Chris PantlingFMPMid-point Review

InspirationGemma CorrellSarah KingMatt BleaseAbby Wright

ExplorationMy original basis for my FMP was based around the theme of exploration. This began life as I took a trip from Epsom to Clapham Junction, sketching as I went.

This task proved to be difficult due to the time limitations I set myself at each location in order to get to all the stops before dark. This made it very difficult to find something of interest and draw it. I also felt that I was still unsure as to what my theme was. Whilst I had the branch of exploration, I failed to go to each place with something specific to draw, this lead to me drawing flowers and animals, which I didn’t think worked particularly well at, as they aren’t something I have had much success in illustrating.

Daily Journal

I have also kept a daily journal based on what I’ve been doing each day. This task was limited to black and blue ink.

My daily journal has been particularly inspirational as the project has continued. Whilst I have lifted my limitation on black and blue ink and spent a little longer drawing each page, the premise remains the same, illustrate what I do each day. I have found that this separate piece of work has been very productive, and has given me ideas that have inspired my FMP work as well.

Things I need...

Following my original travelling I also began looking at items I would need to go travelling.

After I went travelling I felt that I needed to start drawing something more specific, as my exploration theme wasn’t really giving me the focus I needed. I went back through my sketchbook and found that the things that I liked to draw most were in fact my belongings. I spent the next few hours drawing various objects from my bag that I had taken on my travels. This proved to be extremely productive, and felt like I was on the right path.

Inanimate ObjectsThe previous sketches in my sketchbook lead me onto producing a large illustration of random possessions. This started with just some of my possessions and lead onto me drawing the contents of one of Becky’s drawers.

From the initial sketches and illustrations in my sketchbook, I went on to produce this large scale illustration (poster if you will). Originally I intended to colour it like the images in my sketchbook with acrylic ink, but after a little thought I scanned and photo-merged the illustration and coloured it in Photoshop. I am glad that I did too, the finish I achieved turned out to be extremely successful and really motivated me to continue.

PossessionsFurther experimentation of my theme of possessions looking a little deeper into how people feel about there things, in this case shoes.

As a bit more experimentation, I decided to try a smaller scale and introducing some copy. In my last task I had drawn a lot of possessions, but felt that it wasn’t really displaying any kind of message. To alleviate this I have begun to look into meanings behind objects. Starting simple I illustrated my shoes, and applied meaningful quotes (Forest Gump) to them. I also drew Natalie Ewin’s shoe, and applied a quote from her as she gave it to me, this felt a lot more meaningful, and makes me want to look at some more sentimental objects to see what attachments they provoke.

What next?Next I aim to continue looking at objects that mean something to people, looking into objects that are sentimental, more so than shoes.