My initial idea was to randomly go for a walk to somewhere I'd never been before, and try to notice unusual things that I wouldn't  normally look for and document them through photos. These images would then have been observed and then a story written to connect all of them in an attempt to show how we can get inspiration from unlikely places and from simply visiting different areas. 

I set off on a journey in the opposite way to my usual direction towards uni, a way that I've never really travelled or explored and documented it through photos every so often. As I walked along the footpath I came across a mini forest and decided to wander around inside to see if I could find anything interesting. I thought it was quite unusual having a walkable woodland just randomly beside a relatively busy road/ path and it contrasted it's tranquility with the noisy cars driving past. 

However once I had finished taking the photos from my journey I thought more about how I don't really know the history and what has happened in those particular places before I stumbled across them. This got my imagination wandering in more of a fantasy direction, as I imagined scenarios or stories that could have happened before I arrived or stories/ myths that could be associated to the area.  So to show that each individual photo/ place on my walk had an unknown backstory I designed simple characters in my sketchbook to give them a magical, mysterious element and to show my curiosity to make believe stories that could be behind the photos.

The Final Designs 

The Design

After looking at the photo, I came up with a story/ scenario in my head based on something that could have happened and then designed characters around that. I drew these in my sketchbook originally, while looking at the photo on my laptop as I sketched to get an idea of posture and action in relation to the picture. Then each design was scanned into the computer and edited in  photoshop to remove any unwanted background paper to just leave the character and arrange in a way to make the two images fit together in a more believable manner.

These were my top seven choices to make fictitious scenarios out of, however I took a lot more photos of the unusual and quirky geographical features in the area that caught my attention as I passed. 

More photos from my walk

The fuzzy texture of this tree

The fallen tree that made a bridge over the stream

The pattern of the vine-like branches 

Animals in hidden places

Reflections

Evaluation

I learnt more about taking time to observe and notice things, rather than not pay attention and to also go for walks solely for the purpose of discovering new things that could be right under your nose. Normally if I'm by myself I usually am quite effective at observing, however recently I haven't been travelling on my own as often and this task has reminded me of how useful and interesting it can be. It is easy to see how inspiration for many different art forms can come from just paying attention to your surroundings and using a little bit of imagination.