Critique Feedback

The feedback I recieved from my critique in the IOT unit was overall very positive. The work I had to show was mostly from before I had the 'Gardening on a Showstring' book, so it was not directly related but was more experimentation with drawing mediums and styles with plant life as the subject.

Vincent was very happy with the style of work I was working towards, which was watercolour and pencil based, and he was impressed that I had begun to create infographics, as this showed my understanding of my subject.

I was encouraged to work larger.  My current sketchbook for the project is A5 size and I was told my final drawings would be better off if drawn lager and scaled down, rather than scaled up. I was also encouraged to create roughs before preparing my final designs.

It was also suggested that I play around a bit more with my chosen mediums, watercolour, pencil and ink pencil, and to then focus on the one I think is mot successful, which was suggested to be the combination of watercolour and pencil.

'Succulent Story' Infographic

After illustrating infographics relating to how to grow succulents using cuttings, I decided to take it a step further and create a very decorative infographic showing the process. This was inspired by a post I saw on Pinterest.

I started out drawing a circle, and then filling it in with simplified pencil illustrations of the succulents and cuttings, in a way so the story flows from the lower left to upper right.

I then tidied up the line work and scanned it, and began colouring the pattern on adobe Photoshop. I took great care to stay inside the lines and tried to use realistic colours. 

This is the final illustration with the line work overlaid.

This is the finished infographic, I really like how simple and yet detailed it looks. This could work very well for the cover of the book.

Sketchbook Work

As the book which I will be illustrating took a little while to arrive, I began experimenting with mediums and subjects in my sketchbook.

I began drawing succulents with copic markers and ink pens. I really like the colours created by the markers, they are bright and vibrant and would look excellent in a book. I also played around with the addition of decorative text and titles, and I really like how this looks with the illustration. However I do not think this is suitable for a gardening guide book.

Decorative 'Echeveria Bluebird' Illustration

'Graptoveria Royal Flush' Infographic

As I have been growing plants using cuttings (a topic covered in the book) I decided to do some illustrations relating to this process. I started out with a small watercolour and pencil illustration of some succulent leaves in a line, showing how the cuttings look before they are grown. I went on to create an infographic with text explaining the process. I really like how these illustrations look, I think they would be very suitable for the book.

I also had a play around with simple styled plants in pots using ink pencils and ink pens. These are not as suited to the type of book I am illustrating but I think they are very eye-catching and might work for a cover design.

IOT Starting Out

I began this project a little later than everyone else due to a surprise holiday to celebrate my 21st birthday.

When I received the brief, I felt conflicted as to which sector to choose. I was either going to pick the Children's book option or the Non-fiction option. As I have done a lot of children's book work in the past, I decided to try a different option and go with the non-fiction option. This involves illustrating a gardening book by Alex Mitchell called 'Gardening on a Shoestring'. 

This option appealed to me as I have gotten into gardening over summer, I have been helping my mum grow vegetables as well as growing my own succulents from cuttings. I also illustrated plants in my summer project sketchbook. 

I am very excited to see where this project takes me!