With the new Lockdown starting at the beginning of this month and being placed on furlough from my in-house illustrator role, it’s brought my mind back to the same typical question of how can I keep busy, happy, productive etc. Furlough was unexpected since I already work from home, so it’s strange acknowledging I now have all this additional time to work on personal projects, something I’ve wanted for ages, yet now it’s here I’m lost with what to do.
I reminded myself of the projects I took on last lockdown, and how they made me feel. One of the most successful and enjoyable was ‘Locked In’ . My aim was to put a positive spin on a pretty miserable situation by creating drawings that focus on what we have rather than what we don’t. I decided to draw rooms in people’s homes, capturing each and every object and detail that painted a picture of the people that lived that.
I used reference photos sent to me as obviously I wasn't able to visit, and the purpose of the collection was to capture their personalities but without people, by including all the personal details found within their homes and using this alongside colour and cropping to suggest their character. I wanted to help people appreciate the beauty of their homes; despite the fact we were locked which was pretty isolating at times, we were locked in some amazing spaces that hold so many important memories.
The first home I drew belonged to my oldest friend Ella, and her lovely housemate Sophia. The two were separated for lockdown as they both went home to their parents. So the drawing was a gift to remind them of each other and their favourite place in the home. I had visited their home a few months earlier and was welcomed so warmly by them both and inspired by the surroundings. I think someones home says a lot about them.
The second home I drew belongs to my dad and step-mum. They are obviously older than my usual acquaintances and therefore it’s expected that their home may be of a different general aesthetic. I feel this history is captured in all the small trinkets, suggesting their personalities, travels and key moments in their life.
For my next drawing, I wanted to think outside the box and challenge myself to not only a home I had never personally visited but also belonging to someone I didn’t know. So, I sent out a request to my Instagram followers, to send in reference photos, for me to choose from to create my next illustration within the collection. The photo I happened to choose was from a complete stranger, and also international! I felt so special to gain this insight into a strangers life, seeing the place in which they spend 90% of their time.
The final illustration to the series (for now) was done of my best friend’s home. Unlike all the others that capture a shared space, this belonged to one person. Elsie had moved 4 times in the space of a year, and this image captures everything in the world that is hers. Knowing her personally, I knew and felt the importance of this.
The image is also super sentimental to myself, as I had drawn her old room a year earlier, at a time were I was still establishing my illustrative style. Seeing the growth in the drawing quality and also the improvement in Elsie’s mental health from a year apart has been super motivational.
Reflecting over this collection has made me want to continue it. During Lockdown 1, I was living elsewhere in a pretty uninspiring house. Despite moving to Bristol in July, to an absolute dream flat, it’s still pretty visually dull, so I doubt my own home will make a feature. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my home but I’ve ironically found I like my space clear and clean and my drawings super busy with a million things going on. This may mean a second call out for reference photos may be in order…