When it comes to illustrating, whether it be a book or for other objects, I want it to be clear to the viewer what it is all about. The general themes of my work are rough and raw. I use pen on paper more when it comes to illustrating because it is easier to get ideas down and expand on them wherever I am. I do use Adobe Illustrator do to do some illustrations for different situations, but I feel that my illustrations with pen/pencil on paper creates the raw sort of look that I am going for. It makes the drawings more charming and real in my eyes.
As I continue doing illustrations, I would like to continue a more themed aspect in my illustrations. Since my work usually has a textural element, I would like to explore that more in the future. Something I could keep working at is using more shading in some areas of my work to create depth and a sense of realism. It is easier for me to create more detail with black and white illustrations, so as an illustrator I could push myself to get that kind of outcome with Gouache and not just pen and paper.
Expanding different mediums is a major goal as I move forward. Over the last couple of weeks, I have been using Gouache for the first time and it is something I never used before. The process it took to get comfortable with it through experimentation was very interesting and enjoyable. It did have it’s difficult moments, but that is just a part of trying new mediums and getting used to them. Overall, I think I grasped a better understanding of Gouache, but still need to keep working with it. For me, I thought that Gouache was on the more difficult side to work with and that encourages me to keep working with it in the future and experimenting ways in which I can get a good final outcome for illustrations. I think experimenting with different techniques and styles is very important being an illustrator, and that will keep me headed in the right direction to expanding my skills and adapting my personal drawing style.
