Postcards From My Neighbourhood

Throughout March 2018, Aspex Gallery in Portsmouth held a call for submissions for a postcard exhibition. Anyone of any age or ability who lives in Portsmouth (UK) could enter, and were asked to make A5 postcard with an image that visually responds to their neighbourhood. It could be a landmark, their favourite place, or something they either really love or hate about Portsmouth. Since my student residence is in Portsmouth, I decided to enter!

For my entry I had several ideas including Blue reef Aquarium and a door with the beach quite literally on its doorstep. In the end I decided I wanted to illustrate Clarence Pier as it's my favourite spot in Portsmouth. We learnt about its history as well as the general psychology of the beach in our 1st year visual culture lectures, and since then I became fascinated with the vintage seaside. The big blue and yellow arcade building is the most noticeable landmark of the pier with its striking colors, which is why I thought this would make a good design for a postcard.

I took some reference pictures, then made a watercolor wash background on an A5 piece of cardstock. The building was made on a separate sheet of card which I cut out and stuck onto my background to create depth after painting it with acrylic and adding Prismacolor / white gel pen details.I sent it off in an envelope before the deadline, and a few weeks later went to visit my postcard (which has now been gifted to the Portsmouth City Archive) at Aspex Gallery, only to find that it had been framed!