I spent a full week at Birkby Junior School, working with both Year 4 and Year 6 students and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish. By the end of the week, I had a free session on Friday afternoon which I decided to turn into a special treat. The students who had worked particularly diligently and demonstrated exceptional behaviour were invited to join me for an extra creative session, building on the portrait illustration skills they had developed during the week.
For this bonus session we used the iPads once again and the program Procreate to explore Character Illustration. The students quickly got to grips with multiple layers, different brushes and a variety of creative tools having used these methods during their portrait workshop. This allowed them to experiment and play freely with their ideas. This sense of freedom encouraged them to take risks, push their designs in unexpected directions and ultimately produce a more diverse and imaginative set of outcomes.
To kick things off, I created a quick character illustration as a live demonstration, showing them how rapidly a strong, impactful and fun image can come together. Watching me build the character step by step gave the students confidence and sparked ideas of their own. We followed this with a short Q&A session to cover some technical tips and tricks and then I set them loose to create their own characters.
The energy in the room was fantastic. Students were eager to experiment with tools, try out new techniques and see where their imagination would take them. By the end of the session there was a lively mix of inventive characters, each one showing how much creativity can be unlocked when technique meets playful experimentation.
This video shows the process of the quick illustration I did as part of the tutorial.
These images below are the characters that they came up with.
I think that they did a great job in such a short time.
