Today I talked with Jill and Jo about my project and my work at the moment. There were two key areas that came up in both conversations. The first was one I was thinking about and exploring already which was the way I use similar marks to represent everything in my drawings. We all agree I need to use different types of marks, thicknesses, tone, to differentiate between the figure in my work and the background and to give a sense of distance. The marks in the foreground of the background should be different to the marks in the distance so the piece gains more of a sense of depth. Jo also talked about using different marks in the way I use colour. At the moment I'm using the same basic technique for everything but I could easily vary the way I use brush strokes to present a variety of textures.

Jill also talked about the dystopian/ post-apocalyptic feel of my recent work which I had noticed ever since I started merging figures and landscapes. This sense is created by the space and distance in my work which creates a sense of loneliness in the lone figure, as if they're the only person in the world. I think the landscapes themselves add to this as they are all to do with travel which is a major theme in a lot of post-apocalyptic texts for example an obvious one that comes to mind is 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy. Jill advised I look at William Burroughs, a writer who's had many of his books turned into films, like 'Naked Lunch'. Although not familiar with his work Jill tells me that it will fit in with the developing Utopia/Dystopia theme in my work and will add some background context to it. She also suggested looking at the book 'America' by Boudrillard which by the sound of it is a lot like Jeff Brouwes 'Approaching Nowhere' and has photos of America akin to the photos I've been doing work from.
Jo also saw the dystopian relation but also thought the work was like scenes from an American road trip movie but a bit more British.