Composition

Thinking about composition has changed the way that I approach drawing and roughing. I'd been precious about my roughs before, but now my book is getting much more free and playful as I sketch out basic shapes again and again in search of the perfect composition.

During the Visual Language session, we were encouraged to look at other illustrators' work and deconstruct their compositions by drawing out the shapes really roughly and investigating how they overlap/relate to each other. Learning how other artists piece images together has helped me to understand how to make the most of the space on my frame. My process has shifted as I have started working backwards, beginning with a plan of the space rather than beginning with a drawing and working outwards. 

This way of working allows me to work as fast as I can come up with ideas. I hope that this new method carries through into other modules in my roughing.

COMPOSITION IS SO IMPORTANT.

I don't think that I'm amazing at composing and this task definitely challenged me. BUT CHALLENGE IS GOOD! The final illustration I made isn't the best composition ever - it's not completely balanced and it doesn't have a clear line of sight - but it is much better than the first version I roughed in my book. Paying attention to the planning has made my illustration process more strategic and the overall image less random.

 I still don't have much confidence in my drawing capabilities when I look at the work produced by my peers, but I can definitely see progress in the things I'm making each week, especially for Visual Language. I've come a long way since those awful life drawings and the work I am putting into the tasks each week seems to be paying off.