Illustration Week! :)

eyes closed (drawing what we could feel)

Illustration Week

I was really looking forward to this week because I think Illustration is what I want to specialise in! I was also really looking forward to drawing!! We began with some theory where we talked about what "illustration" means and what you can do with. I found out that it is much more open then I thought and there's a lot more you can do with it; I thought it was mainly to do with books and magazines but you can do packaging, advertising and use it in fashion such as designs to go on clothing. This was really good to hear because it means there's a lot more flexibility and scope for a career in the future. We also looked through some sketchbooks of previous students - I found this really useful and helpful because it gave me an idea of what to expect if I did chose Illustration. It really did look like the kind of thing I'd want to do so I'm pretty convinced at the moment that Illustration is the subject I want to continue with. (However, I shall still enter each week with an open mind!)

using our left hands

After lunch we did some quick, observationally based activities with a twist! We were each given one natural form (such as a shell, seed pod or dried plant) and told to hold it in our hand; we had two minutes to draw it with our eyes closed and to draw what we could feel. We filled a sheet of paper with 4/5 objects using this technique and then moved on to the next task - draw with a continuous line. Another task was to draw while looking only at the object; we couldn't look at out drawing or the paper and the last task was to draw using our left hands. This really freaked me out at first because I'm naturally a slow drawer and I like to have time to think about what I'm going to do and we simply didn't have time with these activities. Although it was quite alarming, I think its really good for me to be made to do this because it'll help me be quicker and not to worry so much about my work. The idea behind these tasks was to get us to really look at we were drawing and I was definitely doing that! I just found it hard to translate what I was seeing onto paper. But it really helped in making me really focus and look at what I was drawing which is key in Illustration.

drawn using a stick with a graphite
 pencil attached to the end

After these we were given a stick each and had to attach a graphite pencil onto the end of it. We placed a sheet of paper onto the floor and stood over it holding the stick at the very end and drew our shoes! It was really difficult to make marks where you wanted to but I was concentrating very hard on what my shoes looked like so I could get move the stick in the right way. I did enjoy this even though it was frustrating because it was a completely different way of drawing that I've never tried before!














On the second day, we warmed up using a similar technique to how we drew the natural forms only this time we were drawing from stuffed birds. Our teacher wanted us to look at the shapes within the birds and not just focus on the outline because that will help us get the proportion (rather like in life drawing!). I started to get that on the very last bird (toucan in green pen). I'm still finding hard to draw so quickly in so little time but I'm starting to find that I'm more relaxed now and don't worry about it being "prefect" so much - I just try to capture the essence.
We then worked on a much larger scale, only focusing on one bird and doing two sketches on one piece of paper. We did one in graphite pencil and the other in charcoal and given seven minutes for each. I find this was a really good time frame for me - long enough to get quite far with the drawing but short enough to make you stay loose but focused. I loved using charcoal; I find there is something very freeing about charcoal that makes you just go for it - it's such a lovely loose media!


After lunch we began to use ink - brown and black. We were told that this was the stage where we would be pushed to be experimental and that this was about the journey of the picture rather than the end result. It was about change and trying out things just to see what would happen. This was quite an exciting prospect as well as a rather alien concept but I was eager to embrace a more experimental side even if I found it difficult. I know I get precious about my work when I've got it to a stage I like and I know that's a habit I've got to break because sometimes by pushing that extra boundary you can make something good into something brilliant. And art is all about experimenting and exploring so it's something you have to welcome with open arms. However, I also know that you've got to realise when to stop too. We did all sorts with these two pictures; used a paint brush and a stick to draw with, used two different colours of ink for different effects, sprayed it with water to make the ink run, bleached it to make the ink fade, used collage and masking tape to change bits and used white emulsion paint to lighten our drawings.

I didn't really enjoy doing these because I didn't like the bird I was drawing. It was fun to try all these different experiments (especially using water to make the ink run because that had some really interesting effects that I liked a lot). I just didn't find the puffin as inspiring as the toucan had been to draw. I loved the process though and that was the whole point of the exercise.

After we'd completed these drawing we moved onto a larger scale - this time on brown paper to be able to get a really big drawing. I decided to draw the toucan again because I loved drawing it last time and I wanted to try it again using the techniques I'd been shown. This time we also got to use oil pastels too to introduce a bit more colour into our work. I found this harder to change and be quite free and experimental because I liked my picture more but I tried really hard to not tighten up too much and keep that loose feel to my work.




On the third day we started designing very simple books to put our illustrations in (see in sketchbook design work). I thought this was useful to be able to see the practical side and how it's important to know what your illustrations are going to go in and where.
It can influence your drawing style, scale of drawing, etc. I decided to keep my very simple with the theme small to big with the illustrations of the green finch as the small bird, the toucan as the medium bird and the chicken as the big bird.

I have really enjoyed this week and have definitely loved being shown new ways to generate ideas or inspiration. I think it's been really good for me to learn how to be looser and not to worry about the image to be "perfect" - an image is much more interesting when it's not perfect and when you can perhaps see the journey to get to the final outcome. I would really like to carry this on and will almost definitely specialise in this subject if I can!