Mapping a Journey

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 MAPPING A JOURNEY



This assignment was an interesting one because it gave me (even more of an) excuse to explore Boston! While my original plan for this assignment was to deliberately choose different neighborhoods to explore and select cracks to illustrate, I ended up choosing cracks from parts of the city that I had to go to for a specific purpose (Boston Common, Kendall, Cambridge), my own neighborhood (Somerville, and the very first neighborhood I got to fully experience before officially moving here, Allston-Brighton). In a way, my drawings became a documentation of my week, as well as a small look into my journey moving from to Boston from New York. 




My process was relatively simple — I am honestly not much of a public illustrator (I’m just not confident enough yet to have people looking over my shoulder, especially if I’m just drawing cracks!) so my approach was to snap pictures of visually interesting cracks in the various neighborhoods I would find myself in. As an underlying prompt, I tried to note the state of the sidewalks and infrastructure in the different neighborhoods I would find myself in. It was certainly easier to find cracks in some places over others — I snapped a picture of a pretty deep crack at the entrance to the Common on Tremont Street (one of many) but had a harder time finding a blemish in the slightly trendier, tech-focused Kendall. Allston-Brighton and Somerville seemed to fall somewhere in between, where cracks were present but not as intense. To me, it signified the general wear and tear of a residential neighborhood. 




Color is my favorite way to express myself, so I made it a must to find ways to incorporate it into my work. I’ve honestly never been a fan of graphite — monochrome pencils just aren’t my medium of choice. I did want to explore them again though, so I made sure to set aside a few drawings that were composed solely in graphite. I do have to say that they weren’t too fun to do, but it was nice to reacquaint myself with the different grades smudging techniques. 







I had the most fun working with colored pencils and Micron pens. I absolutely love the depth that marker can bring to a piece, especially if it’s just line work. I decided to use marker for my largest piece which features a crack outside of my partner’s apartment in Brighton. My choice in regards to both the material and paper size were influenced by the fact that Brighton is where my journey to Boston truly began — I had the opportunity to learn about and explore the city during various trips to visit my partner over the past year, and those trips were ultimately what pushed me to consider applying to Master’s programs in the city. 
The other pieces experiment with different color and material combinations. I did so to get comfortable with drawing again and to practice making a simple prompt more visually appealing. There might be some deeper meaning there in relation to my early experiences in Boston — I guess I like to experiment and bring color to any environment I end up in to make the most of an experience! 

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