Exercise 5.1

Making an action plan – visually

What would you like to achieve in this final assignment?

I would like to use the final assignment to…

• Push my practice beyond my comfort zone
• Investigate bookmaking further
• Explore alternative ideas in a variety of ways (do not settle on one idea too early!)
• Ensure my message is communicated clearly and effectively
• Use unpredictable and unusual materials and methods to sometimes relinquish control
• Experiment with typography (something I have not done much of yet!)
• Take creative risks
• Use different surfaces (the lipstick and eyeshadow activities reminded me of this!)
• Use colour (I often use black and white, or minimal colour)
• Draw slowly and quickly
• Show my sketchbook to others
• Experiment with more media
• Be more inventive

Most important

1. Explore alternative ideas in a variety of ways: Often I only play with a few ideas, rather than exploring lots of alternatives before deciding on a final version. By exploring alternatives, this allows me to play with perspective, viewpoint, character development and pace.
2. Push my practice beyond my comfort zone: It is vital that I do not resort to the same processes and materials every time I approach my art; I must continually experiment and step outside that comfort zone, as this often reaps the most exciting rewards.
3. Ensure my message is communicated clearly and effectively: When creating anything, I need to ensure the purpose and message is clear and readable. This links closely with showing my work to others, as I have been doing the past few months, to check my suspicions and find areas that could be confusing or ambiguous.
4. Use unpredictable and unusual materials and methods to sometimes relinquish control: Similarly, playing with tools and materials that I cannot predict, or control, will produce results that I do not expect and could provide moments of inspiration. These happy accidents often lead to the most fun creations.

Most enjoyable

1. Investigate bookmaking further: This is something I have found hugely satisfying throughout the course and I would love to experiment further. I think the process of making my own sketchbook gives me more of a sense of ownership over the content and makes me feel less nervous to start drawing inside.
2. Experiment with more media: I love using lots of media, however sometimes I resort to the same materials for convenience. I would like to prioritise this so that my experiments have a purpose.
3. Draw slowly and quickly: The exercises that taught me rapid drawing methods, blind contour drawing and continuous line drawing were very enjoyable! I would like to use more of these methods to loosen my style and inspire ideas. I also want to make time for slow drawings; a combination of the two often works well in my illustrations.
4. Show my sketchbook to others: These past few months, I have built my confidence in showing my sketchbook to others, and I find it a wonderfully insightful activity. It is great to connect with other people – whether they are on the course or not – and see what they think of an image I have produced, or some experiments I have undertaken.

Translate visually

I really enjoyed creating a visual action plan, using these goals as my focus. I tried to mostly use imagery and drawings, rather than words, to portray what I wanted to work on in the final assignment. All the imagery encompasses some general goals, such as relinquishing control, taking creative risks and using a variety of colour and media.

Push my practice beyond my comfort zone: I used fine liners to draw a human pushing against a bubble surrounding them – symbolising a ‘comfort zone’. I like this image because it symbolises a restriction that is flexible and has a life of its own surrounding us all, that we need to break free from.

Investigate bookmaking further: I created a little book from scrap paper and sewed it to the action plan on the right hand side. I filled the few pages with colours and words linked to my targets. This was a fun little project that did not take long and looks very personal and messy!

Explore alternative ideas in a variety of ways: For this target, I used a few different coloured biros to draw a signpost with lots of ‘directions’ and ‘options’ pointing all over. This is a good reminder that there is never just one option, and to be adventurous and ‘explore’ (literally) lots of ideas early on.

Ensure my message is communicated clearly and effectively: I tried to draw something simple to represent this – a megaphone. I need to ensure my message can be read loud and clear.

Use unpredictable and unusual materials and methods to sometimes relinquish control: To symbolise this ‘relinquishing of control’, I used watercolour paints (very watery) and a straw to blow the paint across the page. This is a method I enjoy, because the results are bright, full of movement and look so stereotypically ‘arty’. It is also impossible to control, but can produce exciting images that can be developed further.

Experiment with typography: My ‘experiment’ was made up of different fonts, each in a different colour, to play with this concept of adventurous typography. The overall effect is quite impressive, but the main message here was to explore a range of options to then be able to select something appropriate to the brief.

Take creative risks: I enjoyed drawing this one! It is a simple doodle in black fine liner of a person who has climbed up stairs and is about to jump into a sea of ‘uncertainty’.

Use different surfaces: On the left hand side of my action plan, I stuck a variety of surfaces – maps, kitchen roll, tissue paper, plastic and wrapping paper – and drew some features over the top, to see how the effects would differ.

Use colour: A simple image of a rainbow on the right hand side of the page, drawn using crayons, was my main image for this, but I hope the whole action plan shows a desire to use colour.

Draw slowly and quickly: I liked this one! I timed myself (around 20 seconds) to draw a hand in black ink, then did another hand drawing, but allowed myself much longer to get more detail. I like both processes and want to make sure I do a mixture of both.

Show my sketchbook to others: I enjoyed creating this image! This is the image of a sketchbook in a frame – like a gallery – with silhouettes of people looking and pointing and talking about the content.

Experiment with more media: The whole page represents a desire to use a variety of media, and I think the options sign post could also link to this.

Be more inventive: Finally, the brain doing weights was a more humorous take on this target! I completed this in fine liner and pencil crayon.

I thoroughly enjoyed visualising these targets and creating something physical to show where I want my journey to go next. This is a resource I will continue to refer to throughout this final part of Sketchbooks and beyond.