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For my zine I decided to do a light hearted series of simple illustrations about lockdown and the pandemic. I went with the title How to survive lockdown and listed the things that we all did during it to help the time pass. I went for a sarcastic message for example the Don’t die page at the end.

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I really enjoy the work of Charles Addams specifically the bleak visuals. These pieces are from his series of comics that were printed in the New York Times, Addams Family from the mid 30s to the 80s. Most of the comics take place at night in dark places which he cleverly illustrates with his black and white cartoons. I love the backwash creating this darkness and the spots of light in the drawings to draw the audience attention. This also implies fog and the unknown, which conveys that there is more to the story that we can’t see yet. His position as author is enhanced by his drawings as the sinister look help tell the story of these dark mythical characters. I also really enjoy the way he capture each illustration in a circular frame. This further depicts the idea of a family and framed family portraits.

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For the first Ushabtis I decided to use salt dough that I made before the workshop. I have never worked with any dough or clay before so this was something very new to me. I decided to make a traditional looking Ushabtis for my first one just as a warm up. I found it really difficult to mould details into the dough as it was so soft. I used things I had round my house like spoons and knives as well as needles to make little details in the dough. My figure was looking quite flat and 2D so I moulded the eyes and nose separately and added them on after with some water to help the, stick. I really like how the raised eyes and nose looked it reminded me of cartoons I used to see in textbooks at school. I also liked the effect having raised bits of dough made it gave the figure a whole new structure which really brought it to life. I then decided to add a heart and some hands to help make it more 3D.

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After doing a little warm up I decided to make figures that correspond with things that I need on my journey. First one I made was me holding a cup of coffee. Salt dough is very different to working in 2D I have to think about different perspectives and not just a flat image. It was also a very soft material so a lot of the time I would accidentally squash bits of detail. I also struggled with the structural aspect of it as I found the head to be too heavy and it kept falling off. However, I really enjoyed making a little figure of myself. Working in a new medium allowed me to let loose and not worry too much about it being perfect as I was learning.

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I decided for my third figure I would try using soap and carve into it. I found this a lot harder than using salt dough as if I made a mistake it was more difficult to correct since I was losing material and couldn’t ass it back. I really struggled with this one I decided to try and make a brain for ‘brainpower’ as the soap was already in a similar shape to one. I really didn’t like the effect soap carving gave I don’t believe it fitted my art style very well neither did it relate to my other figures.

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I decided to make a little teddy bear as when making work I find I get really stressed out and usually need a hug to help me destress. I went back to the salt dough as I wanted it to link to the other 2 figures I had already made to make a collection. This meant adding the heart that I included in my other figures. The heart portrays illustration and each of the figures hold them to imply support.

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Things I need for my journey - art supplies

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Things I need for my journey - art supplies

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I made another salt dough figure in my own time to replace the soap carving as I was really unhappy with how it was going. This figure is a little helper who carries all my art supplies in his hat. This one is definitely my favourite of them all. It’s down to the neatness of it and the aesthetic look of it. This figure made me realise how important the look of my art is to me. The reason that I chose it as my favourite is because of how it looks rather than the meaning or the story it tells. I see it as a decorative piece similar to my art.

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Here is what my figures looked like when I got them out of the oven. I really do not like how they came out. As they cooked they became crooked like the coffee mug and the teddy bears head and some parts even cracked. I was so unhappy with how they came out I almost lost motivation to finish them.

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After they came out the oven I was very disheartened by how they looked and I didn’t think I would be able to make them look any better. However, after painting them I am a lot happier with how they look. I painted the first one with a flower print to imply death and the growth of decay which correlated with the sarcophagus inspiration. I then painted the second one with a grid design to imply the productivity that coffee allows to happen. The bear has hearts to imply love and support and the art supply carrier has a golden hat where the art supplies are kept. I also added a flower pattern as I wanted it to look more decorative. This workshop made me realise how important the final look of my art is to me. Before I painted these figure I hated them and thought I had failed the task. However, after adding the paint and pretty patterns I felt much happier with the outcome as I liked how they looked. Although this was a author workshop my final outcome makes me realise that my art is more decorative based which doesn’t fit in with any of the PODs.

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Our first tasks were little warm up tasks. I found it really interesting to illustrate these little memories that before I would never have thought about. It was interesting to see how easily we could illustrate a story from something as simple as the dish that makes you feel at home. It raised questions like why did it make me feel at home? Where did this food originate from? There was a lot to look at in this simple illustration.

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Sketchbook
Pencils
iPad
Coffee
Emotional support
Inspiration

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Try new materials that can help me develop my work including working in 3D not only 2D.

Make work with more context rather than just decorative pieces. Take on the role of Author? Educator?

Make more rough work (sketches- reportage) that I can use to inspire my work rather than just getting inspiration from photos.

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Do you find yourself explaining things to people in you everyday life?
Yes

Do you like to unpack the details or essence of something and then try to communicate this to others?
Yes if it is something that I feel very passionate about otherwise I tend to keep it to myself.

Is your audience in the forefront of your mind when you make your illustration work?
It depends on the work I am making. Sometimes yes for example if I am illustrating a commissioned piece otherwise no I generally make my work to how I like it.

Do you find fact-based information more interesting than fiction?
I think that would depend on the information for example I really enjoy true crime and I would find that more interesting that fictional crime. However I also enjoy fictional information so not necessarily.

Do you love to learn new things?
Yes

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This is a piece I did for a project about carbon footprint. Here I am educating our audience on where the carbon footprint values of the product comes from. I really enjoyed making this piece because I found the context interesting as I learnt things I didn’t know before. But I also more enjoyed the outcome as it looked how I wanted it to aesthetically.

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This is a page from my Anne Franks Diary remake. My aim in this project was to educate the younger generation who were no longer being taught about Anne Frank at school. The story of Anne Frank is so important and I chose to make it at the time as Brexit was taking place and people were fuelled by discrimination and racism and I felt that people especially the younger generation needed to be reminded of the past horror that’s took place fuelled by discrimination. This also makes it relate to activism as it is politically fuelled. I enjoyed this piece as I was able to retell an important story. This could also be seen as Author as I am retelling a story.

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Have you ever been on a protest or March?
Yes BLM in Margate.

Have you ever made a banner, poster, costume, happening, song, meme or pamphlet about a political or cultural event or to spread a message?
Yes I made an illustrated version of Anne Franks diary and I also did a project on OCD.

Do you feel passionately about local or world issues and try or want to get involved?
Yes

Do you like doing? Taking action? Being part of a movement?
Yes but I would like to be more involved than I am.

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This was part of my Anne Frank project. I wanted to make a poster that created an emotional response from my audience. I illustrated a scared Anne Frank with aspects of the building she hid in on her face. I then added ‘we have to hide,’ for context and a further sympathetic response. I really liked the effect of the black and white as it implied the simplicity of their living standards but the detail also implies the complexity of their situation.

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This is a piece I did on raising awareness on the intrusive thoughts of OCD. I myself do not have OCD but I have always struggled with some of the intrusive thoughts of someone who does. I enjoyed this project as I felt my art had purpose in raising awareness about the misconceptions of OCD and how it is not only about being neat and tidy. This could also be considered educator as I was educating people about OCD.

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Do you like reportage or location drawing?
I love reportage and I used to do it all the time. Whenever we have done it on the course I always fill up a whole sketchbook. I love the freedom I have in not worrying about a perfect piece or proportions. Since I’m so relaxed when making reportage art my lines are lot more relaxed and it results in some really nice looking illustrations. I also love to go on to develop these drawings.

Do you take photos of things as reference to draw later?
Yes I take photos of anything that inspires me including buildings settings as well as nice colour palettes. Most of my drawing come from photos.

Do you go on walks and examine things along the way?
Yes I find I get easily distracted by my surroundings especially when walking somewhere new.

Do you go down research rabbit holes?
No

Do you like to analyse and enquire?
Yes

Do you take things apart to find out how they work?
No

Do you draw things just to try and work them out?
Occasionally but not often.

Are you keen to map and understand something particular about the world?
Yes

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Here are some of my reportage pieces from last year. I really enjoyed going round and documenting what I saw in my sketch book.

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As I mentioned before I like to use my reportage as inspiration to create a clean finished piece. This is a postcard I made using my reportage as a guide.

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More reportage examples

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Example outcome of a reportage piece

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Have you always liked to make up stories, poetry or build worlds in your illustration practice?
I used to do this a lot more and I loved making up stories. But now not so much I prefer to illustrate someone else’s story as I feel like other peoples stories create a stronger sense of emotion.

Have you made or published anything already that you feel was and original idea you created?
No

Do you like the study others work so that you may then create something of your own, that is a new interpretation?
Yes I really enjoy having my own take on someone else’s story. I feel like illustrating someone else’s story from my view almost gives a whole new story or at least another perspective and allows old stories to become new again.

Do you like to make, perform, publish, put things out into the world?
Yes I like to share my work for others to see and critic so I can continue to develop my work to the best standard as well as share people’s stories.

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A piece I did about The Weeknd telling the story about his drug abuse.

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More pages from my visual recreation of Anne Frank’s diary. This project is a really good example of my fascination with bringing an old story back to life with illustration. I really enjoyed adding colour to the black and white story and giving my own interpretation of the diary itself. However, one thing that is difficult about telling someone else’s is story is that you have to be respectful especially about a sensitive subject like the Holocaust and not change the original too much which I think I succeeded in doing.

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Overall I really enjoyed the workshop despite being so critical on myself about the figures I created. I really enjoyed the idea of making these little characters that would help me on my journey. I love how simple these pieces were and how I was able to make them more complex just by giving them a meaning such a carrier of art supplies. It made me recognise that I am the one who gives meaning to my art and I can give or take away as much or as little context as I want from my own personal work.

I also really enjoyed getting other peoples perspective on the pieces I made. The feedback I received let me know that people liked the style of the figure but that I needed to make it clear what each little detail was as it was difficult to see them.

This workshop also made me realise how important the final look of my work is to me and how highly I place the decorative aspect of the work as important.

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I planned all my illustrations on procreate and decided to do a black and white series of images to imply a simple to do list. I really liked how they looked and the simplicity of them. I thought they would look good as Lino prints. During the workshop John showed us this method with foam and cardboard that creates a similar look to Lino. Since one of my hopes for my journey was to try different materials I decided to use this new method.

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I tried to different methods for this process. The first one was to draw into the foam which created an indentation where the ink would not reach resulting in negative space. I liked this method as it was quick and effective. The second method I tried was cutting out each individual part of the stamp and then sticking them onto cardboard. I didn’t like this method as much as it took longer and created a messier look. I think I struggled with this method because of the scale I was working on. I think this method would work better on a bigger scale.

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George Cruikshank was an artist during the Victorian era who’s work ranged from illustrations for books to political satire filled illustrations. The work I most enjoy is his work for the Charles Dickens books. Similarly to Charles Adams his work coveys a sense of bleakness and darkness. I love his use of line work to create shadow implying the grim nature of these stories. He also does a great job at storytelling using light to bring attention to key points. His position would also be author as he illustrates stories.

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This was my finished zine. I’m happy with the information I included as I feel that this is something we can look back on and laugh at as well as each thing being something we can all relate to. I went with the first method and I think it worked well although I made a few mistakes with letters being the wrong way for example the J being backwards. The problem with this method was once I made a mark I couldn’t take it back similarly to Lino. Also when printing the ink still caught onto parts I drew on. However I quite liked the patchy look as it implies an old book or document implying that this is something that is documented in history. I do like the overall look of the zine, if I was to redo it I would use a bigger scale as I would be able to get more detail in. I do like the method as it is a lot easier and quicker than Lino however I prefer the block colour look that Lino gives.I don’t think my work fits into the activist POD as my zine was more a story than an activist message. There were some points that could be seen as activist such as wear a face mask and use hand gel however, most of the images were just illustrating what I did during lockdown further implying that my work fits with the Author POD.

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The second task was something I enjoyed more as I was illustrating someone else’s story which is something I already enjoy doing. I like to do this as I find it fun to show my own interpretation of someone else’s story as it almost creates a whole new story. The story was about a mother and her son. Everyday her son would go to school and as they lived on a high hill and the school was on a different high hill the mother was able to see her son from home and every morning he would wave at her to let her know he had arrived at school safely. This story sounded like something out of a children’s book so I decided to make a one page spread of the son waving at his mother from school in the style of a children’s book. I really like my outcome, I wasn’t given a lot of information about what the sons journey was so I just illustrated some simple buildings andI think the overall image is definitely something you’d see in a children’s book with all the bright colours. I really enjoyed this workshop more than all the others as I enjoyed illustrating stories. This made me think maybe my position is author as it is what I enjoyed the most. However, I also liked this outcome because of the aesthetic of it and I like how it looks. This makes me think that my work may not fit into any of the PODs and maybe my work would create a new section of decorative art?

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For my final outcome I decided to make a little comic about something that happened to me. This was inspired by the around the kitchen table workshop as it was the one I enjoyed the most.

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Out of all the workshops my favourite was the around the kitchen table workshop. I decided to make a comic about one of my own experiences which is unusual for me as usually I stick to illustrating other peoples stories. I went for the idea that I don’t smile at men when walking alone. This almost also has an activist point as the reason I don’t do it is because it can be dangerous especially at night. This brings attention to a current case about a girl who was walking home from her friend's house and how she was kidnapped and killed. The satirical message I was trying to send was the ‘men suck,’  that is going around social media and the idea that men don’t deserve our smiles.  However the idea behind it is when I walk alone I won’t smile at a man as it is unsafe as they could get the wrong idea and were taught to do these things from a young age. The two PODs that relate most to this would therefore be author and activist. This is really interesting as usually I wouldn’t consider my work to be from an activist point. Therefore I see that my POD may change depending on the work I am making. Overall I do not love this piece. I am happy with the story and the illustrations but I do not like the colour scheme. Visually to me it is not as aesthetically pleasing as it could be and therefore I am not happy with it. I would’ve preferred to use a different colour palette such a pink and blue or colours that look good together. However, I chose these colours because of the message I was trying to send such as the red for danger and anger. This brings me back to the idea that the work I want to make doesn’t fit comfortably with any of the pods as the work I am most proud of is the work that I can see as decorative or that I generally find aesthetically pleasing. Therefore although part of my work could relate to all the PODs I don’t not think the work that I want to make fits in with any of the PODs and I need a new POD of decorator or something along the lines of work that I find visually pleasing.

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Knudde, K. and Schuddeboom, B. (1970). Lambiek.net. [online] lambiek.net. Available at: https://www.lambiek.net/artists/a/addams_charles.htm.

Mankoff, R. (2010). Charles Addams and the Dark Side of Humor. [online] www.newyorker.com. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/bob-mankoff/charles-addams/ [Accessed 26 Apr. 2021].

Perdue, D.A. (1997). Charles Dickens Illustrations for Oliver Twist. [online] m.charlesdickenspage.com. Available at: https://m.charlesdickenspage.com/illustrations-twist.html [Accessed 26 Apr. 2021].

Reed, W. (2018). George Cruikshank - Illustration History. [online] www.illustrationhistory.org. Available at: https://www.illustrationhistory.org/artists/george-cruikshank.

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