Illustration Sketchbooks - Assignment 1

Updated: Dec 14, 2019

So this is my first assignment of the module. In my last module my assignments had mostly written content. I was excited to take the option of doing video for this assignment. It felt a bit weird talking to a camera, but I got more used to it near the end!

I need to work on my camera composition for the next video, but for a first attempt I think it's pretty good.

Reflections

I think at the moment I am focusing my interpretation on "The Everyday" a lot on observational drawing. This is intentional, as I knew coming into this that I needed to evolve my relationship with sketchbooks. I often got stressed out asking myself "what shall I draw" - seemingly convinced that drawing from the imagination was the only thing I could do.

So I decided to say to myself when that happened "What is in front of you, right now? Draw that!" And I think some of the work I have done when I have done that has been quite successful, like my mind has been freed up somehow. I enjoy how I bring my family life into my books, and they are starting to be an extension of our life together. It's gratifying.

Going forward I would like to do more out-and-about sketching. Not just urban stuff, but making the most of the countryside for my mental and physical well-being. I also would like to think about using ways to hide information to start capturing more personal aspects, especially around the mental health struggles and worries I have every day. I think some of that UV paint might come into play!

I started out being quite daunted by other artist's sketchbooks, but I feel so much more comfortable with them after only a few short weeks. Whilst they are still functional objects for me, I am becoming much more friendly with them!

Now I am using my A4 sketchbook, I want to be a bit bolder with experimenting with more media in that book. One of the things I have noticed is that my looser work has more life and energy in it. I think it's work mining that seam to explore how to find the right blend for me to capture a balance between the looseness that my subconscious seems to want, and the precision that my conscious mind wants.

I have enjoyed sharing the fruits of my work with my other students on the OCA Visual Communications Discord server, and loved making and showing them the sketchbook tour video. I am planning on setting up a sketchbook circle where we can rotate books, and it will be open to anyone on the server, I am excited to see how that might influence the pages with content from student on all three pathways!