In my most recent university project i was given the opportunity to create my own brief. i began by doing broad research on the word urban. i looked into gun and knife crime, graffiti, drug addiction and homelessness. from the beginning i knew i wanted to focus on the darker more sinister side to the city. People flock there for the bright lights and the promise of a better career......although this happens for some people, it isn't the same for others.  I initially chose to focus on homelessness and began sketching people from the streets.

I thought about how a lot of homeless ended up in their current situation and, after reading some online stories, I found it was mostly due to alcohol abuse and drug addiction. I thought this was interesting because drugs are so glamourised by celebrities who live and party in the city, but the reality of drug addiction is somewhat different.

Although I love colour I find it really difficult to apply it to my drawings.

As well as focussing on people I looked at buildings. I was interested in more run down buildings as I feel the way we abandon older buildings that are crumbling away reflects the way we try and ignore people.

  I struggled to create a final design for this brief, but when writing the brief I hadn't specified that I would create a final idea but that I would concentrate on developing my drawings. However, I did merge some ideas together to create the image below.