In this section of the course, I have mainly focussed on two parts of the plan: sketching everyday and researching and creating backgrounds that could be used in an illustration.
Everyday sketching – https://catherinerouxillustrationdegree.uk/illustration-year-3/project-1-sketching/everyday-sketching-update-feedback-point-3/
I have sketched everyday for nearly seven weeks. I have mainly used two types of sketchbooks: A6 sketchbooks when I commute to work and A5 when I am at home or when I go out to sketch at weekends.
When I started, the main focus was to sketch every day. As a result, I have not used colours very often or experimented much with other media apart from black fineliners and pencils. I found it a bit daunting to start sketching again as I had not done it much while submitting my previous unit and registering for the new one.
So far, I have sketched a lot while commuting and most drawings depict other commuters.
I have also sketched buildings and explored the anatomy of people and animals.
I have started feeling more confident after sketching regularly for several weeks. Analysing my sketches in my learning log (https://catherinerouxillustrationdegree.uk/illustration-year-3/project-1-sketching/everyday-sketching-update-feedback-point-3/) has helped me to understand better what I enjoy drawing, areas I would like to explore further and research I need to carry out. Trying not to put any pressure at first and focussing only on sketching every day has also contributed to this outcome.
I think that I can now create a timeline with objectives I would like to achieve. I have started reading some books, watched some videos about techniques and looked at the work of artists I like. However, I need to be more methodical in that respect now that I have a good idea of what I am interested in improving and exploring.
I am also ready to have longer drawing sessions next to shorter ones.
However, I would like to keep a lot of flexibility for this section of the unit as the idea remains to draw regularly and learn not to feel any pressure regarding the outcome.
Backgrounds – https://catherinerouxillustrationdegree.uk/illustration-year-3/project-2-focus-on-specific-areas/backgrounds/
I started this section with researching how to create better backgrounds. I divided the research into two main parts. One consisted in tutorials and advice from artists online and the other on observation of my own work and the work of artists I admire.
I have found this approach very beneficial and I have learned a lot from my research. It has really helped me to use my sketchbook at all stages to test new techniques or analyse compositions in thumbnails. I would like to use this approach more regularly in the future.
I created some backgrounds in Procreate to see how I could apply what I had just learned.
I feel that my compositions have improved and maybe more importantly that I have acquired the right tools to keep improving in the future.
The main challenge was probably to stop, both when I researched the subject and when I created the backgrounds. There is always more to discover and I need to learn to move on to the next stage as exploring such a subject is a work in progress. Certain elements I have learned theoretically might only come useful at a later stage and after several attempts.
I like the fact that both projects are separate while interacting with each other at the same time. While studying backgrounds, I started sketching some scenes as part of my everyday sketching while taking into account what I had just learned. I even used some quick sketches I had created as a base for some of my backgrounds.
The next steps are:
Everyday sketching: define the research I would like to carry out as well as areas I struggle with, use colours and shading more regularly and draw for longer periods.
Characters: I have started researching characters and will carry on as planned.
General: I would like to dedicate some time to create a bibliography, a glossary and a timeline to record my progress.
So far, I am happy with what I have achieve. However, as mentioned above, I need to improve the way I managed my time if I want to achieve the objectives stated in my initial plan.
Catherine Roux Degree in Illustration 