1. Visual Research
For this assignment I chose Market Day for my location since I knew there would be lot's of people there and a variety of stalls, which meant colour and interest. There is a particular stall, the Coffee Pod which I wanted to capture because it is quirky and bright red in colour!
Since I am still super nervous about sketching in public and people were already staring at me I decided to discreetly take lot's of photo reference and then go somewhere to carefully study them and find the best compositions to sketch. I am hoping in time I will have more confidence sketching in public but since I live in a small town it's hard to go unnoticed and this makes me so nervous I cannot concentrate on what I am drawing.
These are the photos I took:
Like Olivier Kugler, whilst I was at the market I took in the feel, the busyness of the people shopping and the colours to later use in my sketches.
I then looked over my photos and used the SCAMPER method and looked at what to leave out that was a distraction and what to include that was important to the sketch.
Sketches
Firstly I used my Blackwing pencil to sketch my favourite scenes from the photos. I found myself really enjoying drawing people in their coats. I noticed how the fabric fell around their backs and their hoods helping to add form to the overall figure.
At this point I think I am starting to 'get' how to simplify my sketches to capture the essence and I am actually starting to enjoy it.
I really liked all my market sketches, it was the first time I had started to like elements of what I was sketching. My overall favourite was the lady at the Coffee Pod and the Flower stall with the little old lady pushing her trolley.
In my previous sketch of the War Memorial I really like the ink pen (Micron) and watercolour style, so I sketched out the coffee pod and then went onto add red watercolour and bit of colour on the girl to make them stand out.
I also played with using ink and watercolour for the flowers on the flower stall to see how that would come out.
I really liked how these turned out and will go on to use this style for my final illustration.
2. Developing a Narrative
I really liked the idea of the fresh flowers illustration for a magazine article on treating yourself to fresh flowers for the weekend and supporting your local market as part of a campaign to raise awareness of using local markets to keep them going.
Since I liked most of my sketches I could have gone in several directions but since I was short on time I decided to go for the fresh flowers idea, since they are some of my favourite things to draw.
I printed off my previous sketch so I could have it on the page next to my final illustration for guidance since I was sketching straight in Micron pen. I tested out the different nib sizes first to see which one I wanted. I went with size 02 in the end.
Final Illustration
Micron pen sketch before colouring.
I decided to leave out a lot of the background detail so that the focus was on the people at the flower stall and the flowers themselves.
Final Illustration.
As I coloured my sketch with the watercolours I was constantly looking back at the photos to see the original colours and looking at the balance of what I had so far, picking colours to compliment and trying not to use too many colours so it all worked together. I found I used a much stronger concentration of the watercolours in this sketch, I had trouble balancing this but it does make the illustration stand out. With practice I think my watercolour skills will improve.
Overall I was really pleased with how this final illustration came out, especially since I've been so nervous drawing people, I think I have improved a bit. I'm not sure if my characters reflect the saying very well and perhaps the stall holder looking down rather than up at the customers doesn't help the overall message, however I did try to make the flowers the focal point and so I do think this comes across well.
I definitely think I need to improve quite a bit at reportage illustration but I do think I am starting to get the hang of simplifying the details and finding my way of sketching. I've enjoyed using the ink pen and watercolours and would like to develop this further.
Final Reflection
Drawing in public turned out to be much more of a challenge for me than I anticipated. I was surprised at how anxious I became and despite several attempts to sketch in public I ended up needing to find a work around because time was passing by and I hadn't done enough work. So I ended up relying on my photographs to get me used to sketching people and developing a quick style first and plan to continue sketching people, building my confidence so I can then start drawing in public and not worry so much about being 'caught'.
I think the fact that I knew my sketches were so bad really made my anxiety worse and I decided in the end it was better for me to practice sketching people in a safer environment then pressure myself more to complete them on location.
I really enjoyed mixing print outs of my photographs with my writing and then sketches. It's really helped me to enjoy sketchbook work more and also combining a mix of rough sketches with more thought out ones has also enhanced the sketchbook process for me.
When I did manage to do some sketches on location (where nobody could see me) I enjoyed using a Micron pen but I think I would enjoy using my Blackwing pencil just as much as I used that quite a lot in later sketches. I love how it's quite dark but a bit soft so you can get nice effects with it.
I feel much more comfortable working the details of my sketches out in my studio or in the cafe where I'm not so anxious and can really concentrate on what I'm doing. When I'm worked up I just cant focus enough to sketch properly, so taking photos really helped me with this.
Using ink and watercolours has really inspired me and I'd love to use them in my future drawings. I think I can grow a lot with these supplies and I am excited to see where they take me. I'm still a huge fan of graphite pencil and so I will continue to use this as well on it's own.
When I tried using the watercolours with the pencil I didn't like the outcome nearly as much as I did the Micron pen. It just didn't look good.
I really like sketching quite fast and then going in after a bit slower with the details using watercolours, I can get quite into it and then I really enjoy the process.
What I've learnt about sketching people has been very eye opening. I never thought I would struggle so much. At one point I thought people sketching was something I never wanted to do again and felt so stressed about it. But not I have found some ways to support myself in this process and slowly I'm developing a technique and style, I am actually starting to enjoy it and want to continue people sketching and improve my skills.
The doodles exercise was fun and whilst I didn't end up doing a huge amount of it, I did find it relaxed me at a time when I was finding the people sketching 'impossible'. I will add to these doodles, they will provide me a nice mental break from other types of drawing. I'm not yet sure if my doodles will bring anything to my illustrations but who knows, maybe they will in time?!
Overall I've really enjoyed Part 3, I've been challenged the most from this particular part, however I think I've grown a lot because of it and I look forward to seeing what's next.
Final Reflection
Drawing in public turned out to be much more of a challenge for me than I anticipated. I was surprised at how anxious I became and despite several attempts to sketch in public I ended up needing to find a work around because time was passing by and I hadn't done enough work. So I ended up relying on my photographs to get me used to sketching people and developing a quick style first and plan to continue sketching people, building my confidence so I can then start drawing in public and not worry so much about being 'caught'.
I think the fact that I knew my sketches were so bad really made my anxiety worse and I decided in the end it was better for me to practice sketching people in a safer environment then pressure myself more to complete them on location.
I really enjoyed mixing print outs of my photographs with my writing and then sketches. It's really helped me to enjoy sketchbook work more and also combining a mix of rough sketches with more thought out ones has also enhanced the sketchbook process for me.
When I did manage to do some sketches on location (where nobody could see me) I enjoyed using a Micron pen but I think I would enjoy using my Blackwing pencil just as much as I used that quite a lot in later sketches. I love how it's quite dark but a bit soft so you can get nice effects with it.
I feel much more comfortable working the details of my sketches out in my studio or in the cafe where I'm not so anxious and can really concentrate on what I'm doing. When I'm worked up I just cant focus enough to sketch properly, so taking photos really helped me with this.
Using ink and watercolours has really inspired me and I'd love to use them in my future drawings. I think I can grow a lot with these supplies and I am excited to see where they take me. I'm still a huge fan of graphite pencil and so I will continue to use this as well on it's own.
When I tried using the watercolours with the pencil I didn't like the outcome nearly as much as I did the Micron pen. It just didn't look good.
I really like sketching quite fast and then going in after a bit slower with the details using watercolours, I can get quite into it and then I really enjoy the process.
What I've learnt about sketching people has been very eye opening. I never thought I would struggle so much. At one point I thought people sketching was something I never wanted to do again and felt so stressed about it. But not I have found some ways to support myself in this process and slowly I'm developing a technique and style, I am actually starting to enjoy it and want to continue people sketching and improve my skills.
The doodles exercise was fun and whilst I didn't end up doing a huge amount of it, I did find it relaxed me at a time when I was finding the people sketching 'impossible'. I will add to these doodles, they will provide me a nice mental break from other types of drawing. I'm not yet sure if my doodles will bring anything to my illustrations but who knows, maybe they will in time?!
Overall I've really enjoyed Part 3, I've been challenged the most from this particular part, however I think I've grown a lot because of it and I look forward to seeing what's next.
No comments :
Post a Comment