Illustration and Communication

 Proposition; what am I trying to say My proposition for the editorial illustration is to bring awareness to a person's mental health while dealing with bereavement during a Pandemic. My illustrations are a way to make the subject of 'Loss', for young people especially, less taboo and making more people aware that it's okay to feel sadness while still celebrating the impact that loved one had on your life. Statistics surrounding child/teenager bereavement 1 in 29 5-16 year olds has been bereaved of a parent or sibling - that's a child in every average class. A parent of children under 18 dies every 22 minutes in the UK; around 23,600 a year. This equates to around 111 children being bereaved of a parent every day. 6% of British adults believe it’s never appropriate to talk to children of any age about death. Nearly half (48%) of British adults agree that topics on death and dying should be taught as part of the compulsory primary school syllabus. More than 1 in 5 (2...

This is drawing is inspired from a number of articles that mention the way bereavement hits likes waves. The way that memories hit you out of no where and you have no control. I think that this illustration could be a good spot illustrations in the article. This could show how no matter what you will always be reminded of the loved one. However, I think I maybe add a few more things to show the audience this is showing how it feels when you are reminded of pleasant or unpleasant memories of the person you have recently lost. I like how this drawing the waves have a gradient to them from the use of watercolour, but I think I could ad more detail to the person.  This illustration is inspired by losing someone through lockdown and how it feels like you're in your own bubble and can't get help. This was a quick illustration so I didn't try to make the people detailed I just wanted to show the concept people trapped in their own bubbles, their own minds and having themselves as ...

  The first drawing on this page is of a bridge in Hanley park. I drew this with continuous line and then when I finished I added parts of lilac to create depth, this is definitely the most successful illustration on this page however I think I could make it better by using different fine-liner colours to add to it, similar to what Lyndon Hayes is known for. I also think the bottom right illustration is successful too. This started off as a blind contour but as the couple walked away I turned it into a continuous line drawing I think it really represents what the couple were like; very close together, almost hugging.  For this page I think the most successful illustration is the lamppost in the top left corner mainly because I think the purple and pink highlighter really give it dimension. I also enjoyed drawing people on bikes as it was hard to do but came out with interesting outcomes. Another interesting outcome was the blind contours of people standing in the park.

  For this illustration, I wanted to show boxes filled with memorabilia surrounding the loved one. I wanted to draw something that showed a person boxing up all of the things that reminded that person of the emotional trauma. Instead of hiding things, it is known to professionals that you're meant to celebrate something and open up. Developing this sketch further I will make it more positive. Maybe label the box with memories and the flaps open and confetti and items. This would be to show someone opening up about their feelings and finding joy our of memories shared with the loved one.  For this drawing I wanted to represent the feeling of being alone.  I thought I would use a personal experience for this quick illustration. I used to see my dad's slippers on the stairs daily not being used. They stayed in the same spot next to my mums. I thought it would be interesting to show this is a way to show this is in the form of to pairs of slippers, one with a person and the o...

Dannie was my model for this experiment. I really wanted to show the different times in Dannie’s hair by using different pages from magazines. I think this turned out very nicely and I think the features are simplistic but still represent a face. I like how the turquoise and the reds, yellows and oranges really contrast each other and pop in the image. I wanted to use text as Dannie’s skin mainly to bring the most attention to the hair, eyelashes, nose and lips. I added a few freckles on her face just to make it even more similar to Dannie’s face.  Overall, I really enjoyed doing this and I think the outcome is definitely what I wanted it to be.  

For these continuous line drawings, I definitely could improve them by not using as much detail. For this task less is definitely more and if I just did the outlines of the faces I definitely think I could improve it massively. For these blind contour drawings, I definitely think these have a lot more life and are more fun to look at than the ones I was looking at while drawing. I like the use of colours for the some of these portraits too and it makes the features of the face stand out a lot.  

 For this task, we choose to represent each person on zoom as an animal to match our personality. For Mica I wanted to make her a tiger to show that she’s smart, caring but also fierce. I thought it would be an interesting part of the illustration to have the two felines playing catch with a ball of wool. For Charl, I drew her as a penguin because of how much she loves them, this is similar to Dannie with the giraffe. However, I thought the giraffe having spots were similar to Dannie’s freckles. Pippa loves cats so I couldn’t imagine drawing her as anything else.  Overall I think this drawing is playful but could definitely be refined, especially the cat drawing of Pippa. 

For these initial ideas I think that the most successful drawings are either the “talk to someone” or the women sitting alone on the sofa. I think out of these two the main illustration could be sitting on the sofa. I could definitely expend on this idea and make the background interesting, maybe infill it with boxes filled with old items of clothing or the women holding a jumper from the loved one. I could definitely create a more hopeful atmosphere too. Maybe have the women smiling while remembering the past. I decided to experiment with my idea for a spot illustration. I like the colours used and the simple message above the phone how I think the font needs to look similar to a text on the phone. I attempted to make the blue circle 3D, similar to a message icon however, I think instead of using cross hatching I need to make the highlights look like the surface is shiny.

 Dealing with Loss- during lockdown  Source- Bernados website Rebuilding and reimagining their life without a loved one isn’t an overnight process.  May not have closure or comforting company of friends and family  Ways to deal with it Stay connected - although being in lockdown or having to isolate from loved ones can be lonely, calling someone or texting someone daily can help improve your mental health massively Get exercise- go outside, take a walk everyday, find a new hobby  Help others struggling- sending flowers, messaging them, helping each other by grieving together- You’re not alone! Talk to a councillor- sometimes it’s easier to talk to a stranger, someone who’s not associated with the situation, someone who can see another perspective  Some psychologists have moved away from the idea of “letting go” and have changed it to “continuing bonds”. This means that some people who keep a connection with the deceased becomes a health part of life after l...