The 2nd of April marks the start of this year’s #the100dayproject
#The100DayProject is a *free*, global art project. The idea is simple: commit to 100 days of making and sharing your progress on Instagram.
This year my project is going to be the ‘Camban Studio Field Guide’ and I’m really excited about it. I only made it about 50 days last year, but this year I think I’ll do better!
So what’s the plan?
Traditionally, a field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (plants or animals) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the 'field' or local area where such objects exist to help distinguish between similar objects. Field guides are often designed to help users distinguish animals and plants that may be similar in appearance but are not necessarily closely related.
So, I’m planning to create my own personal Field Guide filled with my observations of the flora I find on my little explorations and how the landscape changes over the course of the 100 days as everything springs to life from April to July. I’m going to focus on the section of the Dee that I walk along anyway when I’m at work on our riverside campus, but I’ll likely include other areas too. The idea of directly comparing one specific area of land from April to July appeals to me though.
I’ll look at the wild flowers as they grow, the grasses, the mosses and lichens, and the trees as they change within the landscape. I’ll be keeping a close eye on how the colours within the landscape are changing over the course of the 100 days too. Maybe they won’t change very much, but it’s still pretty beige at the moment and I’m expecting it to turn a lot greener!
I have some good tree, grass, lichen and flower identification books so I’ll teach myself some proper names of the flora I find! Also I’m looking forward to understanding the plants that grow locally a bit better.
Some of my Inspiration for the project:
Abigail Bainbridge of Bainbridge Conservation created this absolutely beautiful bound herbarium journal through pressed flowers, & occasional leaves, mostly from her garden. She has recorded colour swatches to show the original colour(s) for when the flower eventually fades:
I love this illustrated seasonal guide to wildflowers from Ochsnerbrand Design & Marketing:
How will I create my Field Guide?
I’ve bought a sketchbook. (Red, and friendly!) This will end up filled with everything I gather and being my 'Camban Studio Field Guide'. I plan on taking my actual camera out and about a bit more too for photographing things, because I’d like to teach myself how to use it better. I'll have my pencil case / pencil roll for on the go, in the field sketching. I plan to collect some plants and press them and record stuff that way too.
So each week I’ll be building up a little bundle of source material, then on my studio days do some illustrations or print designs based on what I’ve found and the colours of that week. Then at the end I’ll have a new portfolio of lovely landscape inspired prints, and a fantastic sketchbook full of source material that I can use for years to come!
If you want to follow along on my progress with the project I’ve set up a separate Camban Studio Field Guide Instagram that you can follow.
And I’ll be updating bits and pieces on my regular Camban Studio account too!
Fi X