Illustrating a Narrative
Course Overview
Illustration is the art of storytelling through images.
It creates a subtext for words, evokes emotion, and, like theatre, offers a glimpse into another dimension beyond the written page.
In this two-week course, illustrator Nettie will guide participants in developing perceptual, imaginative, and technical skills to illustrate a story, poem, personal prose, book cover, children’s book, essay, graphic novel, travel diary, or personal narrative project.
What to Expect:
-
In the first session, participants will experiment with different illustration techniques such as watercolour, collage, monoprinting, and stamping through demonstrations and short exercises designed to spark imagination and visual storytelling. The second half of the class will focus on developing ideas for individual projects. Participants will be asked to prepare a rough sketch of their final project as homework.
-
The second session will be dedicated to individual project work, with one-on-one feedback, demonstrations, and guidance tailored to each participant’s needs.
Participants are asked to bring an idea for a narrative they would like to illustrate to the first class (e.g. a children’s story, travel story, favourite book, poem, song lyrics, diary entry, dedication, or quote).
Techniques Covered:
-
Watercolour
-
Acrylic
-
Collage
-
Photomontage
-
Pen & Ink
-
Monoprinting
-
Pencils
Course Dates:
Term 4 runs from Sunday 16 November – Sunday 23 November
Materials:
An A4 sketchbook, 2B and 4B pencils, eraser, scissors, and glue stick are required for every class. Additional materials will be advised week by week, depending on the techniques covered.
Materials
- As techniques that will be taught and demonstrated will vary, participants will be advised after the first session what materials will be required the following week.
- An A4 sketch book and 2B and 4B pencils, an eraser, scissors and a glue stick will be required for every class.
Share this link via
About the tutor
Nettie Lodge
Nettie Lodge is an Australian artist. She has a Bachelor of Fine Art from Curtin University, WA, and a Post Graduate in Painting from The Banff Centre of Fine Art, Canada. She exhibits regularly in Sydney, where she has had numerous solo shows since 1995. Her recent solo exhibition was a conceptual interpretation of the poem THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER at the Manly Art Gallery and Museum. This involved over 40 works on paper and a narrative installation of a ghost ship.
For the past 20 years, she has been writing and illustrating children’s books, for which she won a CBCA Notable Book Award for her picture book BIRD.
Her most recent picture books have been TELL TAILS, which she wrote and illustrated, published by Green, Olive Press in 2021 and THE WORLD’S GREATEST TACKLE, which she illustrated, written by Bruce Walker and published by Wooddslane Press in 2023.
She works as a freelance illustrator from her studio on Scotland Island where she lives and lectures part time at Torrens University.
Tutor's Personal PageYou may also be interested in
Pottery Courses
Painting: Acrylics Courses
