Introduction:

Part two of Illustration Sketchbooks focuses on experimental mark making and working with ‘mistakes’. As I will be using a wide variety of techniques and materials for this part I have chosen to use a pre-made A4 sketchbook from Pink Pig this way I will be confident that the pages will hold all the different materials I will use.

“Some of the most exciting and surprising work happens when the pressure to achieve perfection is removed, either through working very quickly or through using unpredictable materials and techniques”.

– Page 79 – Introduction – Illustration 1: Illustration Sketchbooks (Workbook)

In the Illustration Sketchbooks Workbook it mentions that keeping a sketchbook can be daunting and feel like a precious object which is how I feel when using one but I hope to use this course as a way of letting go and getting out of this mindset of ‘perfectionism’.

As it would be to much hassle to bring my A4 sketchbook around with me outside I will be using my other A5 sketchbook to sketch when I am out and about as advised by the workbook.

Key words taken from: The Introduction:

• Accidental
• Mistakes
• Experimental
• Resources
• Techniques
• Narrative
• Abstract
• Expressionism
• Spontaneity

Rapid Sketching:

In this section I will be learning about rapid drawing techniques including those where my time is limited or the amount of marks I make when drawing are. Drawing so fast will be a bit scary but interesting especially when it comes to drawing people and places outside. I will hopefully be able to capture a lot of information in a short period of time which will give me interesting outcomes.

Key words from: Rapid Sketching:

• Rapid
• Time
• Limited
• Marks
• Moving/Movement
• Public
• Analyse
• Free
• Flexibility
• Quick
• Change
• Composition
• Imagination
• Imagery

Sophie Peanut

Sophie is an illustrator based in Halifax, UK. Her work mainly consists of rapid drawings.

http://sophiepeanut.com/5-minutes-sketches/

If I was to compare Sophie’s work to my own working methods, she tends to use a black fine-liner often and adds small amounts of writing around her illustrations as I do (looking back at my previous work for Assignment 1: Recording & Sharing your work).

Merits:

• Leaves mistakes
• Good analysis of people and places
• Quick easy-to-understand sketches
• Interesting cross-hatching & other mark making techniques
• Good depth within some images

Pitfalls:

• She could run out of space easily as her drawings seem to be large and come of the page
• Not enough media used in work, relies of fine-liner and sometimes watercolours

Another artist I found who draws using rapid sketching techniques:

Prakash Thombre

Twitter: @widemediaguy

I found this artist by chance when researching for other rapid sketching artists and really liked his work. From the amount of followers Prakash has I guess he isn’t very well known but I think his art is incredibly interesting, especially considering he uses a lot of different media (ink, watercolour and digital drawings) and likes to mix things up a bit by creating his own mark-making tools (like the wooden fork in the image below):