Creative Visual Diary: Learn to Draw Your Life

Get to know illustrator and cartoonist Pepita Sandwich. She walks you through the journey that she took from fashion design to illustration. She also discusses the artists and references that inspire her and have influenced her work.

Delve into what a visual diary is as Pepita shows examples and describes the details of the final project. Discover how to use various materials and techniques in the making of your visual diary and how each can create different results. Then understand your unique ‘creative DNA’ by gathering personal references and inspiration to build a mood board. Pepita then gives advice and sets exercises on how to represent yourself as a drawn character.

Explore ways to stimulate creativity through learning to observe things in different ways. Begin by looking at what’s in your home, sketching everyday objects and accompanying your drawings with a short sentence or poem. Pepita introduces you to the practice of going on a drawing date with yourself by visiting somewhere fun and sketching what catches your eye. Then, travel back to your past, reliving memories and nostalgic experiences for inspiration.

Start creating your visual diary. Choose an idea from earlier in the course to first turn into an individual entry, or ‘panel’, before learning how to create a sequence of entries both on a single page, and across multiple pages. Experiment with different mediums and techniques including collage and abstract doodling as a means of thoughtful, meditative practice.

Learn how to digitize your work using Photoshop and Procreate for sharing on social media. Understand how to identify themes and patterns in your diary that can be used together as a comic-style collection of stories. End the course with advice on how to keep going with visual journaling and develop your personal style.