Assignment four was all about using the sketchbook as a place where to take quick notes of the world around me and the interesting little tidbits I notice about it. And it was also about using those notes to create sequential storytelling.

Carrying a sketchbook around and sketching or taking notes whenever I observe something interesting is not natural to me, but would like it to be. It is a habit that I would like to develop not only when I am out and about in the world, but when I am at home and I think of something interesting. A lot of fun things happen in my head, but I don’t tend to make note of them in any way. Many of the things I think of are not necessarily drawing ideas, but if I treated sketching them like I would sketch a real scene…I think this may be something I want to explore more.

The second part about sequential storytelling was a challenge, but a fun one. In retrospect, after reading my tutor’s notes, I could have gone in more directions with the comic before deciding on a final. That is what I will do for this next assignment, especially since I will be taking on the “Everyday Stories” option of the three given themes. Option three is not a full comic the way assignment four was, but a storyboard, or the key frames of a storyboard for a trailer of a short television programme. The same advice from the previous assignment will still apply to this, though.

Look at the list of quotes from section one and your initial responses to them.

Have your opinions and thoughts changed about how you keep a sketchbook?

My opinions and goals haven’t changed (the two main goals were to be more consistent in my use of the sketchbook and to be more adventurous) , but I think some illusions were shattered. I had underlined a few of those statements about thinking of the sketchbook as a place to experiment. The truth as I see it now, is that I did not do much experimenting at all. I still don’t do enough experimentation! I had the goal of “being more adventurous”, but I did not truly have an idea of what that meant. But after nearly completing this course, I think I do have a bit of a better understanding of what it could mean. It simply means asking “But what if..?”. This can apply to materials, shapes, subject matter, and anything really. Asking this question more often is the more deliberate version of “I want to be more adventurous”.

In the first section, I presented how I used my sketchbook. What I used my sketchbook for before was: “planning” for bigger compositions, making figure and gesture studies, and for random ideas. The problem is, that planning only constituted of making a few thumbnails instead of taking that further and experimenting with materials, colors and characters. The figure studies and gestures were nice, but they weren’t deliberate study (at least not how I think of study now). And there weren’t enough “random ideas” as I put it.

In this course, I learned to use sketchbooks to prepare and experiment for a project. To think of the sketchbook as part of the project. So instead of just thumbnailing some compositions, I have a more elaborate creative process now. I loved making a small, single sketchbook and using that for an entire event. And I loved to stick in photographs of both references for my work (research) and of my own work in order to create a look-book with all the thinks I needed for the project inside. Even if I don’t end up using an entire sketchbook for one illustration, I will still dedicate a solid section to it from now on, or create a small digital sketchbook for it (something to think about, since I have been using digital a lot lately).

As I wrote in the assignment four reflection, I have barely started to think about how jotting down ideas would work for me. It would include some observation of scenes or objects in the real world, but I think most of the interesting things I experience tend to be in my head. I generally have not thought of my sketchbooks as something private, and that is because I do not use them to write and sketch all the ideas that come to mind. But if I started doing that… it would definitely feel far more private. It is a very nerve-wracking concept, that my private ideas could be subject to viewing.

I think I would like to keep separate sketchbooks. One for smaller projects, one for studies and mark making experiments, and one for dumping ideas. I would also like to dedicate an entire sketchbook for when I have a bigger project. For the “dumping ideas” sketchbook, I might take a completely digital approach to keep it more private.

Which comments do you now most empathize with and why?

I think I still empathize with the same comments, I just have a different view of what they mean, as I said above.

What have been the most surprising changes to your thoughts about sketchbooks?

Using words and writing was something I used to avoid in sketchbooks. I am not sure why, because I happen to enjoy writing. Perhaps I just thought of text as something that should stay separate. But this is something that has changed recently, because I have found that writing down my thoughts does help when brainstorming  or working out the details of a project before starting.

Which of the exercises and assignments would you like to do more of or return to?

I think I would like to return to exercises that helped me build on already existing images to change them. Like the Pareidolia exercise where I had to look for objects that looked like faces and make characters out of them. Or perhaps return to the two exercises from the previous assignment where I had to give existing images a new meaning by either writing the thoughts of the character within the image, by changing the time period that the image is taking place in, or by making the image move by drawing it in different moments in time.

Make an action list from your observations. What outcome would you like to achieve in this final assignment?

I would like to use the final assignment to:

• Work in sequence

• Experiment with more media

• Explore composition

• Color

• Draw things that move

• Make better use of research

• Create small sketchbook for the project

• Make more iterations to choose from

The research I did on Lisk Feng has inspired me to approach this project with more playfulness when it comes to color and digital texture. She mostly works by first sketching traditionally, taking inspiration from past sketchbooks if stuck, then she translates the sketch to a digital software. I would especially like to apply the advice regarding limited color palletes (skillshare video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JKslFV6V9g ) because I want the project to be bright and colorful, but also consistent. Consistency is absolutely vital since I have selected the “Everyday Stories” project option (making a series of key frames for a movie trailer) and every frame must look like it follows the other and is part of a bigger whole.

As a starting point for the project, I collected several of the images I created throughout this course and put them in three different categories: images with exercises I found helpful, images that I simply liked, and images with interesting textures. I photoshopped a mood board instead of printing out the images because it was both more effective and because my printer does not do color.  Then I started to build on these images further, some by printing out and painting over or cutting and pasting, others by developing in Photoshop.

Image selection from previous chapters

Before printing out the selected images, I edited them slightly in Photoshop for better contrast and to get rid of any weird margins.

The materials I chose were markers, acrylics and pastels. Because, as I said above, one of my main objectives with this section is to experiment with color and texture I selected the materials I thought would most help me in this endeavor.

For example, this image I created by cutting out three printed out sketches and fitting them together in such a way that the perspective could possibly make sense, then I drew over the blank spaces with marker to create a whole image, also adding some red to the main character for contrast.

This well sketch was a style study (though the image itself is original, as is the second drawing with a woman in hay) of Van Gogh’s drawing style, so what I did was try to mimic the same sort of mark making he makes by painting over the grey paper with bright colors. The second drawing was created with pastels instead of acrylics.

I used this Hokusai study to experiment with digital textures. First I edited the photograph of the sketch to remove any traces of the center of the sketchbook (this was drawn on a two page spread) and of the margins, then I started overlapping it with other illustrations from my selection above.

I also played around with the storyboard exercise created in the last section. I thought it would be useful to experiment with printing and cutting out the panels, because then they can be rearranged and drawn over to create a new perspective for the narrative.

The extra panels I was left with I collaged into a small illustration and painted over with acrylics to bring it all together.

Experiments with color also mean experiments with mood. This original illustration looks very dreamlike and warm because of the oranges and yellows from the lightbulbs, but once I changed the color scheme to cold greens and teals, and kept the grey of the paper, the atmosphere became cold and slightly unsettling.

This is yet another experiment with cutting and pasting, then painting over. I tried to place the painting behind the lady, and over the painting stick the window to make it look like a painting of a window. Thus changing the meaning of the original drawing of that window. A “this is not a pipe” sort of idea, if unsuccessful.

These images are more of experimenting with materials over printed pages, the one of the smoker with markers, and the one with art supplies with layering acrylics and pastels.

I selected one of the images in the above sequence, the “Future”, and tried to apply what I learned with the Mt. Fuji illustration about layering my work over the illustration to create texture. But I did not stop there, because I also wanted to get some digital painting in, since that is how I plan on working on the final project. I would say that the experiment was less successful, maybe because I did not choose the correct images for this illustration, or because I simply did not think about how to add the texturing enough. One thing I am sure of, however is that I should have been more careful with selecting the color palette by limiting myself a little more.

This illustration was slightly larger and more elaborate, though the techniques are similar to the ones above. I again selected a few images and placed them together in order to create a somewhat feasible composition. First I chose a main character, here the man with the hat and the speech bubble, and composed around him. Because the characters are so varied in shapes and sized, I thought an “alien bar” sort of situation could be interesting, so I stuck them on the paper in such a fashion that I could draw tables for them. To complete the composition, I also included some new characters in the background, and even an older one in the form of the green alien in the very forefront, who makes an appearance in the second chapter of this course.

After drawing a little bit, I started adding colors, first just in markers, and then deciding that I wanted the bar to look dark and painted a wash of dark blue hues (not seen very well in the photograph).

I then transferred the drawing in Photoshop and painted it over, doing my best to keep the textured feeling of the initial sketch, but cleaning it up a little as I went.

To put all of these images and ideas together, I constructed a loose sketchbook. First I gathered and paired up my illustrations.

Since I have multiple sizes of illustrations, the largest in the A3 range, I looked around my house for something to use as a cover and found this simple green binder with elastic bands at the ends.

In order to have a semblance of order and not simply leave the smaller images floating loosely between the ends of the binder, I constructed some thin carboard sheets to mount the sketches on. I recycled long pieces of board left over from another project by cutting them in half and taping them on the sides, then taping the illustrations and notes onto them.

I made sure to write the main ideas behind the project on the inner part of the sketchbook, by attaching various notes to it, in order to have everything on one page where it is easy to see and to revisit while actually making the project.

Here is the video with everything put together and in order. I have also attached sticky notes wherever I wanted to remind myself of certain advice my tutor has given me, I also have notes about things I found successful and would like to use in the final project.

Constructing a sketchbook this way was a bit of a different experience, but in no way a bad one. It will be interesting to see how I can use it while I am in the middle of my project. It is different from the sketchbooks before it because it functions more than the others like a folder where to put ideas rather than a notebook of words or images.

I feel that I have a better grasp on how to use a sketchbook in this way now, and I also feel much more comfortable with manipulating images by coping them out and pasting them or drawing over them. I have tried this before, but it always felt odd and the results were less than desirable. Not that the current results are wonderful, but they do feel like something that is practical and that I can use, rather than gimmicky.

Now, with the semblance of a initial plan, I feel ready to start drafting out concepts for the final assignment!