This project required me to go back to the basics of drawing, getting a better understanding of perspective, live drawing and techniques which will ultimately support me in the long run of becoming a successful illustrator. Over the 6 weeks I have learned all the techniques from cube drawing, cylinder drawing, line and contour, hatching and mark making which are demonstrated below in my sketchbooks. These sketchbooks show the trial and error yet also my improvements throughout the weeks which was done through hours of practice.
My big sketchbook was used mostly throughout the weeks for all of the set projects plus live drawing. I found live drawing very difficult as I’ve never done it before so it was really hard for me to practise however, in my opinion I have taken some advise into consideration which can be shown through my trial and error in my sketchbook. I believe I am getting the hang of the basics of drawing and I will continue to do these exercises to ensure they are implemented in my head whilst making future illustrations. The only thing I haven’t prioritised are self portraits which I definitely need to improve on to make sure I understand the anatomy of a face and a head.
This little sketchbook is dedicated to Line and Contour drawing as I found it quite hard to draw using this technique in my big sketchbook at first. I found it really difficult to do line drawing on the first day this was set however after watching some YouTube videos recommended on blackboard I started to understand the technique more. I filled this sketchbook in a week as I really started to enjoy little line sketches and I found that this can possibly be my new favourite technique of drawing and I might incorporate it in my personal art more often. I also drew some hatching in my little sketchbook which I also really enjoyed doing as it was very similar to line and contour (just more lines).
Close ups
I wanted to show some of my favourite pages from both books not for how aesthetically pleasing they look but which pages I had most fun with experimenting with the techniques. I found over the 6 weeks that a fountain pen may be one of my favourite medias to draw with. This is a really huge improvement for me as when I started my illustration course I was petrified to draw with pen without sketching in pencil first. I found mistakes can be easily fixed with pen or improvised to look a specific way without worrying how it will look.
