Exercise: Making Connections

Brief

So far you have been reflecting on your reactions to what you have done so far on the course. Following on from this copy/print off images that you most have an affinity with, from your sketchbooks. For this exercise you are going to combine selected elements by collaging them together creating new images through, editing, modifying and re-using content you have already produced throughout the entire unit. To do this you might find it useful to refer back to the SCAMPER section in part three. Having several versions of your pages, printed at various scales that you can draw more elements onto and be playful with, might stop you from getting precious. If you are comfortable with software you may decide to make some digital versions.

Lay the action plan and images somewhere that you can look at them altogether. Arrange your composite drawings to create connections between them. You might have enjoyed a drawing of an interior or a figure and put that alongside a drawing that uses media in a particular way and decide to put them side by side. You could end up with clusters of images that are important to you for different reasons and drawings that connect from one sketchbook to another. There will be no wrong or right collections. Just collections that mean something to you.

Images chosen

My images

A collage of my favourite face sketches

A collage of my favourite people studies

Merged image of a painting study and a medium study

Leonardo Da Vinci style collage of my favourite people studies

My most favourite person study with my best landscape study (charcoal) merged together for a narrative image

My friend's D&D character merged with a painting study I did of the forest in watercolour

A redrawn narrative piece from three separate sketches/studies

A collaged image created by changing the blending modes to multiply for one image and divide for the other, creating a creative art piece.

Evaluation

This exercise was so much fun! I was able to revisit some work I did and apply it to newer images or collaborate them together, it was a really great way to get me inspired again and gave me a confidence boost. I tried to push myself and created some more unusual abstract pieces, which I really liked the outcome of them.

I especially liked where it is black and white with a face study and a landscape study together, it creates an background to a character and peeks to a narrative (it could be a panel of a cool detective comic).

The colour abstract piece was something really unusual for me as I don't go down that route very often, however, I love this piece and love the colour popping with the mess of all the line work. The yellow around the character keeps the focus on the her from further away and as you look closer you see all these lines and sketches underneath.

The Leonardo Da Vinci style image was completely through fun that it applied a variety of different blend modes, overlaying on top of each other and added a yellow undertone; with the writing and the sketching collaborating together.

Another illustration I liked was the simple collaboration of my friends character illustration and the landscape watercolour study I did, putting them together for a full illustration. Again, like the black and white illustration, it could be a panel of a comic.

It's given me lots of ideas and exploration tips for my assignment.