Just before the lockdown was announced, I moved back home with my parents because I was afraid I would be trapped in university halls alone. I had to suddenly face that I would never return to uni, experience my degree show or graduate as I had imagined since the beginning of my Illustration degree. Overwhelming news about the virus was inescapable, and it was tough to work on productive creative projects under the weight of everything. So, I turned to reportage work focusing on my day-to-day bubble instead. I documented small moments of my days, taking photos on my phone and from the photos, drew observationally by hand. These individual drawings were scanned in and the compositions were created in Photoshop, then coloured using Procreate. I intentionally used a bright and colourful palette to share something with a more positive tone, hoping it may lift spirits like the drawings of rainbows up people’s windows have. By seeking comfort in documenting little parts of my days whilst I was processing so much change, I now feel ready to start up other projects again and continue building my portfolio.
My social media handle is @ellenmaeart on Instagram, and you can email me for business enquiries at ellenmaeart@gmail.com.
