Ordinarily I work in film but I wanted to experiment with digital drawing. This piece was an enjoyable learning process though I felt that I didn’t develop a distinct style within the time frame.
The hand formation, which I initially intended to be a sculptural park bandstand, directly references a white hand sculpture above the entrance to the Bonnington Square Gardens in Vauxhall, London. On the Creative Society’s Rewilding tour we learnt that this community garden used to be a WWII bomb site which was reformed by squatters from the surrounding houses during the 70’s and 80’s. It’s now a welcome disruption to the cityscape.
Running with the commission’s ‘Rewilding’ theme, I attempted to reflect the respite that nature offers the city in my illustration of London animals inhabiting man-made structures. I felt it was important to represent the overwhelming amount of city features designed to prevent loitering or restrict access, like razor-wire or smashed glass set into concrete on the tops of walls. In the illustration, the floating ball of concrete is encircled by razor-wire and populated by glass shards -though my drawing might not make this clear- to show wildlife persisting despite restrictions.
Toby Buchan
