I found these exercises very practical, helpful, and inspiring. I've struggled to develop a consistent style, and this class (especially the "you on a plate" lesson) really helped me to see that the discouraging voices in my head were just that — voices that could be ignored!

Kim on a Plate - image 1 - student project

My final style guide ended up being a mix of things I'd discovered in the creative DNA exercise and through the sketching process for these vignettes (I did about 15).

Kim on a Plate - image 2 - student project

There were things I liked about them, and some things I would do differently. Overall, working through these helped me to refine a consistent approach and see what worked well and what didn't.

Kim on a Plate - image 3 - student project

Kim on a Plate - image 4 - student project

I "cheated" a bit on the two mash-ups and just used two subjects I already wanted to illustrate, but I tried to tackle them with a me-on-a-plate approach.

One of my goals this year is to combine my passions for illustrating and literature by creating an illustration for every book I read. So, the two pieces I did below are for the most recent books I've finished, Hamnet and Warmth of Other Suns.

Kim on a Plate - image 5 - student project Kim on a Plate - image 6 - student project

Since I did these before the style guide sketches, there are some things that I would change now, especially for the Warmth of Other Suns example. I also feel like I didn't get the color palette quite right for that one. But I was starting to identify some of the things that eventually made it into the style guide!

I'm including all of my notes and boards from the creative DNA exercise below in case it's helpful for anyone here to see examples. I know it's always a great resource for me when I'm struggling to get started on the homework.

Kim on a Plate - image 7 - student project

Kim on a Plate - image 8 - student project

Kim on a Plate - image 9 - student project

Kim on a Plate - image 10 - student project

Kim on a Plate - image 11 - student project

Kim on a Plate - image 12 - student project

Kim Oswalt

Designer, illustrator, & writer

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