6. The colour workshop and how an art challenge has influenced my work
Making friends with hues, saturation and highlighters
I’m Libby. I’m trying to find my feet in the world of illustration. I’ve done a load of research and I’m sharing it here, along with my progress on how my illustration journey is going. I’m so glad you could join me on this bumpy ride!
Hi there!
Today I’m writing from Walthamstow in East London.
I’m looking after Kyan the cat in his lovely home with a wonderful shared garden space.
Yesterday on his adventuring, he met a young fox cub.
It was a joy to watch. Excuse the grainy photo.
I got my sketchbook out this morning and made them a little motif to remember their meeting.
That colour workshop
This month I had the pleasure of attending one of the colour tutor workshops run by Juliet Docherty, The Colour Tutor, in-person in Cambridge.
It came highly recommended by members of the Introvert Drawing Club.
Before I say more, Juliet is moving and it looks like the workshops are coming to an end. She did say, however, that if you are desperate to attend one, she may have a weekday option available but you’d need to be quick and email her.
The day was a hands-on paint-fingered introduction to colour theory.
The workshop covered the foundations with an emphasis on play and experimentation.
It was also discussion-led, challenging our preconceptions of colour and colour mixing.
As a nomad, I don’t work with paint very often so I was a little wary of whether the workshop was quite right for me at the moment.
Thankfully, the medium you use is not important.
I now understand the key principles such as hue, temperature, saturation and value and I’m able to apply colour with much more consideration.
I am now able to understand the colour wheel and sliders in digital art programs and think about how to make improvements with small adjustments.
I’m playing with the red, yellow and blue content of colours and experimenting digitally in the same way I did with the paints in the workshop.
I can understand why swatching is a good idea! Adding a little bit of one colour to another and building it up until you have many colours from just 2.
Big thanks to Juliet and all her insights. I received so many recommendations of artists to look at and books to read.
A book that was recommended which looks like a great starting point if you can’t attend a workshop was ‘Color Theory’ by Patti Mollica.
Also recommended was taking inspiration from 1960s lifestyle illustrations.
So I’ve started a Pinterest board for that!
30 days of sketch: The art challenge inspiring my work
Today is the final day of an art challenge I’ve been participating in!
It’s the first challenge I’ve done in full. It was run by The Inky Goodness Collective and had 30 prompts to explore different themes in your sketchbook.
I’m super proud of completing it but more importantly, it has helped me develop my style further.
I’m continuing to experiment but I feel like I’m beginning to find a voice that feels fun and right for me right now.
Here are my favourite illustrations from the challenge and the impact they had.
Prompt: Things that move
Takeaway: Purple is not evil! (It looks more pink in the photo) I had committed to using my Posca marker pens and I used purple by accident. Now purple has become part of my digital work too.
Prompt: Wild Birds
Takeaway: Chasing after pigeons is hard. Simple lines can create a lot of character. This one seemed to be quite popular with people who saw it on Instagram.
Prompt: Song Lyric
Takeaway: Type isn’t as scary as I thought and I like using highlighters in my work! I’m a big fan of pastel shades and these pens have now become a staple.
Prompt: Places I go
Takeaway: I like combining illustration and text like this and the image is inspiring me to think about how I could illustrate on restaurant windows.
Prompt: A room with a view
Takeaway: I really enjoy stylising people in this way. I’ve since had ideas to make illustrations showcasing businesses using this style and I’m excited about developing that project.
Prompt: Upside down (with Kyan the cat)
Takeaway: I think this kind of illustration would make for a good greetings card. I’m about to start a greetings card portfolio brief so I’m going to use this for reference.
The Conclusion
Art challenges spark my creativity.
Initially, it did feel like pressure to ‘keep up’ with the prompts each day but now I’m craving my next art challenge to continue the creative sparks.
I’ve decided to commit to Inktober for October, so I’m looking forward to that!
I made a list of all good art challenges if you are considering trying one out.
This month’s resources and what I’ve learned
Materials I’ve used
Posca pens - ‘pastel’ and ‘deep colours’
Highlighters - pastel
Fine line markers - I’ve notched up on thickness from preferring an 0.5mm to a 1 or 1.2mm
Clubs, Workshops & Tutorials I’ve attended
As part of Make Your Mark Bootcamp:
Sketch review with Ferment magazine Art Director
Working session on the above brief with illustrator Luke McConkey
Sketch review with G2, Guardian magazine Art Director
The Colour Tutor Workshop with Juliet Docherty mentioned above
Co-working with myself and Jenni!
Co-working with Holly Surplice
Co-working with Beth Spencer and Sara Dyer
Draw-along with myself and Jenni - PARTY PUPS - catch the replay here
Draw-along with Tom Froese - 3D, rotate, repeat
Draw-along with Introvert Drawing Club - restaurant scenes
Draw-along with Robyn Hepburn - exaggerated animals
Life-drawing with Draw Brighton
Talks & Events I’ve attended
AOI surface pattern design talk
As part of Make Your Mark Bootcamp:
Commercial Markets: Branding & Advertising
Branding & Advertising with Danii Pollehn
Commercial Markets: Greetings, Gifting & Licensing
Licensing for illustrators: Gifts & Greetings Market with The Bright Agency
Other things I’ve been consuming
Books:
Find your artistic voice - Lisa Congdon (Audible)
Picturebook Makers - a lovely gift from a friend that shows several children’s book illustrator’s processes
Getting Illustration Clients - Brazell & Davies - I’m part of a book club of illustrators reading this book in The Inky Goodness Collective. I’ve read 2 chapters. It seems quite high level so far but I think it’ll be helpful when I start sending my portfolio out.
Various charity shop children’s books, focusing on non-fiction.
Podcasts:
Creative Pep Talk - Andy J Pizza
3-point perspective - SVSLearn
What I’ve learned this month
Less is more when it comes to colour and mixing your own rather than buying a load of pre-mixed can create much more effective palettes.
I can be consistent and finish an art challenge!
Co-working and draw-alongs feed my practice. Jenni and I will be hosting a digital drawing co-working session on the third Tuesday of every month, so watch out for those.
What I’m excited about for the next month
Working on a load of personal illustration projects and finishing The Guardian and Ferment briefs, I can’t wait to share more on these!
Re-starting The New Illustrator portfolio briefs but this time they’ll be seasonal as opposed to monthly. Autumn will be coming your way very soon!
Preparing to reach out to art directors with my portfolio
As always, thank you for reading!
What projects have you been working on this month?
Libby
I really like the idea to make the briefs seasonal! I might be able to join in. 😁
I loved to watch your 30 daily challenge and definitely can identify characteristics of your style already!