Research task 4:1 Top ten Visual Diaries

I’m not going to lie, I normally find it better for me to research one or two artist/illustrators at one time.
I can have an information overload quite easily, as I do like to really learn and research in depth, plus I also need to get better at expanding upon my thoughts more.

As I started to explore this task, I firstly wanted to create my own mini list so I started to go though my books.
*Thinking Visually for Illustrators by Mark Wigan
*Sketchbooks – The hidden art of designers, illustrators & Creatives by Richard Brereton
*Illustration – A Theoretical & Contextual Perspective – by Alan Male
I didn’t find much to help, but was a great refresher for the up and coming exercises, I have bookmarked some pages with narrative research.
I was a bit wary to keep relying too much on pinterest, google and skillshare for main part of my research, I know during Covid-19 it is a must.

I checked out http://www.1000journals.com, I did enjoy looking though the pages, however none really spoke to me in the way I’m inspired at them moment. I wanted illustrators like Mimi Chao and Myfanwy Tristram (both whom which I covered in the task before – so wasn’t keen to “repeat”)

I started the list (and added a couple of my own)

What am I after? I’m after what Marilyn Frasca called “being present and seeing what’s there.”

Lynda Barry – Maria Popova – Brainpickings – 2014

Lynda Barry
An American Cartoonist, Author and teacher
Believe in hand written elements.

I have got Lynda Barry’s book “SYLLABUS“.
The book is made like a journal/diary, it would be easy to forget this is a book and not picked up someone’s personal journal.
From this book it kind of guides you into creating your own visual diary in one of the most fun, childlike innocent way. It is almost like viewing the world again from my my inner child eyes….

Youtube
( https://youtu.be/2CfmeTPQHLE )
There is something about Lydia insight that is freeing as a terms of visual journal, her childlike nature grows upon me and I find myself in this new state of wonder by keeping a diary.

What I’ve learnt from my studies of Lydia Berry.
Use everyday paper, from lined to sticky notes.
She uses humour in everyday, her random thoughts and ideas.
She writes as well as “doodles”
She made a career based upon her visual diaries as a form of comic.

I found myself most fascinated by Lydia Berry, I found my study around her was a moment I started to “see” things differently, I started to feel the desire to have fun with it and give myself a silly class name!

Jean Jullien
https://www.jeanjullien.com/
Graphic Artist (Paris)
Painting, illustrations, Photography – Vast body of work

After searching around, finding many new illustrators of interest, I came across this little gem of a visual Artist. (He would have been perfect find for part two of the sketchbook unit)
That being said I was drawn to his visual diary first.

One word that comes to mind with Jean Jullien’s work and that is FUN!
The layout, randomness, colours, text is likely the most along the lines of my kind of thing.

I like the fact also some of his diaries feel like he also got lost in the moment “doodling” something I can do easily.

The layout format is something not too far away from my own.

Austin Kleon
https://austinkleon.com/2018/09/05/inspiring-diaries/
Author of – Steal like an artist.
Son also at age 5 keeps a visual Diary

While this is meant to be more about the “sketchbook” and “Visual Diary” I really like who Austin Kleon is a person and his mindset to keeping a visual diary.

Again another I can relate in terms of Randomness.

I like the hand written “thoughts” it seems to add more randomness if possible to his diary, it is like a creative brain on paper!

Lizzy Stewart,
http://www.abouttoday.co.uk/Travel-Diaries
Based in London, Illustrator and Author.
Children books, Comics and Zines.

Her sketches tend to be individual with text
I looks like a a sketchbook with notes that she like to make.
Tend to make quick sketches inn her diary then make a diary illustrated piece after.
She tends to carry the same humour in her diaries into her work.

Very colourful and seem fairly quick study sketches.

Quite neat and organised.

Studies both places and the people. (building of places she visits and food.) I like her little notes, tell a story without too much details and information overload.

Nicky Nargesian
http://www.nickynargesian.com/Site/Nicky_Nargesian.html

Nicky is the diary that I would say feels most like a visual diary, the work seems like a comic of. Sadly at the moment it seems Nicky website is down, and my searches I find are of fellow students work.
So my research is purely visual and images, this being said I was keen to include as this would have been the one before all this research been the one that ticked what I was under the impression a visual diary was, now I have a boarder outlook and have been able to gain a wider influence via this research task.

Marina Grechanik
http://marinagrechanik.blogspot.com/
Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Painter.

Bryce Wymer
https://www.brycewymer.com/
American Visual artist.
(Social Progression)

I really love how Bryce Wymer has displayed his sketchbook on his website, like a piece of artwork it self, each one looks personal and like it tells a story.
https://www.aflatearth.com/new-index-1

His books feel like a journal and sometimes just uses an actual diary. (maybe I could sketch inside mine as well in 2021 – after all makes sense as I crazy this most of the time.)

Pep Carrio
https://www.instagram.com/pepcarrio/?hl=en
Postwar artist (B-1963)
Exhibitions – Think with your Hands
Illustrated Journals – https://www.mutualart.com/Exhibition/Think-With-Your-Hands/89E0AC5CFF89E05C

Rose Blake
https://www.iamroseblake.com/
Illustrator and Artist (wide range of clients and areas)

What I’ve leant from my study of Rose Blake
She used Notepad like journals and simple one figure/object drawings
Mostly figures – no hard lines and explores colours
You can see she is creating content for books and illustrations from things around her.
No words, but the random of some of these can see she is seeing and drawing what is around her.
I can see a clear connection from her sketchbook to her professional finished work.

Lastly and a bit of a honourable one
Luke Healy
http://www.tcj.com/luke-healy-day-one/
Luke Healy visual diaries are digital, very simple yet they completely make me feel.
I found Luke Healy due to my tutor sending me a link to an article to read and I was moved (Couldn’t forget his work.)
I like how he words things, just simple and you get the point completely.

I think in my own visual diary and my illustrations I want to make people feel!

I also came across Bobby Baker, I found online searching the UCA library. What interested me with “baker” is the reason she started her visual diary, in 1997 when she was diagnosed with a mental illness. For 11 years over a series of drawings and watercolours followed her as she came to terms with this.

Just the title alone is a powerful inspiration. The fact she keep people she loved and knew her in the dark as well, you can feel her outlet is in her drawings.
This is something I can relate to myself.

Away from using humour like many others, she shows the anger, confusion, raw emotions of her illness.
More so as her personity is said to be very funny and yet you see this reality of how she felt during that time. No words.

Diary Drawings captures not only “the relentless doubleness of mental illness”-hiding behind masks and angrily striking out-but performs, in drawings as on stage, a character who “is herself ” doubling the situation of the actor

Bobby (89)
VISUAL DIARY AS PROSTHETIC PRACTICE IN BOBBY BAKER’S DIARY DRAWINGS
Watson, Julia. Biography; Honolulu Vol. 35, Iss. 1,  (Winter 2012): 21-44,270.

My Sketchbook work.

Firstly wanted to explore styles and layouts inspired by most of the artist I’ve researched.
Then I moved on to a couple of pages exploring both the emotion and layout via creating a page. (Gluing lined paper, oil pastel and Goauche)

This task was great to take my mind of things, I have an operation next week and needed something to really get my teeth into and inspired by.
I didn’t cover all the list, some wasn’t “me” at all and I couldn’t see myself going down them routes for my own.
That not to say I didn’t value their work, in fact Oliver Jeffers, Joohee Yoon and Rachel Gannon work inspired me in other ways and been added to a list of illustrators of interest.

One thing I’ve learn it that visual diaries are unique to yourself, they have to come from you. Studying these illustrators if anything have given me a good starting point, also made me ask myself “what do I want from my own visual diaries?”

The answer it simple a narrative for myself Or I could word more suitable for myself and say “to find a voice for myself”.
I also want to play more, explore more and just sometimes have fun!

You will find some of the objectives of the research in a couple of these artist notes above, but I started to go a bit in my own direction, my own thoughts into each visual diary method.
I wanted to “study” more and deeper than just ticking the boxes, which is hard when have more than one or two artist to study at once.

Just as I was about to finished this research task I found myself watching another skillshare class, which was by Kate McMahon titled “Creative journal Comics: Drawing your life.” While most of the class ended up being about “drawing skills” she did give me some food for thought upon finished this and changed my outlook on my own visual diary a little. She says that your own visual “comic” does not have to be always funny, you can do the bad as well as the good days, also even if you think your life is boring, by drawing your perception of the event can change. I agree with this, while in lock down and shielding, each day feels the same, in that senstance alone I could do a visual diary like ground hog day, but not staying the same, dates are actually moving forward.

My personal Sketchbook Work
This is a little all over the place, as I was trying to find my own feet and ways to express myself all whilst being inspired by many artists at once.

One thing I didn’t want to create a visual diary for the state of it, it is now about me expressing myself and being myself. I’m treating as if I would be the only person reading and viewing, at times it got a little personal, but this needed to happen so that I can move forward in expressing myself and learning to use my “voice”.
I needed to let go of some past hurt and that “blocking” or “holding” me back.

I started with a simple visual pen drawing of my day (that ended up in a sketch of a mouse)
At the time was doing a course on Domestika.

I was trying to express some inner thoughts and feeling I’m feeling these days.
The whole “mask” situation during “covid-19” is stirring up some feeling of times people make it hard for me to join in and lip read them.
This led into the next page…

Putting my thoughts in words and images.
Something quite personal, it was for myself and it was a moment I could close the book on this and move on.
If was a title for this page spread it would be titled “Dear my bullies”.

The following days thoughts turned positive.
Letting go of things in the unit as started me being friends with myself.

Guess could say it is Art therapy via visual diaries!

But why did I stop in the first place…

Time to start using my voice…
So started to work out what I wanted to say. (With an added doodle left)

Links (credits, resources and references)
https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/12/02/lynda-barry-syllabus-book/