Visual Diagram | Beginnings

So this was me when I was starting to think more and more about my visual diagram!! Not in a good zone (pictured above).

I started by drawing some basic rough ideas out. I knew the sort of thing I wanted to encapsulate but I didn't know how. I wanted the diagram to have the flowing, natural "stepping stone" (??) feel that a mind map has, but for it to also have a faint sense of order (through lines, connections, links). But how can you make a mind map interesting?

I went off on one, drawing little symbols and pictograms that represented bigger themes and ideas. I really like this tiny girl I draw from time to time who has a fringe and tootles about. It's sort of like my witch designs, but it's me I think.

Then I sort of went off the idea. I worry that when I make these drawings, I look unskilled and like I can't draw. I also thought about collage a little bit but I put that aside for the time being.

Should I be bold, and do something expressive but simple? Or should I focus on detail and representation? Hm..

Other Stuff

Trying to make some ideas for my visual diagram but I'm worried and getting wigged out about it. I have a number of ways that I could go about depicting it but I'm not sure how.

Minimal or cluttered? Structured or flowing? Simple or detailed drawings? Aaaaagh.

What things do I like? What ways do other people do things? What do they say? I'm going to look at things to try and spur me on.

Joost Stokhof (his drawings can be found here)
Dutch illustrator who I really really like. It's the perfect balance of drawings that resemble the objects they are, but are expressive and have character. They are often accompanied by small bits of text which brings in a 'diary' sort of feeling? A kind of vague narrative.

Makiko Kudo
I've admired her paintings for a while now. I like the atmosphere and floating feeling that her artwork has. They look very intricate and detailed however up-close, you can see areas where paint has ran and dripped.

They are very dreamy and introspective and have an emotional quality somehow? This is what I like about them, as well as her depictions of the landscapes and small figures and how they aren't super realistic or accurate.

(From an interview) Q: How do you get this stuff out? A: I connect what I see and what I feel using imagination and emotions like dreams

Salvation Mountain by Leonard Knight
I'd seen this before, but learned more about it when I watched a Jarvis Cocker documentary on outsider art. What I really like about the mountain is that it was made by someone who had no artistic training, and who wanted to make it for the sake of it.

In the documentary Leonard was very humble and sweet and it really struck a chord with me as he just did this because it made him happy. I suppose I'm talking about this because I worry a lot about my drawings and work and bad feelings take all of the joy out of making for me.

When talking about his thought process for making, Leonard said

"the less I know about it, the better it turns out a lot of the time" "...and when I really think that I wanna do something my way, it falls flatter than a pancake"

Leonard and Jarvis opening some fresh paint

I plan to discuss this more in my presentation, but it feeds into my own experiences with working and approaching projects. I found Leonard to be quite inspirational and I wish I could harness his way of thinking.

Making a Note

Thinking about the visual diagram, have some threads of thoughts / influences / whatever that I need to write down before I forget.

Deerhunter concept map by Bradford! This is important because it's Bradford's interests, influences, moments in his life, memories - all coming together to make this thing that is personal and interesting and reveals small things about him. I really like this as an image too. Handmade.

I thought it was worth mentioning because I really like it, it's even on my door. I thought that if I find this interesting about someone else, maybe this type of collection of things could work for me too?

Keep things broad, think outside of illustration, think about other disciplines, subjects, themes, ideas, show inspiration from anywhere

Eleni. She is very good at making the internal (emotions, feelings, a sense of something) into a visual. This will be useful for visualising my mind map. I like Eleni's work, aesthetically and thematically. I also like the varied way in which she approaches image making. There is something to take away from this.

Michael DeForge (Forgey-boy). Keep it weird, fun, make things for yourself, be self-indulgent. Flowing shapes and lines, bold images and compositions and colours. Fun, vibrant, otherwordly.

Thinking about many things accumulating (interests, thoughts, etc) and compiling together made me think of his comic strip 'Queen'. A being from another planet walks through their version of a forest, collecting bits and pieces of plants and creatures to sculpt its appearance turning into this beautiful space lady. Weird but nice.

I need to gather my own likes things that make me happy and sculpt 'me' from them. Goodnight.

My Written Map and Crit Feedback

So it took me a while to get started on my written map. I was worrying to much about what points could go into it, and whether they'd be interesting to other people. Once I started thinking about the things I liked, and things that interest or mean a lot to me, I found it easier to just go with it.

Here is my map.

click to have a proper look

I began with pretty 'standard' points such as sketchbook, etc, but made them my own by linking them to personal thoughts or things I'd seen or found.

One of my favourite links is:

Sketchbook > play > children's drawing > uninhibited drawing > outsider art > Journeys into the Outside (Jarvis Cocker documentary)...

linking to how the outlook of outsider artists could help me to relax about my own work and output (It's about you and your interests > not about final product > what is success? > making work you enjoy)


My only criticism of it at this point is for it to be honest, personal, but not for it to end up being too personal / oversharing / ten minutes of personal hell...


The crit went so much better than I was expecting. People liked how I was so broad with the subjects within the map, talking about working, things I like, outlook, and wider perspectives on things.

They also said it was good how I made my practice, interests, and me as person sort of combine and connect in ways? Also the reflective nature of it. Cool

I very briefly looked at how I could make these thoughts into pictures. I had the idea of small pictograms / images making up a pastiche of thoughts and moments, this way it would maintain the organised chaos and flow of the mind map which is something I like.

Maybe integrate language and handwriting into this? I'll have to think about the visual diagram some more.

Written Map - Thoughts

Nous Vous


Jeremy Deller

Thinking about the written map, as this will inform my visual diagram. My written map will have to include points and links about me and my practice, and how these things run alongside one another. (creative practitioner, illustration student, human being)

Looking at the examples above, I think they broader they are in terms of their links and connections the more interesting they are! Drawing together things that seem unrelated, but in fact may have had an effect on one another.

Before actually making my map, I wanted to jot down thoughts and make notes on things I thought would be relevant content. I could later put these notes into the presentation or they could inform my written map.

Comics

 I'm writing some things down about comics because they are something I've became personally interested in, and relate to the discoveries part of my presentation.

A Body Beneath, Very Casual, First Year Healthy

Presentation | So far...

I'm just going to have a look at my notes and what slides I have generated for my presentation at this point.

Hopefully I can use these points and ideas to influence my written map, and consequentially, my visual diagram.

Just writing down basic threads of ideas that could be discussed as part of my presentation. Some may be developed, some may end up being cut from the final thing.

Draft presentation. Although it's far from finished, I thought that it would be helpful to accumulate ideas and images into a powerpoint so I could see what I had and what may need developing.

I'm feeling a bit lost with this whole thing, and I'm struggling to come up with 'successes' and 'positives' so I'm looking forward to talking through the draft with someone next week to see where I am with it.

Eventually, I want it to be more personalised and visually interesting but that's something to consider later on.