ITAP Week 1 RVJ (Reflective Visual Journal)

Drawing is a personal and emotional way of expressing yourself on a page, which nearly everyone is conscious about, as it is one of the most recognised ways of seeing if you have ability or not, so you constantly feel judged and that every piece has to be a masterpiece. The RVJ is a great way of expressing ideas and your thought process though images regardless of their quality or style and it allows you to experiment and take risks with materials when creating an image, not necessarily using pencil, giving you no limits to what you can accomplish. An example of this is Danny Gregory who, in his journal volume 6, draws a range of everyday things he sees in there just to get ideas down. Some are quick sketches others time has gone into them, but it is clear he is going though a journey and capturing every thought that comes into his head though imagery.  Another example is Leonardo De Vinci, who is known for developing his ideas by “thinking on a page” describing his ideas though imagery rather than words, using the right side of his brain by experimenting with ideas then coming back and using the left side to analyse his work seeing what works and what doesn’t, then going back to the right side to come up with a new idea based on what he’d learnt. It is important to use both sides of the brain when it comes to getting the best creative work out of yourself. Using the right side of the brain to be experimental, curious and playful and the left to analyse, edit and ask what is useful. Neither side is better use to us then the other, as creative people we need both as they both complement each other helping us to achieve better results.