For my final assignment for Sketchbook Illustrations, I was asked to choose from 3 different options for what my final assignment would be about. I went with my option “Option One: The Kitchen – Visualising the Everyday”.

The brief is: As an illustrator, you have been asked to produce some drawings of food that will accompany recipes for a series of spreads in a weekend supplement on the theme – of everyday foods of the world. The aim of the illustrations in the article is to have a sketchbook feel that suggests a creative, relaxed, dynamic approach to cooking. The drawings should feel as though they are fresh and journalistic- an inventive record and celebration of food.

To start off I will be making drawings based on observations of food and the kitchen environment. I will be collecting this information in a series of drawings in a homemade sketchbook. I will be using different media as well as different tools to create these illustrations.

Next, I will be focussing on one particular ingredient and doing something to it. For this part, I will also be working at different scales (as previously said in Exercise 5.1: Making an Action Plan – Visually) so have decided to go with using A5 down to a lot smaller pieces.

For the final section, I will be choosing one of my drawings and creating a brand new drawing that compliments it stylistically. I chose a brief and format out of four options and decided to create: “A design that would work on a tote bag for an organic food shop”.

Ideas I came up with when thinking of the word ‘kitchen’:

Food – Fresh – Vegetables/Eggs/Fruit/Sauces/Dairy

Food – Frozen – Peas/Chips/Ice Lollies/ Fish Fingers

Cupboard – Coffee/Tea/Sugar/Spices/Salt & Pepper/Oils/Nuts/Pasta/Noodles/Tinned Foods

Equipment – Glasses / Mugs – Wine Glasses/Pint Glasses/Half Pint Glasses/Champagne Glasses

Equipment – Cutlery – Spoons/Forks/Knives

Equipment – Crockery – Plates/Bowls

Equipment – Electronics – Oven/Fridge/Freezer/Blender/Microwave/Ninja

My empty sketchbook – Why I’m making my own sketchbook/what papers I used:

As you can see I already made a start on creating some collages of fruit and vegetables using tissue paper, I will add to these later.

Part 1: Observed Drawing & Part 2: Sequence:

My sketchbook – My Observed Drawings (Primary Research) dismantled as string holding pages together snapped 😦 – (Photos):

Some photos I captured whilst creating my prints etc:

The design I liked the most and wanted to expand on in the next part:

I went with this illustration because: As a design that would work on a tote bag for an organic food shop I thought this illustration would work well as Tate and Lyle sugar is both organic and Fairtrade. I think the design would bring a graphic feel to the tote bag and be targeted toward a younger audience or anyone who enjoys baking!

Part 3: Illustration:

Tote Bag Design:

Some interesting design variations:

I used the website: https://placeit.net/c/mockups/stages/mockup-of-a-tote-bag-hanging-from-a-wooden-stair-3141-el1 for my mock-up designs.

Final Reflective Statement:

Illustration Sketchbooks has been really important to me whilst on my BA Hons Illustration journey. I feel like I am really trying to find myself, how I have used sketchbooks has changed also. I feel like I am a lot more experimental and am taking more risks with the ways that I work as well as what I choose to put in my sketchbooks. Sometimes I use loose sheets and create my own sketchbook and sometimes I use premade sketchbooks if all I want to focus on is illustrating.

When I first started this course I didn’t do many observational drawings for visual research and idea development, when I thought about observational drawings I would maybe think about location drawings or still life. I now know how to do observational drawings and I feel like I am getting good at them. I try to create my observation drawings using a medium that I enjoy using and feel confident with.

I feel as though I have progressed with my use of different mark-making tools, materials, and use of experimentation with my work. I still struggle using mediums/materials I am not used to but I feel I am getting there and becoming more confident. I tried to use as many different mediums as I could whilst on this course, those include Pen, Pencil, Digital Art (on graphics tablet), acrylic & water colour paints, charcoal, etc. I now enjoy painting much more than I did at the start of the course… I am still ‘trying’ to like charcoal.

My ideas about the every day have evolved over the course because I now look at things differently, even minor things like taking a walk or making a cup of tea I now see has creative potential. Many more ideas/thoughts have come to mind since starting the course.

Researching other practitioners’ sketchbooks and reading about their work has expanded my understanding of illustration as I got a lot of inspiration from them and incorporated different ways of working and creative styles into my work. I really enjoyed researching different illustrators whose names were suggested in the workbook so much that I have even followed a few of them on Instagram so I can re-research them in future exercises.

I look forward to the next unit of this course and what it will bring. I hope to expand my knowledge of illustration and find myself and my creative style even more in the next section.