This project is about using my drawing skills to create a small body of work (book/comic) that demonstrates the knowledge and experience I have gained throughout this module but also to captures something of my unique personality. I started my creative process by writing out what I do in an average day, in a step by step process, as well as thinking about things I do which reveal more about me and my personality. This helped me to think about what kind of comic/ book I would produce. I think the idea of having the viewer go through an average day in lockdown with me would be the most interesting insight into my very unexciting life. However, I wanted to produced pages of art work in a way that felt voyeuristic and vulnerable, with the turn of each page the viewer learns more about me in a subtle way. InspirationI wanted to look at a variety of different comics/ graphic novels to inform my creative process in terms of style and colour palette. As well as understanding how different artists use perspective to make interesting compositions and change up their frames to tell a story. I found the comics that depicted a mundane action or a feeling through a series of frames emotive and I would like to evoke a similar feeling within my own work. ThumbnailsThumbnails helped me to plan out and organise the structure of my book, as well as helping me to find a coherent order to best tell my small story. Mock UpFor me, creating a mock up is the best way to visualise a final outcome before producing the finished piece. I also learnt a lot about presentation techniques when making this mock up, such as the layout of my frames and how they effect the flow of the story and how many pages I would need for my final piece. First Digital SpreadI created this spread to show my design choices in terms of style, colour palette and layout for a feedback session. I wanted to use a textured background that had paper folds into that would make up the boxes of my book. This paper texture was taken from the internet, which means that I was limited in terms of how many frames I could have on one page. To improve I will fold and scan in my own hand made paper textures to create an authentic background that I can change from page to page. I have also used a limited colour palette, made up of cool tones which reflects the underlying loneliness I feel throughout the day. Living away from home when you're at university can feel very lonely at times, this feeling of isolation is accentuated under lockdown restrictions. Final Lockdown DiaryI have created a 12 page Lockdown Diary in the style of a graphic novel/comic book, depicting my day to day life under the lockdown restrictions. I wanted to convey a sense of the isolation and loneliness that I felt cut off from the outside world and my family. One of the conscious choices I made when creating this book was to limit the amount of words I used through the spread, as I felt this would further emphasize the quietness of my existence. Another decision I made was to think carefully about my use of negative space and my lack of background, as I wanted to use the emptiness as a metaphor for the loss of exuberance in my now seemingly limited life.
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This week we have explored and begun understanding the basic structure of the human head with reference to how light falls on it. I began this practice by looking at the shape of the head in just its 'motor cycle crash helmet' form with shadows defining key features such as the eyes, nose and mouth. I then went on to advance my practice by adding in the key details of the face and understanding how those features affected the original shape. For example adding in the eyes was difficult as there are more elements to consider, like the whites of the eyes not being completely white as they are set back in the head, but there needs to be a highlight just under the eye to create that three dimensional quality. Overall, I have found this practice to be very informative and I am much more confident about tackling drawings of heads now that I understand the basic shape and how light affects the face.
I have tried to produce a series of drawing that demonstrate my understanding of perspective, including being ambitious when using one, two and three point perspective. As well as trying to be confident with my use of directional light, by using a variety of highlights, mid-tones and shadows. I feel I have learnt a lot from this perspective practice, as I have aimed to produce ambitious perspective pieces using a range of pencils, ink and a single coloured pencil crayon. This pushed me to consider, more carefully, where I placed my areas of shadow and where not to put marks to show highlights. There is definitely still room for improvement, as I spend a lot of time drawing construction lines in order to get the right perspective and I'd like for it to come more naturally and to not always have to use a ruler to achieve those straight lines. I think I could also be even more ambitious when it comes to adding tone, especially when using a range of pencils I need to use their different levels of tonal value to my advantage.
This week we did a recap on perspective drawing to refresh the techniques and skills needed to create accurate and believable drawings. I found this recap to be very helpful, as I have always struggled with fully understanding perspective and how to use it correctly. I think there will always be room to improve when it comes to perspective drawing, but I feel that I have a much better grasp now and hope that I can implement it in my work much more effectively.
Below are some YouTube videos I used to inform my practice.
The aim of 'wild life drawing' was to capture people going about their daily lives, while I tried to convey the small unseen moments in my sketchbook. I felt tentative at first about drawing outside while people walked past and looked over my shoulder, but after a while you forget to be embarrassed and you just draw what you see, which I found very freeing and therapeutic. InspirationFor this project I have taken inspiration from sketchbook drawings, fashion illustration and the renowned illustrator Bob Peak. I wanted to gather multiple different styles of drawing people to experiment with a mixture of techniques and styles. My Sketch Book WorkWithin my own sketchbook work I have tried to capture people while they go about their daily lives, using different media to experiment with line and technique.
Urban Sketching is the practice of drawing on location in cities and towns, capturing a spontaneous response to people, places and moments in time. I really enjoyed this project, as I was not limited by media, which allowed me to create different textures and I felt challenged when depicting truthful scenes.
Inspiration
I have been inspired by multiple artists through out this project including, Patrick Vale, Paul Hogarth and Lucinda Rodgers who all work in a similar style using ink and variation in line to convey depth. Where as another artist who has influenced me is Emma Carlisle, who is an avid sketchbook artist who depicts more rural settings but uses such powerful lines and vibrant colours which I found interesting and wanted to capture an essence of within my own work. You can see more of my research on sketchbookshere.
My Sketchbook work
I have used a mixture of media within my own sketchbook work including watercolour, ink, posca pens, markers and pencils in order to understand which media works best when drawing on the go and at speed.
Inspiring sketchbook flip through:
Unfortunately I do not speak German, so I could not understand what was being said, but the video I have embedded (left) had some beautiful urban sketches created using ink. I was absolutely in awe of the detail in each sketch so I couldn't not share it.
In todays lecture we were tasked with going outside (or looking out our window), and drawing something that we could see. The aim of this task was to get us used to drawing from life, as our project includes urban sketching. My work was very much inspired by Lucinda Rodgers work, which I enjoyed using to inform my own practice. I began drawing with a pencil to get the initial sketch down and then went over the top with Indian Ink, for the thicker lines I used a black posca pen and a thick ended sharpie. I really enjoyed drawing from life, although I found it difficult to get the perspective exactly right, it helped me to understand the importance of getting the physical experience of the form rather than just drawing from a photograph. The only downside was the slight precipitation and the chilly wind, but other than the weather an ultimately enjoyable experience.
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AuthorStudent Illustrator currently studying in Cumbria. Archives
December 2020
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