Reportage and documentary illustration provides a direct connection to the world we live in and its illustrators are often noted for their personal visual language and for their in-depth knowledge and cultural understanding of their chosen subject matter.
Greg Betza- Times Square
George Butler- Goats in Syria
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‘It is possible one of the reasons there aren’t as many good drawn reportage commissions is due to the public not necessarily believing in the drawn line.’ Gary Embury- The New Visual Journalism
‘Documentary drawings, unlike documentary photography, capture minutes and hours as opposed to fractions of a second’ Julia Midgley- Drawing Lives- Reportage at Work
Julia Midgley- War Art & Surgery
Robert Weaver
Grandpappy & Pioneer of Visual Journalism
“On the simplest level it is an incredible oversight on the part of the artist that he neglects to use his eyes. A true avant-garde might today proclaim the return of subject matter!�
Pollocks
“In my own teaching I am trying to remedy this deficiency by ordering students out onto the streets with sketchpads. Once the initial shock of life wears off the student can begin to discover the magnitude of the world.�
Gwendi Klisa- Reportage Brief set by Varoom Magazine BRIEF: This reportage project was inspired by an illustration course I took at Central Saint Martins. On my recent travels to Malaysia I passed through a small market town. From my western perspective life there seemed strangely familiar, but played out with cultural differences that I wanted to record. RESEARCH: I spent a few days getting to know people and observing and recording my surroundings before working on the final drawings. It was often hard not to be noticed as a reporter because people were as interested in me as I was in them.
INSIGHT: Capturing fleeting moments as quickly as they pass can benefit a drawing. It might become a little rough around the edges but all the better for it.
“I sit in a corner and hopefully blend in and record, not like a photographer, not copying the scene in front of me exactly. I am trying to record my experience. There are times when it would be easier to take a photograph or make a quick sketch and work on the drawing later in the studio. Particularly when it is so cold that I can no longer feel my hands and feet, or when the subject I want to draw moves before I can capture it. But I would find this a less honest way of working.� Anne Howeson
‘...despite our current reliance on photographic, electronic and now digital media, for the transmission, and reception of objective information, the artist continues to be avaluable interpreter of critical events.’ Steven Heller- The Artist as Illustrator, The Illustrator as Journalist
Drawn To Africa This drawing is part of a journey from London to Libreville, Gabon. 21000km overland, through 10 countries over 7 months. The brief was to describe the characters, scenarios, wilderness and wildlife as I found it. The drawings were published online with The Times & exhibited in a solo show in Dover St a year later. George Butler
Self- Initiated Reportage
A visual documentry of a found story drawn in situ. Great! But what story?