Focused

This is my entry for the new Illustration Friday topic 'focused'. It's a bit of a departure style-wise for me, being an all-singing-all-digital graphic piece, but I'm pretty happy with it. I've been toying around with Adobe Illustrator quite a bit recently and it's much less frustrating than I remember. I really love being able to change things quickly that would take a bunch of redrawing were it done by hand. That and having ctrl-z.

This 'focused' topic was a tricky one, which is something I've found with almost every Illustration Friday I attempt. I love the site and there are a huge number of brilliant submissions every week but I sometimes feel that the topics could be stronger. When you get things like like 'crunchy', 'skinny' or 'island', it's hard not to be very literal. Lots of the entries feel the need to add a little accompanying text saying something like 'the man is focused on kicking the ball', which is fine, and the drawings are usually nice, but, y'know, things can get a little tenuous.

Not that I'm claiming to be the wittiest motherhubbard on the block, far from it, I'd just love something slightly more specific (more focused - ha ha) once in a while. The more rules and restrictions the better in my opinion, they force you to be more inventive and, when reviewing other submissions, it's really interesting to see how other people have tackled the same problems.

It might not be the best example because it's a specific title, but I was mulling over 'The Silence of The Lambs' as a potential illustration subject. Something like that, when given to a wide range of people like the I.F. crowd, would be great. You'd see it interpreted it in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways, from straightforward jokes and wordplay (about quiet sheep) to more thoughtful submissions based on the themes and visuals of the source. Maybe even upping the ante and allowing two word suggestions would be enough. Who knows?

Anyway, I guess the broad single-word topics present a challenge all of their own, which is a good thing. It also encourages a lot of people to draw and get their work seen, which is also a good thing. Have a look around the Illustration Friday site and see what you think. Besides the weekly challenge, there are some awesome interviews and things up there that are definitely worth a look.