Illustration 1 – Sketchbooks: An Introduction

Before beginning my new unit I wanted to respond to the rather large ‘introduction’ chapter at the start of it, as well as generally introduce myself, my goals, my thoughts, and where I’d like to end up when finishing this unit. I wish I’d done a similar thing for Key Steps in Illustration, as I know I surpassed many of my own goals and I’d love to be able to reference this.

I’m very excited to be starting this unit. Something in me has been itching to let go and be messy, experimental, and explorative in my work. I loved following briefs and I’m extremely happy with the work I produced in KSI, but after 15 months it began to feel too restrictive. I have craved the play alongside the more professional, finished work. I have already been thinking for months about what my goals in this unit are, what I want to explore more of, and how I want to explore it. Upon reading the introduction chapter, I took some notes on what they are.

• Colour. I love colour, and I loved working with limited and unique colour palettes throughout KSI. I want to further explore and understand this. What colours do I like? What palettes work, and what doesn’t? Where do I find inspiration for colour? How do I choose which colours to use? How do I move away from traditional colouring and add my own flair?
• Materials. I want to have more variation in my mediums and a better understanding of the ones I enjoy using. I especially would like to use more ink, pastels, and coloured pencils. I would also really like to be creating a lot of mixed media work.
• Photo montage and collage. This was an area I found myself repeatedly being drawn back to whilst researching for projects in KSI. I’d really like to figure out how to do this myself, and to combine it with the above two goals.
• Experimental artwork. This sort of ties together all three of the areas I have mentioned already. I want to get more experimental, move more into abstract and modern art styles, and start questioning how I do everything I do. I want to push the boundaries of the art I already create and see what happens. I want to create pieces that look ‘ugly’ or ‘weird’ and learn from it.

Alongside the areas of artistic expresion I’d like to develop, there were some specific learning opportunities I’m keen on figuring out.

• How do I respond to the things that inspire me? I’m constantly feeling inspired and find my mind brimming with ideas and concepts, but often I don’t actually know where to start or how to take from my inspiration.
• How can I develop concepts without a brief? Key Steps in Illustration taught me a wonderful illustrative process, but I only have practice using this process when following a brief. I’m not sure how to mould and shape my process for my own ideas.
• Where does my artwork sit contextually in the world? This is a thought I have been returning to a lot lately. I’m eager to know where I ‘belong’ as an artist.
• Working through books that inspire me. I have three books currently that I’m eager to read and work alongside of. One is character design focused, one is sketching focused, and one is focused on using coloured india inks. This ties into the first point, but I also want to use these books to learn and explore areas I feel I am lacking in.

My goals, both in what I’d like to do artistically and what I’d like to learn from the course, seem perfectly fitted to this unit. I have been reading ahead and I think I’m on the right track. I hope that I can keep revisiting this log, and my goals, and questioning whether I’m pushing myself to explore those things. I feel like this unit gives me a solid year to ‘go crazy’ and push the limits in every way possible. Once I move on to future units, I hope to maintain my sketchbook practice, but I’m aware it’ll change somewhat to fit the briefs I will be following. If I can find a sweet spot – a place where I can be experimental and explorative whilst still meeting my briefs – that would be perfect!

Reading the introductions from the individual writers of the unit was really inspiring and helped me understand the course content so much more. I was especially inspired by something Beth Dawson said: ‘where these sketchbooks were left was the start of the visual story they told about where they had been or the journey they had been a part of, like confetti left over from an event marking something that’s passed’. I love this concept, and I feel it enormously. I have notebooks and sketchbooks and photo albums and memory boxes scattered throughout my house from my entire life. They are half full or unfinished and represent important moments and journeys I have embarked upon. I already resonate with the idea that the sketchbook as an object is something of importance.

India Ritchie discussed her preoccupation with the traces that we leave behind. This prompted me to think about the topics and thoughts that I am preoccupied with, the feelings I keep going back to that inspire me to create. I realised that I am preoccupied with the passage of time, with the significance of individual moments, and with how memories are formed and remembered. Last year I participated in a sketchbook circle with the OCA (which you can find here) and for my book I picked the theme ‘time’. Perhaps this is why Beth’s words resonated with me so well. The sketchbook as an object is a marker in your life, a companion for a specific time, it holds memories and thoughts and feelings that were perhaps fleeting and unique to the time they existed in.

I love watching sketchbook tours on YouTube. I often specifically will look for ‘bad’ sketchbook tours, or ones which are messy and unfinished. I’m not as big a fan of the overly perfect illustrative layouts that some artists produce, as I can’t relate with my own goals and work. One of the things that I find most enjoyable about these videos is that every artist recalls where they were, who they were with, and what they were doing when they sketched the page in question. They really are portals into the lives of others, and I love that.

The introduction to the unit encourages you to start thinking about the concept of ‘the everyday’ in preparation for the content going forwards. This is quite easy for me, as I already conciously observe the everyday. I have a background in social anthropology and have found pleasure in being an observer of the ‘normal’ for many years. I also have experienced extreme ill health in my life, which, when chronic, really impacts your mental health. I learned a while ago that appreciating all of the little insignificant things that happen only improves my mental health. When COVID hit, I noticed a common feeling for others was missing those every day moments. I felt somewhat alienated, as I didn’t miss them. I already lived my life appreciating all the small things.

Because I am so familiar with my own everyday and I already focus on all of these moments, I began questioning how other people experience their everyday. Again, with an anthropological background, this isn’t a new thought for me – I have been travelling and living with families worldwide since the age of 16 in order to explore various cultures and ways of living. I wrote down some thoughts I wanted to explore further in my first assignment and throughout the unit.

• What does ‘the everyday’ mean to me? Specifically, when I think about it deeply, not when I’m living it and noticing it.
• What is my ‘dream’ everyday? How would I like my everyday to look if I could have it any way I wanted? How do my disabilities intertwine with this vision?
• The phrase ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’. One person may find their everyday extremely dull, mundane, and negative, but another may relish in the same position. How can this be explored visually?
• Researching other people’s everyday, asking my friends and communities what their everyday looks like and what it means to them, and having 1-1 conversations with people about their lives.

These notes, especially when combined with the artistic goals I have for this unit, have given me a really good starting point. I’m already so engaged with the concept and with creating work for it. I feel pretty confident going forwards that I’ll not have any major ‘blanks’ when trying to make art, though, that’s optimistic.

Towards the end of the introduction chapter, I was asked to answer 4 questions:

• Do you feel a bit anxious about starting your sketchbook?
• Are you worried that you will have to show your work to your tutor and you don’t think it is ‘good enough’?
• Are you concerned that you haven’t used a sketchbook ever, or for a while?
• Are you confused because you don’t know the ‘right’ way to do a sketchbook?

My answer to all of these questions was ‘no’. A year ago, however, it probably would’ve been ‘yes’. Throughout Key Steps in Illustration I was pushed out of my comfort zone and challenged repeatedly. A key theme I faced was a struggle with my own perfectionism, which I felt I overcame triumphantly. I forced myself to be uncomfortable, especially in regards to sketchbooks, and to try to work in ways I never had before. Now, I’m confident in my work. I know that ‘bad’ isn’t really a thing. Art is art and how I create is how I create, and every experience I have creating leads to new opportunities. I feel I have already overcome the things I needed to in order to fully explore in this unit.

I am beginning this unit brimming with ideas, concepts, and positivity. I don’t expect I’ll keep that up – we all have peaks and dips – but I’m hoping I love this course as much as I’m anticipating. I’m really looking forward to exploring the things I have set out to achieve, and to get started on the projects in the unit.