We're going on a bear hunt!

Untitled

Sounds of the city

Brainchild 2016

Seixal summer 2016

Secrets and lies exhibition!

Our exhibition is actually here! Scary how the time had flown by, and that i'm finishing second year and going into third. Our exhibition is placed in a local pub in farnham and i have to give it up to the exhibition team for making it look wonderful, they put so much work into making it and its turned out looking really cute!

New ways of creating drawings!

So recently i haven't been doing much drawing because i've been super stressed out with all the other projects and theory papers i have to write. I don't have long left to hand in my essay, and i'm going to Lisbon next Friday, so that means even less time!

I was in a lecture yesterday and it was really great inspiration for me and my drawings. It made me think about the different ways i could draw, for example with drawing a house.. I can draw the outside (the full house) and then i could draw the inside of the house. But not by one room at a time, kind of looking at it like a dolls house, that kind of point of view.

So i did this with a ship i've been focusing on for my project. It took me about 2 hours to draw it out but thats because i'm a little out of practice! I really like the illustration and i might consider doing this a lot in my project, maybe even by researching comics and see where it takes me.

Side project: Projections

I was experimenting with a few photographs and layering my illustrations on top of them to create an image of a person (in the case myself) with textures of pencil layered on top. I have thought about colours and extracting those colours so that I'm left with a black and white image. The textures of the pencil works best on a greyscale background, this makes it look like the markings are part of the skin and that they outline the human body.

I would like to make this into a side project, maybe ask some of my photography friends to help me with taking photos of people that don't mind showing a bit of skin. And then i'd layer on top some hand drawn textures to give the human body another purpose. 

This would be a nice side project to focus on, but i really don't have time to be doing this at the moment as i have so much university work with deadlines approaching and i haven't done a thing. (Essay wise). 

Britain's Child Migrants: Exhibition project

Our second year illustration exhibition topic is about secrets and lies, so for my individual project i decided to base it around the historical event that is: Britain's Child Migrants. I recently saw an exhibition on this subject at the Museum of Childhood in London and i thought it is a great subject topic for our illustration exhibition. 

I plan to make an educational piece of work in the form of a newspaper that is aimed for the older audience of teenagers and adults. This topic isn't really suitable for children, because the things that happened to the British Child Migrants were really brutal, traumatic and really sad. I don't think young children would understand let alone would want to know about these traumatic events. 

I think...

And..

Professional Practice

Interview Report 

I have learnt that it is okay not knowing what to do after you graduate. Louise’s illustration career started off with her designing items to sell, other than that she would get random emails asking her to design little bits and pieces for example beer bottle labels and wedding posters/ invites. She didn’t find any work as being an illustrator anywhere when she first graduated, which she felt was frustrating. This is a little scary as I’m due to graduate next year, and I have no clue what I want to do, or how I will make a living out of it.

But with designing bits and pieces for random commissions and also making products to sell for her shop, she gradually built up a portfolio of work that had a strong identity to which she then made a website to promote herself on the internet as an illustrator.

I am unsure whether I should make a website for myself right now, as I have a blog, a Tumblr, a Facebook page and also post a few things on my Instagram. I feel like right now, I’m comfortable with my blog because I can post anything on there that I’m experimenting with or interested in. Its personal to me, but I feel like right now, I don’t have enough work to post on a website that shows who I am as an illustrator. In think for me, I might wait until 3^rd year or even after I graduate to start thinking about a website, then I’ll know for sure where I am with my illustrations and I’ll have enough to put on a website that I’m proud enough to show.

We asked Louise how her work developed since university, and one thing that stuck with me was that she said that her work develops every time she creates a design and that she didn’t mind getting unpaid work at the beginning of her illustration career because it was good practice. And now she has spent more time on working on her illustrations last year than ever before, completing her first book Up My Street.

That’s really refreshing to hear that she thinks her work develops every time she creates a design, because that’s how I feel with my work. I never look at my own work and think ‘That’s the same thing I’ve done before’, my work is different because its for different topics and its created in different stages of the year, so I do agree with her that when illustrating it does develop every time you work at it, and it’s a normal thing that happens.

One thing that surprised me about Louise is that she made a screen-printing workshop in her bathroom, while she was living in Vancouver for a year. She worked in a little shop that sold illustrative cards and prints and she decided that she wanted to make the same kinds of products, and so she made little photocopied cards to sell in the shop. She has the kind of attitude that I want to have, to just go out and do something, make something and sell it. But its hard while studying I feel because I don’t feel like I have enough time for myself, when I want to create something for me and not part of the course.

Time management is a massive role in being an illustrator because you have to juggle lots of different things at once, just like university. Once you have your own business like Louise, then you have to learn about the business side of things as well as the creative side, and I think that relates to my situation at the moment, having to juggle my theory side of the course with my creative side and also the personal work I want to make outside the course and also have time for everyday house hold things and socialising. Sounds like so much to handle.

Which is why it was interesting to ask about Louise’s day in the life of being an illustrator. She’ll start working around 9 or 10 am, then will go to the post office to send out outers in the afternoon and then continue working till 8 or 9pm. Which is a full day of working, but she says she likes to juggle lots of thing at once, but sometimes its hard to get your brain to flit between projects, which I can understand!

Overall it was a good experience to learn a bit more about being an illustrator from Louise Lockhart, and I really enjoyed reading her answers to the questions we asked!

Glitch art

This is something that my friend Emily Pendle was playing around with in class a few days ago and i practically stole her idea as it looks incredibly cool and i wanted to try to make some glitch art.
As for starters, i had no idea what it was, so she showed me examples on pint rest and i am now hooked.

The examples i saw and liked are obviously better looking, and resemble glitch art better than what i made on my scanner. I used a few of my polaroid photographs, and just moved them along the scanner as it was scanning. They distorted the photographs, making them look longer and monster like, almost not recognisable. I feel like this would be a great way to make textures to over layer illustrations or photographs of my own. I could do a bit of marbling and then pop in in the scanner and make a T R I P P Y pattern to mess around with and get creative.

I hope to experiment a little more with technique in the future as i think it could be a great way of making textures/ distorting illustrations and or photographs.

Collaboration.. well kind of

Photograph: Kaity Jade

Using my body as the canvas as i let my housemate Kaity drip paint all over me for her photography project. I have figured out that i like being the human canvas and that is isn't as ticklish as i thought it would be!

I call it a collaboration because we are both creatives and the only think i contributed to her project was my body.. So i kind of see that as collaborating....
I have never been a model before, I'm normally the person to shy away from a photograph, but i thought this would be a really fun shoot and so i offered up my body in the name of art. I saw her pervious photographs that she had taken, but i wasn't really sure of what to expect (paint wise).

The photos turned out really cool, and i think she developed her project even more and she might has distorted the photographs, or destroyed them, so the final pieces aren't the same photographs she took. I think thats really interesting, once having the photographs and then going on to destroy them to add to the picture. I don't think i could do that with my illustrations, i care too much for them to get ruined.

Photograph: Kaity Jade

Photograph: Kaity Jade

My interview with Louise Lockhart

Louise Lockhart

I met Louise at Pick me Up arts festival in May 2015, we did an art swap not soon after. At the time i met her, i was inspired by her use of bright colours; blue, orange and pinks. I was illustrating a barber shop zine and screen printed all of my illustrations. I showed her pictures of these illustrations and she was really interested in doing an art swap with me!

Here are some pictures of my zine i designed back in May!

What i like about her work...

I like the colours she uses and the paper cut out medium of working. She also uses the riso printer in a lot of her work. She takes inspiration from the every day things around her, such as hand painted signs, food packaging and old toys. Her work is colourful, jolly and playful as well as being unusual. She creates her designs by drawing, printing, cutting and finding collage material and textures, then compiles them using a computer.

She has just published her own book called ‘Up my Street’ and its full of independent shop fronts. Its really one of my favourites and i think its hers too.

I asked her a few questions about her practice and how she got started after graduating from university. 

Has your work developed over the years and how so?

I’ve spent more time than ever before working on my own illustrations this year, completing my first book Up My Street which was a lot of work and it disciplined me well. I think my work develops every time I do a design. That’s why I didn’t begrudge (too much) having unpaid work at the beginning because it was great practice. I’ve also taken on a lot more business side of things this year which is totally different from drawing, but I like the mixture of work. Illustrating can be a very solitary affair!

When did you start getting noticed?

I only started doing illustration as a way of making products to sell as I couldn’t get any work as an illustrator anywhere. I hadn’t quite found my style when I first graduated and found it frustrating. I worked at it every day feeling like I was getting nowhere, but bit by bit I’d get the odd interesting email here and there asking me to design a wedding invite or a beer label, and slowly I built up a website of work with a strong identity. I want people to see a piece of my work and know it’s by me. Instagram has helped a lot. I love it.

What work do you like to produce?

I love designing for products for my company The Printed Peanut as you have a restricted brief and purpose, which I find more liberating than being told I can do anything I want (which is scary). I like being able to do different things every day. I have a very short attention span so I move onto new things all the time. 

What would you do on an average day of work?

It’s different every day depending what I’m working on. I like to juggle lots of things at once but sometimes it’s hard to get your brain to flit between projects. Usually I start working at about 9 or 10am, answering emails and drinking coffee. I’ll then work solidly till about 1 or 2pm where I’ll eat and go to the post office in town to post orders. Then I’ll carry on working till 8 or 9pm depending in how it I’m feeling. The summer is different to the winter!

What is your favourite medium to use?

I love starting with paper cut outs. I find blank pieces of paper a bit intimidating to fill in with drawings, so by restricting myself to drawing on weird paper shapes it becomes more freeing and you can’t ever know what the result will be before you start.

Who is your favourite artist?

I love so many and you need different artists for different inspirations. Are illustrators different from artists? I love Hockney and Matisse because there work is very illustrative. I am always influenced by 1930 children’s books. Those artists seem to get forgotten about, as if illustration isn’t as important as fine art. I don’t like that pomposity.

What has been your favourite project so far and why?

I have made two books now and I loved doing them. They were the perfect thing to do alongside running and making products for The Printed Peanut. I did get very excited when I got my new cups from the factory in Stoke-on-Trent. It feels great to see your artwork on a functional product made in Britain by lots of different skills craftsmen.

How did the printed peanut come to light?

I was working in a great shop in Vancouver in Canada where I lived for a year. I began to see all of these illustrated products in a new light and thought ‘I’d like to do that’! So I’d make little photocopied cards to sell in the shop, and then I made a little screen printing workshop in my bathroom where I could print paper to make my version of Pass the Parcel. When I moved back to Britain I really began to try and work full time selling my own things for a living. It’s a lot of hard work but I really enjoy it. That got me out there and since then I’ve had commissions for illustrations. I think I’ve done it the opposite way round to most people, but there are no rules.

Interview with John Birch

As Part of my university project, we were given the task to interview artists and illustrators of our choice to ask them what its like to be a freelance artist, or when they started getting noticed or what they like best about doing their job. We got together in groups and decided on a few questions to ask these illustrators/ artists about their life as artists and we got some really good/ helpful and inspiring responses.

Is your commissioned work different than your personal work?

No, my commissions have been ask for in the same style, the painting may be of a different setting but they want it painted in the style that I use.

Has your work developed over the year and how so?

Yes, Over the years my style has changed, the more you paint the more you can experiment with paint and textures, It’s all about painting as much as you can and learning how to use your medium.

    

When did you start getting noticed?

Since joining groups and doing artist trails etc. This got me in to galleries in the North West and Cornwall, you never know who comes to an event. You may not sell work there and then but weeks months later you get invites. I have had 3 exhibitions from one art trail.

What work do you like to produce?

I paint mainly with acrylics, many layers are applied in order to build up the work. I like to add texture to the work and the drying time of acrylic paint allows me to do this. I use a variety of tools to scrape back layers or scratch in to the surface to reveal the layers below. 

I like to take a lot of photographs and while out walking I sketch the different landscapes, flowers and birds. These together with everyday objects give me the inspiration and the ideas I use in the different pieces of work. I aim to create pieces of work that are bright, colourful and vibrant.

What would you do on an average day of work?

I work on several paintings at a time, I am happy if I produce 1 -2 paintings a week.

    

What has been your favourite project so far and why?

I would have to say the painting I did after visiting Nice in France, I found a flower market and a fish market next door to each other, I decided to use the Sardine tins from the fish market and the Olive oil tins and combine them to paint some pictures that where full of colour. You always need to be on the lookout for something that people are not doing and seeing the colourful flowers and the brightly presented fish tins worked for me. Here are some examples:

Do you have an tips on being a freelance artist?

You need to get yourself noticed, Social media is very important these days, Facebook, twitter, Blogs etc. Joining a well know group of Artists ids also a good idea. Having a web site also helps, I have had commissions from the site and have been asked to do talks about my work.

  

Graphics tablet fun!!

I recently got a graphics tablet and i have no idea how to use it or what to do with it. I started off playing around with some photographs, drawing on top of them and making full use of the graphic pen by pressing lightly and hard to create different thicknesses in lines.

Then with a gif i already made of myself a few months ago, i thought it would be fun to make an illustrated version of it and also this exercise helps with learning how to use the tablet and pen! This took about 2 hours to make, it's sometimes frustrating at first because i would forget about the layers in photoshop and would just draw onto the image.. Which means i would have to start all over again! But its good practice anyway!