Another Digitally Coloured Sketchbook Page

As I really liked how the first pages turned out, I decided to colour another of my pages from my sketchbook on Photoshop. Rather than colour all of the sketches, I focussed on just one (being the drawing I did of my car when it snowed) and created a scene around it that overflowed onto the other drawings. 

I really like how my digitally coloured sketches look, it will be difficult for me to decide between this and gouache paint for my final outcome.

Quick Observational Painting!

My house at uni has been especially bright today, not only because it's a sunny day but one of my housemates left her door open and her curtains undrawn. Having a room at the back of the house, my room is usually in the shade and the view outside is relatively uninspiring. It was nice to see a different perspective, so I quickly grabbed my paints and did a quick painting of the view.

I did this painting with my Gouache paints and despite the fact that I did it rather hurriedly, I think it has turned out well. I like the cartoon-like style that has emerged from me painting in such a hurry.

Feedback from artists on Instagram

So far I have received feedback from 5 artists on Instagram in response to the questions I sent. I feel that as an artist who uses Instagram to share work, it's nice to hear why others use it.

The main reason that I chose to contact artists on this site is because the visual documentation of modern life is primarily done using technology in this day and age. I thought it’d be interesting to get in contact with illustrators who use social media to document their work to get their thoughts on how we document life.

The response was overall positive, the general impression I got is that artists use the site to see trends in their work and how they are progressing, and it helps them to develop. It can also be used as a means of advertising one's artwork. The artists refer to drawing as being an experience, and that documenting life through drawing is experiencing it, and it gets you thinking about the structure of your subject, therefore giving a deeper understanding.

As most visual documentation is done digitally in the modern age, I also asked for their views on photography. The response was generally negative, all artists that I asked preferred documenting life through drawing and painting, for the reasons that I mentioned above, as well as the fact that creating artwork allows you to express more emotions and depict life in a way that photography can't.

One artist in particular that I asked draws in a photo-realistic way, to the point that you can't tell the difference. She referred to drawing as being more rewarding, as you are in the knowledge that your piece of work has taken months of time and effort to realise. 

I feel that this feedback is incredibly useful and will really help me with my project!

The Illustrators that I heard back from were:

@anna.rastorgueva

@_picolo

@devinaw

@mckenzie_fisk_art

@janejanie

Gouache Paint Experiment

Yesterday I tried out a new set of Gouache paints that I bought following my workshop last week.

I started out by painting my desk and everything that sat infront of me and around me as I painted. I then went on to paint my sketchbook and myself painting. I followed it up by painting the Instagram border around the image to make it look like a post - the subject especially relevant as a lot of Instagram artists tend to photograph their workspace.

I then photographed my drawing space as it was in the painting, posted the photo on Instagram, so that it looked like a 'photo within a photo'.

The original Gouache painting of my desk.

The post I made on Instagram to show my workspace.

Digitally Coloured Sketchbook Pages

Today I decided to take a few scans from my sketchbook and give them colour. I used the observational sketches that I did of my dogs when I was at home with them and coloured them on Photoshop using my Wacom tablet, and I am very happy with how they turned out. 

I'm not sure if this sort of thing will form the basis of the illustrated part of my project, I will see how I get on with my other experimentations.

Gouache Blue Bird Pattern

Today I decided to get on and make a pattern using the blue birds I painted in the Gouache workshop with Bridie Cheeseman. I got the scan I took of my page and edited it on photoshop to isolate the birds. From this I was able to create a pattern.

Editing on Photoshop

Finished pattern!

Photography Experiment

Today I thought I'd play around with a bit of drawing and photography, in order to further explore my essay question, about how drawing helps us understand the world better. I did a few doodles on some scrap paper to experiment with my idea of 'drawing something into existence'. For these doodles I attempted to 'draw' a cat into my room in Bournemouth. The cat idea was inspired by the fact that I messaged the illustrator Gabriel Picolo today, and his mascot is a cat.

My first attempt. A little bit off, but you can see what I was trying to do.

My second attempt. More successful than the first in my opinion. I managed to line up the drawing better in this drawing I think, and I like the perspective a lot more.

I'm not sure if this is something I will experiment with further as I am not sure how I can create a strong link to my essay question using this method. 

Contacting Instagram Illustrators

Today I have spent my time writing to a few of my favourite illustrators who publish and document their world and work on Instagram. I sent them direct messages asking if they feel that documenting their world on Instagram helps them to understand it better. I wrote to my favourite illustrators who draw from both observation and imagination, most notably Gabriel Picolo and Kerby Rosanes, who have been inspiring my work for a long time.

For the two illustrators mentioned above, I sent a message along with a small illustration. These two are very very popular and are likely to not read direct messages for the simple fact that they receive so many, so I wanted to make mine stand out.

I illustrated my character alongside each of theirs. As these are two big illustrators they have both created themselves a character that they can brand themselves with. I used the character from my first illustrated book to represent myself. 

The Butterfly Dragon meets Picolo's Black Cat

The Butterfly Dragon meets Kerby's Doodle Man

I will also be writing to a few other illustrators on Instagram who have inspired my work (others who do not have characters for me to illustrate) Fingers crossed I get some replies! 

Work for DOC Reptiles

Over Christmas, I worked with a friend of mine who has just set up a business to provide illustrations to promote his new company and what he does. The first Illustration I did was a realistic depiction of his logo, and was more a piece to show him what I can do. He did not make any requests for this piece so I was free to create it in any way.

The second piece that I did for DOC Reptiles was a lot more elaborate and was a result of me and the owner working together to think of a good way of promoting the business through illustration. This piece took a lot longer than the first and I completed it in accordance to what my friend requested. It was nice to work to a clients requirements and take on board advice given to ensure that he was happy.

Bridie Cheeseman Gouache Workshop

Today I had my first workshop since returning after Christmas! This workshop was with illustrator Bridie Cheeseman and was focussing on how to use and apply Gouache paint. Myself, I have only used this medium once, and that was back when I was in year 13 doing A Level, for the sake of using another type of paint. 

My first - and latest Gouache painting of an Amur Leopard

The workshop began with a display of Bridie's work, to inspire us and further explain how she creates the textures and tones with the paint. She also spoke of editing her paintings using digital software (maybe something to try out!)

In this workshop Bridie showed us her technique of using the paint with water, and how to mix it to get the perfect consistency and a smooth colour. When I did this painting, I applied the paint as I would have done with acrylics, and therefore got a rough fur texture. In this session I tried to achieve many different textures with the paint using water to change it's consistency.

I created two A4 pages of paint work. I mixed my colours on the paper as Bridie had suggested and produced a few illustrations in a number of ways, using bold brushstrokes as well as fine, delicate ones.

I had the idea of editing my small birds to form some sort of pattern, and I will do this at a later date (If I remember). I decided to draw Chinese dragons as I was inspired by the Chinese New Year, as well as a very detailed blue Phoenix which developed from a doodle. With these illustrations I worked on both a small and larger scale, and I am very happy with my progress today. Gouache may be a medium I try out in future work.