Reflection

What have you enjoyed doing the most, or the least, and why?
I enjoy reportage. It's scary getting out there but the results are worth it. I think that live drawings have an energy and a purpose which is absent in more considered studio work. I enjoyed the plant-based drawings but I think that the project was too safe and easy, it's the sort of thing that I would do at home for fun.  The architectural project was challenging but I was pleased with the finished piece.

It has punch but it's not a proper reportage illustration.
The supermarket and fashion and event drawings were challenging and I need more practice. I tend to panic and scribble, there's a balance between the energy that this creates and a lack of concentration which makes me waste time with unnecessary lines. The journey drawings were a better mix between considered pieces and more spontaneous reaction to the environment around me.
Which pieces of work do you feel have been your most successful and why?
Fulfilling the reportage brief I think that my most successful drawing was this:

It's not the best drawing but it has a sense of the event. It's busy, there is a chaos of people and a contrast between the stewards, the crowds on fancy dress and the cafe owner adjusting his window. It's also simple in terms of colour, I either do monochrome drawings or I throw too much colour at them but I've been a bit more restrained here.
Have these exercises helped you to think about things in new ways or try out new ways of working? What have they been and how has your viewpoint changed?
I want to do more reportage work, I find it exciting to document an event that I'm part of, but challenging to step out of it enough to draw. These exercises have encouraged me to let go a bit and when that works it makes for more interesting results. I need to make more drawings, like a photographer with a motor drive, because that gives me a better chance of capturing the best bits. I need to save my editing for after the event because it is only then, when the activity is over, that I can see what is interesting and representative. Adding colour at home when I'm less frenzied, stops me from overdoing it and allows me to be more creative in how I present the drawing.
If there’s one area you would like to develop further, what is it?
Reportage. But I need to learn to concentrate more and forget myself.