Do Judge a Book by its Cover | Initial Ideas

The first drawings I did were just of my roommates and things around the flat. I found this the easiest way to just put pencil to paper and begin generating ideas surrounding everyday life.

I then moved on to drawing people from a mix of my own photographs as well as found references. Some are drawn in a straightforward observational manner, whereas some are abstract and only vaguely resemble the human form.

I chose the subject matter (people, everyday objects) as I thought it represented the book title in a simple way. They show objects used in everyday routines, or are just people going about their daily lives - going to and from work, etc.

What I liked about drawing people from street photos is that they are something you see everyday but when they are sketched out and a record of them is made, it somehow changes the gravity of the subject? It makes you realise that pictures/drawings of people passing by capture a moment that probably won't happen again.

I gradually began to think about composition and media a little more as the drawings went on, so the above sketches in chunky pencil consider line quality. I really like how these turned out, they are expressive in their own way and the ones on the left have an imperfect feeling which I also appreciated.

I then did some coloured pencil drawings, looking at layers and how images overlapped. Collage was something else I looked at and may take forward. It was much more minimal than what I normally produce, however I like the appearance of the abstracted face. I could experiment with different papers and arrangements too.