Last week we had a visit from the talented Lord Whitney (Amy Lord and Rebekah Whitney). They gave a talk on how they met and how their creative journey has evolved over the past few years. I found their work hugely inspiring!
They don’t get bogged down thinking about the materials they don’t have, they use what is around them to produce amazing installations and costumes. I think I was more impressed by the costumes rather than the sets. It made me think about producing character designs with what I know rather than worrying about not having the right textures or not knowing their proper anatomy.
Another main topic of discussion was the idea of taking as many opportunities as possible. Sometimes you might be doing creative work for free but they explained how it can pay off in the end. It gets your work seen and could lead to paid work. This is something that will stick with me when I venture off into the wide world of illustration.
They talked a lot about the idea of play and about how producing work that you want to produce is often your best work. This ability to bring aspects of yourself into your work is greatly important. I’ve found that thinking in this way has helped me to overcome the struggle I’ve been having with my current brief (brothers grim book cover). I’ve been focusing on what it needs to be rather than what I would like it to be. I feel much more confident about the brief now and this is thanks to the wise words of Lord Whitney.
After the talk we all went back to the studio and were given a new brief on compound nouns. The idea was to put together two nouns into a word and produce an illustration or installation based on the word. I initially wanted to do a series of 3 tall rectangular illustrations based on different words. I only managed to complete one for the deadline and have since completed a second image. Bee-Frog was the illustration I sent off to Lord Whitney and received feedback for.
Hi Rosie,
Thank you so much for your submission to the compound noun brief. We
really enjoyed working with you all and really hope you got something
valuable out of the exercise.
We really liked your entry, do you have any plans to carry it on any further or has it sparked any other ideas off for you?
Good luck with your work,
Bek and Amy
Today I had my first portfolio visit with Helen at Taylor O’Brien Brand Inspiration.
http://www.taylorobrien.com/index.php
I was very nervous at first but soon felt more comfortable after being eagerly welcomed in. We sat and discussed the work in my portfolio. I explained what the projects had been for and how I felt about them. She really liked my monsters and suggested I try making them into wrapping paper or children's birthday cards. I'm very excited about this idea and can't wait to start looking into it!
She also really liked my pages that showed the initial sketches, leading up to the finished image. she said it showed that my sketches look very much like the finished thing, which would be helpful for someone commissioning work because they would know that the sketch is what they would be getting in the end. She suggested I add more pages with sketches and also examples of how my characters develop.
When looking at my work for the Uganda children's book she suggested that I think about how my text is placed. She said it seemed very separate from the illustrations and it would be nice to see them working together more. I agree with this and have written about this subject briefly in my critical journal.
She also suggested that I annotate the pages with a little more detail. At the moment the pages only have the name of the project and the year it was produced. I need to have some brief explanation as to what the project was for so that it puts the work into context.
Overall I found the visit to be greatly helpful in terms of strengthening my portfolio. Little was said about ways to improve my work but I would hope that this means that my work is looking good. She suggested I get some business cards and start having more blurb books printed with examples of my work.
She was very encouraging about my desire to write and illustrate my own children's books but pointed out that this can be a daunting thing to go at alone. She asked if I had considered collaborating with writers, which I think could be something to look into after graduation possibly.
In conclusions today was very helpful and enjoyable. I feel much more confident about future portfolio visits. Bring it on!
The degree is coming to an end much quicker than I ever thought. This blog post should really just be called fears because all I ever seem to do is worry. People keep asking me what I want to do next and this worries me. I’d like to think that my work would be seen my someone influential and that they would simply allow me to write and illustrate my own children’s story books for the rest of my working days. However, it’s not that simple.
My main hope is that I will get this all important chance to get my foot in the door and be noticed and thought of as a real illustrator and not just a student or graduate. I hope that my work will continue to improve the way it has done over the past three years. I feel as though my work has come a long way and I have much more confidence in it but I still don’t feel confident enough to think of myself at the same level of quality as some of the children’s book illustrators already out there.
I defiantly think too negatively about my work and myself a lot of the time but this is mainly because I don’t want to build myself up for a greater fall. On the rare occasion where I have felt my work is actually decent it’s not been seen as such by the people who matter. I hate being negative and desperately want to break out of it. My hope is that I will someday be able to do this with every piece of work I produce.
Another hope is that I actually pass the degree. The actual act of illustrating is something I enjoy greatly so I have no worries for this side of the grading however the written and academic areas such as this piece of writing are the areas I worry about and struggle with. I dislike writing and reading with a passion and tend to leave it until the last minute so that the worry and pressure will force me to do it. This is another habit I would hope to break out of by the end of the degree. I want actually to enjoy reading and writing. I’m defiantly more of a visual person.
I hope to eventually end up with my own studio space so that I can focus on work and not be distracted by things around me. I’ve noticed other people getting studios in groups but I think this would be a waste of time for me as I am easily distracted by other people. I need a space I can lock myself away from the world.
My fears and worries are numerous. I fear that I wont pass and that I will feel like it was all for nothing. Obviously it hasn’t been a waste of time, but to come out with no qualification after three years of hard work would be devastating to me. I fear that I won’t find work and will end up working in retail for the rest of my working days. In the past during summer holidays or breaks from producing artwork I almost forget how to draw when I come back to it. I fear that this will happen after the degree, I will be more focused on finding a short term job and somewhere to live and will stop producing work. I’ve learnt that I need something to force me to produce. A deadline or personal goal. For about half a year now I have been producing a “daily monster” to an art website called Deviantart.com. The few followers I have enjoy the monsters and this is what keeps me going. When I have 150 monsters that I love I intend to have them printed into a book to show on future portfolio visits or possibly to sell.
During the foundation course I did before the degree a tutor said to me that my drawings had no purpose. They only existed on the paper and were nothing more. This is another one of my fears. I want the monsters to be meaningful. In my head I see them as living, moving creatures and I want other people to see them like that too. I think that writing stories alongside them is the best way to give them some meaning in life.
Another fear of mine is the fear of rejection. The occasional no is bearable but I worry that if I hear no too many times it will knock me down to a low point and I will stop producing work. And without the push of a deadline or a tutor, how will I get back up again? I need to work on my own self motivation. Make lists, personal goals and imaginary deadlines.
In the meantime before the end of the degree I want to focus on work confidence and self motivation. I have really let things slide over the past few weeks and the fact that I am now rushing to complete everything required for PDP is perfect evidence of this.
I want to get to know more people involved with illustration outside the class. I really enjoyed meeting new people at the Draw North West event. I’d love to go to more things like this and force myself to talk to new people. What’s the worst that could happen?
I also enjoy getting feedback from people other than the tutors. I often worry that I’m getting on peoples nerves with all the questions or pestering them to look at my work. Need to remember that if you don’t ask then you don’t get.
I also want to use the remaining time to learn more about adobe illustrator. I figured out my current way of working by playing around with different tools but I often find myself saying “there is probably an easier way of doing it but I haven’t a clue what half the tools do”. It would be nice to learn some more advanced skills before leaving.
Finally my aims before graduation are…
To become self motivated!
To become more confident!
To think positively!
To improve my time management!
To not get lazy!
And to talk to new people!
