problem that occurred throughout the book.  I wanted to set up some bottles and have liquid pouring out from one over the others sort of like simulating a waterfall.  I can post some of those images shortly when I am on my own computer to do so.  The light was focused too far to the right and so I needed to reshoot for a better angle and setup.  Also, I took some photos of a reel in the hands of a guy (my roommates bf) but it didn't match up with the front cover idea.  Because it seemed too separate of ideas, I just stuck with the alcohol bottles idea.

"thumbnail" for book cover

This is really just a summary of the book, A River Runs Through It.  I have also included some image ideas, which I will expand on more throughout the weekend.


Jessica Madelyn Bengtson
Computers and Art
Book description and imagery


A River Runs Through It


This novella is set in the beautiful state of Montana around the 1930s and depicts the life and life lessons of a Presbyterian family, focusing on the two brothers. The father is a preacher and tries to build his family up around good values, hard work and lots and lots of fishing! The younger brother Paul is as wild and untamed as the nature in which he surrounds himself. His passion is fly-fishing, but his unruly behavior leads to drinking and gambling. His life is off-tilt and chaotic, but he finds his peace/sanctuary in the riverbanks. His older brother Norman has returned from college on the east coast and comes back in the summer to spend time with his brother fly fishing, trying to help Paul figure out his path and bring him back around. The novella filters metaphysical questions in through the experiences they encounter fly-fishing and life in general. My favorite idea from this book is we as human beings can surround, engulf and integrate ourselves in something so powerful: nature itself.


Some image ideas:

Integrating theme in landscape imagery
Logan Canyon Dams- people fishing
Two brothers fishing
Landscape panorama to wrap around the book cover
A church and a mountain: which would be a comparison of where people find their place of peace
A flowing river, slow shutter speed to create movement
Alcohol, gambling and fly-fishing

Final Pictograms

The final results of the Dinosaurs and Flowers!  I enjoyed the project and I learned a few new tricks when it came to the pen tool, along with lots of fresh knowledge.  It was my first time working in Illustrator and working in vector-based imagery and I am glad to say I understand the program at least on a basic level.  I messed with the colors until I came up with a cool/warm based theme for each pictogram.  Also, from critique, I now know I can add in simple shapes to correct for the mishaps of the stroke.