Christopher Delorenzo - Diagram & Shape

This diagram of an Old Fashioned by Dolorenzo really attracted me in it's abstractness, texture and also simplicity in form. The shapes used are very basic, but the composition and layering and use of texture are what really make this a lovely illustration. Each ingredient/element is paired down to it's most basic visual structure, or even distorted and characterised further than this to fit with the composition and aesthetic. These are then laid out together as a kind of explosion diagram, textures used to show overlapping and distinction of each, and also subtle but clean captions/titles for each element added for explanation.

I feel like a similar approach could work with the power station stories, each element taken apart and laid out together whilst in their simplest forms, using textures and shapes to show form and relationship. Little parts of quotes could be added also to tell each story.

Visual Narratives - Initial Images, Zine

I started off struggling with the making of this zine, trying too hard to realise images in a more or less final state, or at least as roughs for my final book. But I totally missed the point of keeping it broad at this early stage of the project, and to just respond to my research visually in any interesting and relevant way. When I started doing this, I ended up with some exciting and interesting outcomes.

I wanted to play around with mixed media and collage, to try and tell a story with different methods than just drawing. I find it all too easy to just go straight to making lines and forms with my pen and my plan was to push away from that, or at least start off with a different technique before reaching for the fine-liners.

A mixture of techniques resulted in a mixture of quality and success.

'It's cool, but not very you', was one of the best responses I got regarding the second to last page; the perfect response I was looking for! I hope to hear that more often. 

I like the idea of layering techniques and imagery to try and piece together the idea of a place and a story, reflecting the complexity and the many sides to one story or issue. It also creates a more dynamic image, whereas no matter how much shading is present on the brush pen drawing, it still remains quite flat and very predictable.

Visual Narratives - Tutorial Feedback, Looking Forward

The feedback I received in the group tutorial pretty much reaffirmed what how I was feeling and what I was thinking about this project so far; there is a story there, there is a lot of potential and there are possible directions to take what I have so far, but it's just a matter of piecing together the elements and creating the missing links between what I have gathered. Making sense of everything and finding the story is something I feel like I am almost there with but just maybe not so much how to tell that visually.

THE CONCEPT/STORY:

So what I have come to, with the help of my feedback, is that the most interesting direction is about the people and the place; in this case Ferrybridge and it's residents. It is not so much about pointing the finger and blaming an issue on something, not about presenting political views or opinions, and not really about the issue itself which I was originally pursuing; it's more about the people, than the problem. This is a story about how a wider, more complex issue effects a group of people in one area. It's an intimate and personal exploration of this place.

LOOKING FORWARD:

What actions to take now and how to step towards creating the start of a response to this story is the next challenge to overcome, and not one I believe I'm going to find particularly easy. I want to create something touching and informative and most of all interesting, to do the residents and their stories justice, as well as pushing my story telling and image making abilities and ultimately the visual work I produce.

The next steps:

Revisit Ferrybridge - I need some more stories, some more personal views and opinions and more subjects to work from and about. I only collected one conversation from my last visit and I truly believe I only barely scratched the surface of the wealth of material in that village.

Image Making - This is the part I really want to push and really try my hardest in. I need an engaging but different way of telling this story to how I usually would. How to do this, and what to try out to discover this is something I need to consider further. I've had a few ideas, and a few popped up in tutorials; - Not just drawing, but collage, photographs, words etc in conjunction with drawing, - Test out different print techniques, - Playing with a diagrammatic aesthetic, similar to that of the map I found, - Try a concertina layout.

I think maybe a more abstract approach could be an interesting way to tell an story, one which is not immediately obvious but more a collection of personal motifs, relevant imagery, quotes, stories, symbols and ephemera but all related and important, tessellated on the pages, maybe.

I just need to start.

Visual Narratives Field Trip - Struck gold among the coal

Everything seemed to fall into place the second day of field tripping, in the end. I got the train out to Ferrybridge Power Station, with it being the closest one to Leeds and close to Kellingley Coal Mine, so I hoped I would be able to visit them both in a day. Despite not actually managing to make it to the mine, my day in Ferrybridge was invaluable!

At first I had absolutely no luck with having conversations with people. None of the site offices at the actual power station would comment without an appointment and didn't seem very enthusiastic to help me out. After gathering some photos up close I headed for lunch in the village, grabbing a coffee in the local pub, where the owner also wouldn't comment due to not being actually from the area. More fruitless searching in the local businesses, newsagents, cafes and a print shop, all basically pointing me to each other, leading to dead ends and no conversations. I got the impression that it was an important topic to the local people and was close to the hearts of some of them, but I think for this reason they were biting their tongues.

Finally, as I was debating whether I would get anything out of the village, I was sent to the local hairdressers, who apparently have been there for years and who's clients are a large proportion of contractors from the station. Willing to try one last time I reluctantly headed there, and hit a jackpot.

At first, as always, they seemed slightly taken aback by my proposal but in the end the owner agreed to sit down with me and quickly relaxed to the idea of discussing the topic and ended up having the best conversation I have had so far. She was very lovely and had strong opinions on the closure of the site, sharing personal stories of the impact its had on her business, the attachment the locals have to the station and the chimneys, and her personal views on the subject. It was so helpful and rich in source material, I came away feeling like I had really got some valuable material to work from, as well as having the opportunity to turn up to a random town in Yorkshire and be very welcomed and befriended by 4 ladies in a hairdressers.

To top this off, I had picked up a map off the floor in the morning and didn't really think much of it, but it caught my eye so I stuffed it in my pocket as a potential piece of ephemera. Turns out it is a site map of the new multi-fuel project being built on the site, with contractors notes and highlights on it. Couldn't have been more perfect and just such a lucky situation to walk past that and find something I would never have gotten by any other means.

Friday was testament to the power of trusting that if you put yourself out there, if you turn over as many stones as possible, if you don't give up or settle for what you have already got, then the world gives back. Things fall into place, but not into your lap. You have to do your bit, and then things fall into the places you put yourself, the places you actively search and make an effort with.

Visual Narratives Field Trip - MASSIVE learning curve

Despite expecting to be back home at around 4-5 just as it goes dark, I am sat here typing at 2:40 having got home around 45 minutes ago. Needless to say, today's field trip was a mix of very good, and well, not so very good. 

Basically, I didn't make it to Drax Power Station, or Eggborough Power Station, or Kellingley Coal Mines...or even Ferry Bridge Power Station, the first stop planned on my consumption tour of Yorkshire. I made it about 12 miles away from my starting point, not even half the way to Drax. I ticked none of my pilgrimage destinations on my list, and in that respect, today was a failed mission. 

So, what went wrong:

• Destinations - The places I wanted to visit were simply just too far away to reach via my chosen mode of transport in the time I had given myself. Maybe if I had made a concerted effort I could have visited them all, but that would have been without time on the way to create or observe or record what was happening. That would also not have been taking into account having to cycle all the way back either. 
• Time - With the winter in full swing, there just isn't enough day light hours in a day to fulfil the trip I had planned. Well, at least that was a big concern on my mind the whole journey. The sun started dropping at around 12:00 when I was in the middle of a random field in what felt like the middle of nowhere and miles away from Leed city centre. I was very conscious of having to get back before dark and didn't fancy trying to navigate my way back with no daylight to aid me. 
• Transport - Don't get me wrong, I love my bike. Fixed gear bikes are great for commuting and training and bombing round the city, but for cross country, boggy fields, rocky river paths and dicey woodland floors? Not so ideal. I'm fairly sure I wrecked my bike today, at least I definitely put it through it's paces and pushed it's limits. At one section I was going sideways more than I was forward and had to continually stop to unclog the build up of mud basically stopping my wheels from spinning. 
• PLANNING - All in all, this is what it comes down to, INEFFECTIVE PLANNING. I put way too much trust in google maps, which not only constantly failed me on the actual ride, but also highly overestimated how quick it takes to cycle the suggested route. I didn't look at all into the terrain I would be covering, or the gradient. I didn't take into account how long it would take having decent conversations with people, or drawing every pylon I passed on the way. I didn't consider the time navigating would take, or any buffer time for getting lost. I certainly didn't schedule enough time to spend at my actual destinations either, had I actually made them in the first place. At the end of the day, I just didn't research enough about my plan to make sure it was a successful and useful venture.

Approach

Another thing that I am dwelling on after today was that my approach to this field trip and this project was wrong. I feel like I made it more about the actual trip, more about what I was doing than what I was going to discover on the way. This project isn't about me and it shouldn't be about me, it's about the people that I meet and the things I discover in my research and in my trips. Yes what I am doing will come into it inevitably, maybe the mode of transport is relevant and the places I choose to visit are paramount, but the journey itself doesn't matter. It amounts to nothing, it is worthless and a waste of time and energy if I get back from it and have discovered nothing, or collected nothing, or created nothing. I needed to focus less on what I was doing, and more on what the world and everyone else in it were doing around me.

Was it a waste?

No. Not at all and far from it. If anything it was a learning curve, it was a slap in the face as to how not to conduct a research trip, or maybe more how not to conduct this specific research trip. Because it wasn't a total fail and it didn't all go wrong, and maybe more would have gone right on the exact same trip had I planned better and prepared more.

I did create a series of drawings I am happy with and can explore further and develop. I gathered more conversations and spoke to strangers and made possible friends and took reference photos. And if anything got a good workout and a lot of thinking time, an escape from the city and explore of the countryside surrounding Leeds.