Water Sensitive Cambridge
(Live Brief)
Example of a rain garden from the Water Sensitive Cambridge website, linked above.
The live illustration brief is intended to familiarise us with the process of working with clients, and take us more in the direction of editorial illustration. Our brief was set by Water Sensitive Cambridge, looking to provide them with illustrations for their social media pages and any further promotional purposes. We were asked to create images which would both inform and inspire the public about the environmental issues effecting the water in Cambridge.
Water Sensitive Cambridge aim to make a positive change in Cambridge by providing solutions to the increasing problems caused by climate change, pollution and unsustainable drainage systems. We were introduced to several sustainable strategies in an in-person presentation, from which we could then think about translating into an illustration.
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'Rain gardens' are just one of the practical solutions Water Sensitive Cambridge promote in residential areas. The rainwater can be effectively diverted to where it should naturally go to prevent pollution and flooding of the River Cam. Road runoff water instead soaks into the plant life and soil of strategically placed gardens at the kerbside.
Thumbnails
In response to the presentation I wanted to get some initial ideas down, as if to introduce the subject to myself. I started with small pencil thumbnail sketches. If an idea works on a small scale, it is likely to work when scaled up, if that simplicity is retained in the later version.
Before developing these thumbnails, we each chose a more specific brief from a list of environmental benefits that Water Sensitive Cambridge were looking to promote. I selected:
'Reduce flood risk by capturing and storing rainwater, which helps to relieve pressure on drains and reduce ponding and flooding.'
'Where Does the Rain Go?'
Next, I expanded on what I considered one of the strongest thumbnail ideas. In my notes, I posited the question to myself which I aimed to answer with my illustration: 'where does the rain go?' From this small sketch, I thought there could be some strong graphic potential from using arrows as raindrops, showing where rain goes once it hits the ground.
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Water Sensitive Cambridge uses rain-gardens to reduce the negative effects on rain run-off once it hits hard, polluted surfaces. I hoped to find a way of communicating the final destinations of rain, both positive and negative, in one image.
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It's a challenge to present the problem and the solution in a single picture.
I scaled up the idea and introduced colour, which I thought could suggest much of the message about healthy solution versus flooding and polluted water.
Green is clearly understood to mean environmentally beneficial, and shows healthy plant life. Brown/grey shows how the pure 'blue' water gets muddied and spoiled when lingering on the polluted ground.
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Below is my expanded tone study of the same idea.
I ended up really liking the effect of different parts of this illustration. I thought the water was compelling, the arrows made an image I wanted to keep looking around, and the figure has an enjoyable design.
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However, that's not the point of editorial illustration. I'm losing the clarity of message here. If it was there to begin with, it's in the smaller sketches. I made the mistake of going bigger with my drawing but adding more detail, whereby the simple elegant imagery is lost. Should this picture be shrunk down to a square on a smartphone, the lines become tiny and the intention of the image is much harder to decipher.
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Less is more.
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Still, this was the idea I had furthest developed so I prepared a digitally coloured version of the tone sketch for the client to look at.
During the development of this idea, I considered a couple of other ways to show the scene.
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I sketched a version which was more zoomed out, to show alternative sides of the street, one with the greener solutions in place.
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The other explored the possible effect of light in making the positive change of rain gardens seem magical.
Assorted alternatives...
This before-and-after drawing shows a street flooded and then rejuvenated as a result of Water Sensitive Cambridge solutions. A theme of several of my sketches is the cyclist, a recognisable symbol of Cambridge culture. It's a useful device to display a happier, healthier community in harmony with nature, as we enjoy the outdoors again on our bikes. I also seem to keep using road signs in my sketches. They have an immediate clarity since we all share the knowledge of that graphic language, and here the red warning sign has a stark resonance against the grey.
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I think the idea is sound here, but I'm certain there are more efficient, appealing ways to illustrate it. What first put me off was the conundrum of how not to make this look like a simple change of weather or season, but instead the direct effect of rain gardens on the flooding problem.
A take on the same idea, showing the cyclists cut off by the flood and then enjoying the greener space free of flooding.
Continuing the variations on cyclists and road signs, following a simple graphic style.
A straightforward contrast between a flooded house and a house protected with multiple green solutions.
Whirlpool draining the flood water into a rain garden. I liked the image but the message may be unclear.
A personification of the River Cam overflowing. In case it's not obvious, the words roughly form the spine of the river's body, the head is in the centre at the top of the image and the river's fingers expand/'bleed' into the housing area. I like the image but thought it probably didn't convey what I need it to, as it's a purely negative message and portrays the river as somewhat hostile to the city.
Something completely different...
This idea came to me quite late on but quickly became my personal favourite. It keeps me motivated to make one of the options something I would choose, even if this isn't ultimately chosen by the client. It's an intense course, and it's easier to keep going when I draw stuff that feels true to myself.
As a metaphor for the effect of rain gardens, I sketched out a living plant creature, like a 'swamp thing', happily drinking in the flood water with a straw. The straw may be a surreal touch but it's difficult to find a pose showing someone obviously drinking. Overall, I believe this idea does communicate the positive effect that flood-resistant plants can have on our urban landscape by using excess rainwater.
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I like to imbue my illustration work with some sense of character, which skews the tone towards children's illustrations. There's a whimsical spirit and humour to the animation/illustration I am drawn to, and inevitably that comes out in my own sketchbooks.
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A revised illustration would show the creature lying down, more clearly in the shape of a rain garden. I would likely include in the next image the parts of the kerb cut away for an effective rain garden, where the road runoff is diverted into the soil.
In response to a suggestion from one of my tutors, I prepared an alternative creature design. The suggestion was to have just a head, with a mouth agape, taking in the water rather than using a straw. First I tried sketching a group of heads then worked on a more polished drawing of a single character.
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I think it's important to use every tool at your disposal to make a memorable image, so I'm aiming for something fun and entertaining as well as drawing attention to healthy environmental strategies.
Client feedback
Listening to client and tutor feedback was essential to knowing how effective my ideas were to fulfilling the brief. It's easy to get comfortable with an idea to the point of concentrating on the picture-making and losing the focus of the message. An outside perspective is needed to know what's actually working. This is the main difference between illustration and fine art, where there is a definite purpose to an image, and if I'm off target somehow then I need to reassess according to the client's needs.
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'Where Does The Rain Go?'
My main pitch. Although I knew it wasn't perfect, I thought the arrow pattern visuals paired with the water effect made for a strong image. Communication of the message was not clear enough though. If I revisit this, I will make sure to vastly simplify the graphic information akin to my very first thumbnail sketch. Also the water should more clearly be pulled into the foliage of the rain garden rather than a flat pool of flood water.
My main takeaways from the session discussing my ideas are as follows:
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'Before-and-After'
Although I didn't lead with this, I included it in my pitch package and it seemed to get a good response. At least it's very clear in its contrast of negative and positive change. I plan to develop this into something with more visual appeal and emphasise the specific placement of the rain gardens and planters.
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'Garden Creature'
Included in the pitch as a wildcard option. Similarly to how I was already thinking, it was apparently confusing to have the creature standing, rather than lying at ground level as the rain garden would be. Also, the alternate creature design (just heads) was thought to be interchangeable with the cartoon interpretation of germs: green and mischievous.
Each idea needs further refinement. I intend to work all three into more palatable versions, figuring this out through sketches, perhaps combining ideas.
Final illustrations
For the very last feedback session, I combined a few ideas and the result was the above working sketch, in its square and landscape format.
The contrast of the flooded street and the brighter world was the right way to go, though it took me a while to figure out how to show this clearly as one scene rather than merely a change of seasons. I tried to use the rain garden, flood sign and block of flats as an organic dividing line through the scene. The rainbow is a new addition too, though it appears in my earliest thumbnails. It helps to have the rainbow to indicate a positive after effect of rain, and it also provides a visual contrast in brilliant colour versus lifeless grey. The positioning of the rainbow draws the eye down into the rain garden and aims to communicate a hopeful pouring of life into green spaces.
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Feedback for this illustration concerned the thickness of line and the positioning of certain elements. I was intending to keep things simple which led me to using bolder line; with digital drawing it was possible to adjust parts without redrawing the whole thing. Similarly with repositioning separate pieces, I could move most sections without too much difficulty.
The final illustration. Not too different from the previous sketch, just a cleaned-up version. Next, I needed to attach the Water Sensitive Cambridge logo for promotional purposes.
Last thoughts
The live brief was a pretty quick turnover so it was difficult to refine any one idea in the time available, particularly as I didn't arrive at my best ideas until later. Although I liked the concept of my final illustrations, I feel that the visuals could have been a lot stronger, and I would like to have tried a watercolour version given the water theme. I still have a long way to go before digital drawing is a strength of mine; I don't yet feel like I have an instinct for it in the way I have established with traditional media.
Finally, here's an unused sketch, a further development of the rain garden creature idea. I think this better communicates the metaphor of a living being representing the rain garden, healthily consuming the floodwater. It makes more sense to have him lying down to properly illustrate the point.
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This is much more in my natural zone of creating comic characters, with a bit of silliness and rough texture. It's a shame it just didn't feel appropriate to the brief, but it was fun to explore in my sketchbook.