Naturally, part of my creative process is to explore ideas through writing. I'll often write down a description of an image before I have a chance to draw it, or write a short piece of text to give more background information on a character.
This task of creating a character based on something we had observed was a lot of fun for me. Returning to the first zine I created during a trip to Cliffe Castle, I spotted a tiny quote I'd written on one of the first pages. Just the words, "Who's Jan?". I hadn't seen who had said these words, merely overheard it whilst I was focused on drawing. This made it the perfect opportunity for my imagination to run wild.
I imaged who was looking for 'Jan' and started crafting a character. I have some knowledge of the area and due to working there for a number of years, I was familiar with the accent and had a few people I could base my character on.
Who was looking for Jan?
- Nigel Meegan - 52 y.o man, living with his mum in Keighley.
- Before he came to the museum, he was nervously tying to fix his hair (a thin, greying comb-over) in a car window he passed, after having no time to do it before he left the house.
- He looks after his mother who is very demanding and doesn't think it's "right" for a man to fuss in the mirror for too long.
- He came to the museum for a date with Jan after meeting her on an online dating site.
- He was running late and didn't have a way of getting in touch, as they hadn't exchanged phone numbers yet. He did not find Jan at the museum (she thought she had been stood up).
- After the museum, he went to warm up in a cafe and saw Jan (by chance) and had a wonderful afternoon.
- A sad thing in his life is that he doesn't have any friends and spends a lot of time alone - not by choice.
- A happy thing is that they met up with Jan and now has somebody to chat to (even if it's very early days in the relationship).
- What I don't know about him, is why he has no friends and how he ended up being the sole carer for his mother. I don't know what he does for a job.
What does he look like?
- Tall - roughly 6ft.
- Wears polo shirt (mint green, with a slight stain on the chest), jeans and smart leather boots. He doesn't have a lot of money to buy new clothes, but makes up for it in effort. Everything is ironed/pressed/polished.
- He carries a bunch of flowers, which he picked out especially for Jan. They are pink carnations because he remembered that she mentions she loves the colour pink - however, he knows nothing about flowers.
- Sweating nervously and keeps blotting his forehead with a handkerchief.
As an individual who naturally writes quite a lot to explore my thoughts, I found this task really useful. Not because it was a new method for me, but because it felt like it validated my process. As an illustrator, I feel that there is usually the expectation to only explore my ideas through image.
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