The brief consisted making 4 illustrations on the theme: brief encounters. We were supposed to find inspiration around us and to explore the area of Elephant and Castle and the school. It required to observe the environment, to be open to new ideas and to work fast. It was overall an interesting start.
On the first day of class, we were given a task: do four illustrations on the theme ‘Brief Encounters’. We had to find the encounters in different places: a free newspaper or magazine, the university library, real life around Elephant and Castle and from an online source. We may use any technique we wanted.
It seemed that the goal of this task was to teach each to be aware of our surroundings and to find inspiration with what was around us. Most of the encounters were random things happening or seen for a brief moment. For example, I surprised a conversation between two students around elephant and castle, or when in the subway, I was looking over someone shoulder while she were reading a newspaper that served as a base for my illustrations.
It was quite unusual to do, because I’m often in my own world, deep in my thought with headphones on. It forced me to leave my bubble and be attentive to what was happening around me. We can find inspiration from everything around us and it’s the ability to be observant that helps cultivate your thoughts and allows the creative process to start.
Though, I was very hesitant (and so lost a lot of time) to pick a subject because I always thought I could find something better. I was perpetually waiting for something more interesting to use, and felt my ideas were boring, but the time restraint forced me to just pick an idea and do it. It was one of the advantages of having a deadline. It forces me to stick to one idea and I stopped hesitating. Though I wish I did it earlier than the last day!
The short deadline was another challenge on top of coming with four finished illustration. It was a very short deadline to produce four finished pieces. There was no room for hesitation and we had to be efficient to deliver the final product.
It was good way to challenge myself (and even if it is not my best work at all) and to introduce us to the program.