Illustrative people and placesI started this assignment thinking how I could complete this in the current Coronavirus situation, with social distancing and following all the guidelines. I have had to interpret this assignment in the way I thought best, and in a way I could follow most of the brief as well as the government guidelines.

So I did think that I would continue my journey around where I live, and try and capture people dog walking, families playing, bike riders etc. But it was harder than I thought to get enough content for the work, I went out one morning to the park, but I only saw one dog walker, and they were too far away to get any real sense of the detail.

I tried another day whilst out for a walk, but it was a bit awkward trying to draw people as they walked past, without stopping. I tried photographing, but again that was awkward as I had to be discreet.

So I went back home and had another think about what I could do, so I went along the theme of a concert or music idea, from the TV. Could I draw from a jazz concert or pop concert?

I found an old DVD of mine, of a Simply Red concert, so I started with the song ‘Money’s to tight to mention’ and took some photography stills of bits of the concert, and as I had the concert on pause, I also done some quick drawings in my sketchbook. Some of the drawings were longer and I chose different pens and pencils to draw different ones. These were the photographs I took:-

Then these were the quick drawings I did of the concert and the stills I had chosen:-

So from the above photography and sketches:-

Which drawings you see as pieces of visual notation?

I would say I find this drawing as a picture of notation specifically because, it is just getting the shapes and actions of the people and setting them out on the page, from these sketches I can see what their hands are doing, what they are playing or if they are singing and whereabouts on the stage they are.

Which drawings you see as possible pieces or reportage as they already exist?

I would say these drawings are more reportage drawings and could be used as this; I think they would need a little bit more tweaking though, just slightly to make them look more realistic. The other sketches I have done would need quite a lot more changing to get them to be where I would want them to be, but I like the sketches and I like the way I have learnt to be freer with the way I sketch quickly.

Which drawings you would like to build upon further, in your studio?

I want to work on three sketches more to produce better drawings of the concert and show reportage elements, I only want to use bits from each, then put them all together to make one picture, I think this will add variety, depth and scale to the final drawing.

I then went on to use the drawings to work on in more detail, again I used my sketchbook for this, and used the thicker black pen as I’m finding that I can draw better with this pen, and the people look more realistic.

I re-drew the close up of Mick Hucknall, but waited until I had complete the next part before I did another drawing, as I wanted to make sure I chose the right one.

I then went on to start the next part of the assignment (Developing a narrative), which was to choose some words and descriptions of places or an event, and then complete some sketches again of this place.

I chose some words:-

Enjoy spending time listening to music

Dancing

Rhythm

Cultural music

Concerts

So they were very mush alongside the music concert I had already sketched, but I wanted to add another element to this, so I decided upon dancing.

Obviously because of the lockdown situation I had to re-think how I would do this, so I chose to re-watch the semi finals of Strictly Come Dancing, and used three dances that the celebrities danced. I sketched from the TV, I was difficult as it was so quick, but I paused a few to sketch better.

These were the photos I managed to capture:-

Then the sketches I did follow:-

Once I got into the rhythm of sketching I found it easier and the more I sketched the better I seemed to get, I was quite pleased with the last few sketches, I used my brush pens to add some colour on some of the sketches, I think this helped add atmosphere and show the movement more, and the feeling of the dance.

I found using the thicker black pen that this helped to create the movement in the dresses as it has a flick type stroke to it, I find this type of pen more freeing when I sketch. The brush pens helped enhance this and adding the colour really helped the sketches come to life more.

The next step was to think about what sketches to use together to create something else, I think I’m leaning more towards a poster for a dance class, I think having the singer and the band in the background will add to the feel of the atmosphere for this poster.

So the drawings I have chosen to use for the poster are:-

I chose these because the first two show the singer and the band, which gives the background atmosphere. The last three to show the different dances you can learn at the classes.

Now I will re-sketch the last four sketches and make them stronger and pull together in to one sketch, then go from there.

So these are the sketches that I re-drew and refined a bit better:-

I then was not sure whether to scan the drawings into illustrator and turn them into vector images and colour them in with my Wacom board, then add some typography, to create a music poster. Or whether to pull them altogether on one page and colour them in with my brush pens like before?

I tried the Illustrator option first, so I scanned in each individual sketch of the final five that I had worked more on, then are started to build up the layers in Illustrator, so each sketch was on a layer, I chose to colour in the sketches with a brush pen on the computer to give the same effect as the brush pens I had used in my sketch book.

I then tried different background colours to see which one I liked the best:-

I did like the orange one as it looked like a hot night, like a summers evening when you might have an outside concert on with dancing.

This is the one I decided upon in the end, as I found Mick Hucknall’s face looked better as a nude colour like natural faces. I also think it makes the other sketches stand out more being a lighter colour.

Although it’s nowhere near a finished poster, it’s just a rough idea and mock upon the computer, I think you can get the idea of it, and the reportage element of the concert and dancing.

So the items of SCAMPER that I used were Combine, I used two sketches from the first part and three sketches for the second part. Adapt I adapted the sketches into vector form, and Modify, so I used the Wacom board to modify the colouring to make it look like brush pans.

Reflection

What were the main challenges you overcame when drawing in public places?

Well due to the Covid situation it was very difficult, I did manage to draw a little bit outside, but in the end chose to draw most of this section from inside using other forms to help me to capture buildings, people and the outside.

Has drawing in your sketchbook altered the way you think about how you use photography to document and record?

Yes I look more into what I am photographing, to see if it’s interesting, it has everything in it that I need it to have. I also zoom in more after the initial photo, to get more detail, or another angle. I also photograph more of the same thing, but just in different ways.

What materials suited you best when working on location?

I found I liked the thicker black pen to draw quickly with, I seemed to get everything down with that pen, and it looked decent too.

I also like using my little watercolour kit, I used this more in my spare time recently, out and about, and I found this easy to get colour down quickly.

Do you see your drawings as standalone drawings or would you prefer to develop them in the studio situation?

My sketchbook drawings are definitely just sketches to me, they would need further work in the studio before I would consider them finished. Maybe in time I could consider my sketches to be finished enough to use them as finished complete drawings, but at present no I feel they are just rough drawings at the moment.

How will you use your sketchbook drawings to lead to other ideas?

I currently use some doodles that I have drawn in a little sketch book for the texture backgrounds of some Surface pattern designs I have create recently. I would also use my sketchbooks to improve my people drawing skills, and then I would use those drawings to help to develop them further, I have learnt with this section that you can also put together different elements from different sketchbooks that can then lead to more ideas.

Do you prefer working fast or slow? How will you use these approaches in the future work?

I actually now prefer to work quick, I really like the thick black pen that I’ve been using, this has helped me to put down sketches quickly and make them look decent. I will definitely use this method all the time now, and take my sketchbook out with me more. This section has really helped me develop a looser sketching approach, which I find really fundamental on being able sketch and draw quickly now, which I struggled with before. I’m hoping the more I practise this approach the better I get and will be able to see some great sketches and drawings develop.

Are there qualities in the way you doodle that you can bring into your ideas within future work?

I think the way I doodle can bring ideas and elements into future work; I think some of the doodles can be used as background elements in drawings and illustrations. I think some illustrations need texture, which you can use doodles for and mark making. I have done this as I said before for my Surface pattern design, but I think this could also be used with other styles of illustration, like reportage and the SCAMPER process, as well as using your imagination to create something from another world.