MY FIRST WORKSHOP AND EVERYTHING I LEARNT

I’ve been an illustrator for over 6 years, and up until fairly recently this meant containing myself into fairly limited parameters, but following the development and expansion of my practice, especially in more recent months at Scunthorpe Studio School, where I created as not just an illustrator, but also an animator, muralist, and workshop facilitator; I’m now feeling more flexible and varied in terms of my creative capabilities, and depending on the situation, I’ll often introduce myself under the broader umbrella term of an artist instead!

After hosting my first workshop, I’m obviously by no means an expert, but I do feel far more equip to run more in the future. - Some of my key takeaways from the learning and research in the lead up to my first workshop are:

  • Include a schedule along with objectives and outcomes, participants love to know what they are doing and when. Be sure to have at least a 5 minute break so guests can regulate.

  • A workshop is likely to be more impactful if they are leaving with something tangible.

  • Add a short survey or questionnaire at the end to get feedback, this will be greatly beneficial to improving your services.

Providing this information can be done either through a print-out or digitally using a slideshow of some sort. Because of the nature of my workflow being largely digital, I opted for slides. I kept the writing fairly minimal, as no one likes reading off a screen, and also included animation examples to aid engagement, but the majority of the workshop was far more hands-on, and the slides just acted as an introduction and guide.

The turnout for the workshop was unfortunately less than I’d expected and planned for, however, I can confidently say I made it work as I received really positive feedback from all the participants, including 100% saying they would recommend this workshop to a friend, 10 out of 10 on the enjoyment scale, and quotes such as “Such a great time where you learn a lot and have fun. The tutor is so helpful and friendly too.”

Below shows the mixed media outcomes from both groups!

JOY IN THE JOURNEY

I've always preferred a collection rather than a one off piece, so it’s no surprise that I translated this same attitude towards my first animations too, and after collating my 4 animations all together, I’m SO pleased with them!

I had quite a few ideas in mind when developing this collection, it all started with the RV we rented for our American road trip. Which was the first animation of the collection that I made. I wanted the RV to remain the centre point but for the background to change, to encapsulate our journey through the very different environments we travelled through as we crossed states, which I still think would be really fun! But unfortunately I couldn’t make this fit into the expectations from the Scunthorpe Studio School opportunity, which was for our work to fit into the theme of ‘place’, specifically North Lincolnshire (as we were funded by North Lincolnshire Council). So I switched up my idea instead, to a story that guides the audience through all the vehicles that lead to me getting my van, and subsequently enabling me to facilitate travelling to Scunthorpe in order to take part in the studio opportunity! The idea then shifted once more to limit it to just 4 animations, and that each of these animations would represent one of the four seasons. This was partially down to time restraints, but also as I thought more about what it was that I was trying to say within my work, and how it would look as a final outcome.

I decided I wanted the collection to encapsulate my personal narrative of emotional recovery achieved through various road trips, as this also eventually lead to me taking the plunge and buying my van, which brought me to Scunthorpe where I was able to re-enter my artistic practice following an incredibly challenging year of adverse personal challenges and ADHD burnout.

Throughout my healing journey, I also reignited my love for reading, I read books in order to slow down, and got through a load of audio books on my long drives. I read both fiction and non-fiction books that I feel shaped me, which I hope to go into more detail about at some point, but one in particular was Wintering by Katharine May. A perspective-shifting memoir that teaches us to draw from the healing powers of the natural world and to embrace the winters of our own lives. This resignated with me a lot, so I decided I wanted each of the animations to represent one of the 4 seasons, hinting at the slow and cyclical nature of healing.

To try and embed this theme within my project, I decided to also make bookmarks of each of the scenes too, they aren’t the highest quality, but a free and engaging addition!

I’ve now made a page for this project on my portfolio, it still needs a little work, but it’s great to see it coming together, it also finally has a name… Joy in the Journey!

SUZIE

I proudly present to you, Suzie, the car that changed everything 🚗❤️

This is my 3rd animation from my first animation collection. By this point I've got the basics of the backgrounds and wheels down pretty smoothly, so thankfully this didn't take too long, but I added an extra component of rain to liven it up a bit and set the mood, which thankfully wasn't too hard either but I think really makes a difference. Once again, I’m really happy with how this one came out!

Some of you may recognise this scene, set on my old road in Bristol, Bedminster, where the story that I’ll be sharing soon, all began. 📚☔️🏠