Meet the Artist
For this assignment, we had to draw our own Meet the Artist, which is an illustrated passport of yourself. It shows who you are, what you're interested in and what defies you as an artist and individual.
Personal Goals
My goals for this project were to create something new and different from what I've drawn in the past. I wanted to experiment with new styles because I wasn't happy with my current style yet, and it was also important for me to create something different than the Meet the Artist illustration I already drew in year 1, and not just a copy of it.
Moodboard
For my moodboard, I mostly focused on styles I liked, the layout of the Meet the Artist illustrations I liked and later on, the poses I wanted to experiment with.
Gathering Information
To figure out what exactly I wanted to put in my Meet the Artist illustration, I wrote down all my basic information, likes & dislikes and items that I always carry with me. I also made a list of ideas for the face of my character, because I struggle with drawing faces, and last year I just smudged some black paint over the face. I still wanted to hide the face of my character, to show the part of me that deals with depression and feels like a background-character instead of the main character of my own story.
Sketches
I used references from my moodboard and pictures I found on Instagram. I also took my own reference pictures for new poses, since that was feedback my teacher gave me, and it helped me pick out the final pose.
Digital Sketches
I chose my final pose & outfit, so I started drawing my character. I like this style way better, because the lines are messy, I used a textured brush to give it that 'sketchy' feeling and there are way more little details than in my previous style.
After that, I sketched out some ideas for the layout. I didn't just want to put the text in boxes, so I tried out different ways to incorporate the text into the illustration in a fun way. For the final layout design, I picked out ideas from all 3 sketches and put them into 1 final sketch.
Finalising the illustration
First off, I finished drawing my character. I gave her dark, dull colors to match my personality or mood, because I'm quite a depressive person.
I then also drew the most important items that define me best. The scarf is a Hufflepuff scarf, because I love Harry Potter. I drew my Nintendo Switch because I love gaming, especially the game Pokémon, that's why I also drew Pokéballs. I drew my headphones, because music is incredibly important in my life. And then my pencil case and bag, because I carry these things with me everywhere I go, and they contain all the important things I need in my life.
I wasn't quite sure what colors to use for my layout, but I ended up with black & yellow, which are the house colors of Hufflepuff. I thought that'd be fitting. I used that same texture in all the boxes like the drawing of my character, to really bring all the elements together.
And then I drew in all the text, also with that same textured brush. I switched between these big, bold letters which I playfully placed on the left side and as headers on the post-it notes, and just hand-drawn letters, to keep it interesting, but also true to myself and my style.
I had some spare time left, so made some final changes and finishing touches, and this is the end result.
Evaluation & Feedback
I am very proud of this project and the final result. I love this new style I found, and I am proud of all the experimenting I did. I think the entire layout of it all is well put together, and it looks very cool.
The feedback of my teacher was very positive. He said I had this assignment under control, and you can see it in the end result. "The illustration is made with a consistent style, and the hole in the head makes you think of a deeper meaning. The process is very clear and you explain every decision you made very well. Good on you for using your own reference material."
