You may have already developed ways of recording and reflecting on your own visual language and the work of others through sketchbooks, blogs or scrapbooks in which you’ve collected examples of illustrations and other visual information that catches your eye, or which you might want to refer back to at a later date.
If you haven’t already done so, start a visual diary and get into the habit of collecting visual material that might be useful as reference material or act as a stimulus for your visual thinking. A visual diary doesn’t have to be paper-based; it could be a wall in your studio on which you pin postcards and examples of work to help inform your own practice. Blogs work well as visual diaries because it’s easy to link to a wide range of material on the internet and it allows you the opportunity to share your diary and look at other people’s at the same time.
If you’ve already got a visual diary, then spend some time collecting new material and reference points for it. Reflect on your choices. Are there common threads emerging? For example, are you drawn to particular visual cultures, contexts or styles? What do you think this says about who you are as a developing illustrator?
I do not currently have a a specific visual diary, but I have often kept visual material such as illustrated adverts or witty greeting cards that have appealed to me. I have decided to begin collating these properly in a scrapbook format. I also have a pinboard which I want to re-organise with visual prompts and references. I am starting to build a collection of books, such as graphic novels and illustration reference books, which I can refer back to when I want to look at particular style/technique. Finally, if there is a particular colour scheme or style in a film or TV programme, I will screenshot this for future reference.
Generally I tend to always look up further details about illustrators/artists online, whether I find them in physical material or via the internet. I follow some of these on Instagram, so receive regular visual stimuli in my feed. I have also collated quite a range of reference material in Pinterest, which I can use as required. Additionally I have countless bookmarks saved on my browser, which I can refer back to with ease. It could be useful to have an additional page on this blog to which I could add images and links, I could then collate these all in one place.
Finally, I want to improve my use of a personal sketchbook, which must be the ultimate visual diary. I am striving to get into the routine of drawing everyday. This is partly why I am disappointed not to have enrolled on the Illustration Sketchbooks unit rather than the Graphic Design one in Level 1, as it would have embedded the importance of using a sketchbook.
From the material that I have collected so far there are definitely common threads that are evident. These include humour, cartoons, character design (human, animal and anthropomorphic) and narrative related illustrations. I think this was to be expected as these are the genres of illustration that I most enjoy creating myself and that I hope to further develop my skills in.