Finished Animation

It's finally finished!!!
I'm so pleased with the finished result! It's really inspired me to take the animation further and animate more monsters! I've found it so exciting seeing the monsters come to life and can't wait to learn more tricks on after effects!


Enjoy...

Portfolio Veiwing

A couple of days ago I sent my portfolio off to be viewed by Steven Reed the Pre press Administration Manager at Lancaster Partners based in Hazel Grove Link. 
They design and produce leaflets and booklets for companies and events. Probably not the most suited place to approach with my work but I felt it would still be useful regardless.


Unfortunately I wasn't able to to have a sit down meeting with Steve but he was kind enough to give me some written feedback on my portfolio. I initially sent him a short letter explaining my work and what I hoped to do in the future. I also mentioned that I hoped to branch out and try adapting my work to stationary, logos or greetings cards.


Below is the feedback I revived.






'Hello Rosie


Firstly, thank you for letting me see your work, I am very impressed with your drawing ability and the use of colour.


I think your work is excellent and very suitable for children's books but I am not sure about the stationary aspect, that is just my opinion. Greetings cards, fabulous idea, maybe you could contact some of the big companies who make greetings cards such as Hallmark, I'm sure they would buy designs from freelance illustrators.


Perhaps you could also put some logo designs, if you have any, in your portfolio? If you haven't done any designs for logos as yet, I should do half a dozen if you can. This would show your ability to accept commissions for artwork in a more formal way as well as your illustrative talent. Again, just my opinion.


Good luck in the future with your degree and any developments with your daily monster illustrations.


Kind regards
Steven Reed'




I disagree about the stationary comment but I probably didn't explain myself very well in the letter. I intend to adapt to stationary such as notebooks and dairies rather than pencils and pens which would be unsuitable.
Other than that I found this feedback very supportive and has given me a small boost in confidence.

Big Illustration Party Time

This week we were asked to listen to episode 8 of the Big Illustration Party Time pod cast hosted by comic book illustrators Kevin Cross and Joshua Kemble.

This episode focused around the topic of contacting art directors and the dos and don'ts tied in with that. Both speakers felt that cold calling wasn't the best way to go about contacting because it comes across too pushy and can be awkward for the art director. To avoid such situations they recommended emailing the best option. This gives the art director chance to view the email when they have time and also allows them to chose to disregard the work without any awkward feelings.

I've always hated the idea of phoning an art director for the same reasons they discuss in the pod cast so it made me feel much better that I'm not the only one who hates the idea of it.

The two speakers also discussed how to go about getting through spam filters and also tricks to get to contact who you need within a company. I found this very useful.

One speaker discussed his way of organising who he should contact into lists. He would contact them all and then add the ones who respond to a second list to avoid harassing the ones who hadn't responded. I also found this very useful because I'm useless at organising so a contact list would be very helpful.

A final topic of discussion was the idea of sending out a holiday card or post card to the companies to get your work seen and also to show them you care. They also suggested not going with the traditional clichés such as using red and green on a Christmas card. This would show and art director that you can think outside of the box. Another very useful tip!

Overall I found the pod cast to be full great ideas and also fun to listen to! If you haven't already then check it out.

Rosie Rainbow Pig- Final stages

It's almost finished! All I need to do now is place each page into Indesign and add in the text. Then will be able to print up several copies ready to be hand bound!

I intend to have a professionally printed and bound copy in time for the final show. 

Overall I am very happy with the book. With more time I would go back and revisit some of the pages I finished earlier and redraw the characters. I'd also try to make the actual story stronger but unfortunately I needed to focus my time on the illustrations rather than the quality of the story itself. 

Below are some small thumbnails of the whole book. ..

 

I still feel like I have a lot to learn about Photoshop and Illustrator. I'm looking forward to finishing FMP and being able to focus on my own personal projects and learning more about animation.

Monster Animation

I've had a bit of a slow start with my animation but things are definitely moving on now! I had initially wanted to do an animation with the main character of the children's book. I became more and more stressed with the amount of work I was having to do along side this and decided to opt for something a little simpler.

I decided to focus my animation on my monsters. This makes more sense because they are relatively easy to animate and are also something I plan to continue with after graduation.

Although I'm finding After Effects confusing I really think it's something I want to learn properly in the future. My style of illustration is really easy to convert into animations because of the simple shapes and character anatomy. I've really enjoyed picking which monsters to use and imagining how they would move around and behave...

Below are two of my finished animations. I intend to animate a further two monsters and then put all four into one animation with sound effects and music!

Business Cards

Recently I ordered some business cards from Moo.com. I wanted to use my monsters because they are something I plan to continue with for a long time. I also like how colourful they are and how they work well as a pattern.
Managed to hand out a couple of them whilst in London, will hopefully be giving out a lot more in the future.

Improved Portfolio

Before the London trip I went back and revisited my portfolio. I made all the images smaller to give them more space and also made the text smaller.

I've also added some more of my recent work and ditched the 8x8 page.

 

Website

Here is a link to my website link

I've tried to keep it as simple as possible and easy to navigate. Have also only included what I deem to be my best work.

Hopes, Fears and Opportunities (pt 2)

During this last year I think my work has taken a massive step forward. The critical journal helped me learn a great deal about children’s book illustration and what makes a successful children’s picture book. It helped me to see where my Uganda book was lacking and how to not make the same mistakes for the Rainbow pig book.


I know that colour is greatly important. The Uganda book was overly colourful because I was obsessed with the idea of using colours inspired by African art. This could still have been achieved in a less over the top way.
For the rainbow pig book I have incorporated much more white space and subtle coloured backgrounds to allow the characters to be the main focus.
I have also taken on the ideas of colour theory by making the main character a striking colour against it’s surroundings and other characters.


I have also tried to create a more hand rendered feel by adding drop shadows to the characters to make them seem like layered paper. My hope is that this makes the illustrations seem much less digitalised than in the Uganda story.


Another new aspect to my work is the use of strong shapes. I think the monkey and crocodile characters were too complex when you consider the book was for very young children. The elephant character was much simpler and therefore more suited for the age group. Since then I have tried to use simpler shapes that reflect the animals I’m trying to illustrate. For example, my chick characters are an upside down egg with legs and the pig characters are mainly made up from a soft bean-like shape.


My fears are still the same as they were the first time. I worry that I won’t continue with illustration after graduation or that I will become discouraged from rejection.
I also worry that without the guidance of the tutors my work won’t progress any further and I will not be able to keep up with the changing styles in the illustration world.
This is why I hope to be accepted into an agency that focus on children’s book illustration. I wouldn’t have to stress too much about self promotion and could focus on sorting my life out in terms of learning to drive and having a secure income to cope with rent/living expense.


Immediately after graduation my plan is to focus on the other aspects of life such as getting more hours at work or finding a completely new job. I know that I’m not going to be making enough from illustration right away so I need to consider where I will be getting money from until it does pick up.


Once that is all sorted I hope to start producing work again by giving myself little projects and keeping up with the daily monster. I also want to try producing my own products to hopefully sell on Etsy and at craft fairs. I need to learn how to screen print first! 
I also want to try and find a way of incorporating my love of baking into my illustration work. Hopefully this will become clearer when the stress of the degree is over and I have my free time back.
Another thing I want to do once I have my free time back is to play with my Posca pens I got last year. I’ve seen some really fantastic examples of work using paint pens and would really love to try them out properly.
My main hope is to keep producing and promoting my work and to not fall into the 9-5 job and never peruse illustration work again.


Wish me luck…

Anna Violet - Feedback/Advise

I have recently been in contact again with children's book illustrator and past student Anna Violet. During the 2nd year she gave me some really great advise so I decided to contact her again to see what she thought of my current work for the Rainbow Pig story. 
I was also keen to know what it's like working with an agency and whether she felt it was worth while to her way of working.


Hi Anna,

I'm not sure if you remember me but I contacted you back in my second year at Stockport college asking a few questions regarding illustration (Rosie Wilman). I spoke with Gary Spicer today regarding my rather unsuccessful trip to London last week. Only had one portfolio visit where the art director had no idea about children's book illustration and seemed reluctant to give me any feedback on my work... Felt a little deflated after that...

Gary suggested that I contact you again as you know and work in children's book illustration and because I've found your opinions very helpful in the past. I was wondering if it would be possible to send you a few examples of what I have done so far for my book to see what you think? I'm planning to illustrate a children's book I've written and enter it into the Macmillan contest.

I was also wondering if you could tell me a bit about what it's like working with an agent? Gary mentioned that you are a part of Plum Pudding. I'd like to know a bit more about how it all works because I think I'd suit working with an agency rather than trying to tackle it on my own :P

Many thanks,

Rosie

Hi Rosie,

Yes I remember you and hope you're enjoying your 3rd year. Sorry your meeting in London wasn't so good, I've felt deflated too sometimes. I'd be pleased to look at your work - do send me some samples.

Louise Power from Walker Books has been responsive to my emails in the past (illustrated stories & storyboards)and to others on the Stockport course. I think she acts like a gateway into Walker Books. SCBWI (society children's book writers & illustrators) have portfolio reviews in London each June, which may be worth trying. Also Fig Taylor from AOI gave me some useful feedback on my portfolio. I haven't had any work through my agent in the last year - they say my work is very niche-market, and I've been developing b&w images for chapter book market with them and softer work for under 5's. They have good contacts in the publishing world. I don't think many of their illustrators make a full-time living out of illustration, though, but this seems to be the norm.They charge 30% commission, but I think 30% of something is always better than 30% of nothing, and they don't charge anything upfront. If you're interested in agents, do look in the 'Children's Artists & Writers Yearbook' to see their listings & contact details - this book is a must if you want to get published in children's book illustration/ stories. Do make those follow-up phone calls, if you don't get any response - emails don't always get through the spam-detection systems!

There seems to be the mainstream US-style market (cute characters, dot eyes) and the more edgy European-style (which doesn't sell well in this country) - see images from recent Bologna Book Fair, held each March. The cultural differences are fascinating but frustrating.

I look forward to hearing from you, Rosie, and seeing your samples. Best of luck with Macmillan, too.

Anna

Hi Anna,

Thank you so much for all the advise and contacts! I've ordered the Children's Artists and Writers book from Amazon just now. 

I really like how the agencies help you progress and give you feedback. I think I'd benefit from that because on my own I tend to be very stubborn and stuck in my ways rather than trying anything new.

I'm going to send you a few images that are going to be in my book as I haven't completed any double page spreads just yet. 

Look forward to hearing what you think :) Thanks again!

Rosie

Hi Rosie,

Thanks for showing me your images. I think you have some lively cute characters with great shapes (a big plus for the young end of children's book market). Your texture works well - scanned-in recycled paper? Your hen is really expressive and full of life - quite a diva! Your pigs are very appealing and child-friendly, too - especially where they're all piled up on top of each other - a wonderful 'aahhh' moment - fun composition!

Some things you may want to consider,  and may just reflect my own views (I am a big fan of mess, textures, decoration and playing around with ink):-

-The position of the hen's feet. Could they be positioned more centrally or could she be running?

- Could the pig's nostrils be smaller (keep the nose size, though)?

- Pigs eyes (open ones). I am told that very large eyes are not well received by US market. 

- Body language/character. Could you bring out the different characters of the pigs more with different body languages. eg one cheeky/manic, one lazy, one bashful? You may want to read what Louise Power writes in a recent AOI Images Annual about what she looks for in characters.

- For me the pigs look too clean (but this may not be a problem with publishers). I want to add lots of real smudges and mess and lumps of earth/spikes of grass that are not computer-generated.

I hope my comments are of some use. I had a peek at some of your other images on the web - your foxes (made up of triangles) are great fun and full of life, too.

Best of luck with Macmillan

Anna

I found her advise massively helpful and it also reinforced what Ian suggested during the Thursday tutorials. Unfortunately with the limited time remaining for FMP I'm going to be unable to change the design's of my pig characters. I agree about the smaller nostrils but not about the eyes. The larger eyes are needed during the parts of the story where the pig is covered in mud because they are the only thing that indicate that it's still the blue pig.

The comments on body language are also a good point but I wanted to show in the story how the 3 pigs are very similar other than the obvious colour difference. 

Pick Me Up - London Visit

Whilst in London we also visited the Pick Me Up Contemporary Graphic Arts Fair at Somerset House. This was greatly enjoyable and very inspiring! 

Below are a few photos I took whilst at the event.

DDB Advertising - London Visit

Another visit we took part in whilst in London was to meet head art buyer Daniel Moorey at DDB Advertising Agency

The building was very clean and very modern which I found a little intimidating initially as we had turned up a couple of minutes late. As we were shown into the presentation room we soon realised that our lateness would go unnoticed as Daniel hadn't arrived yet. 
Daniel had prepared a presentation for us all where he talked about how he goes about finding the creative people behind some of the ads they have produced. He showed us his go-to list of illustration agencies and showed us some of the illustrators they have used in the past.
I've been thinking that working through an agency would be a much better idea for me as I struggle to promote myself due to a lack in confidence. This presentation really helped me to decide that working through an agency is the right way to go for me.


He also brought up the importance of being a nice person which we have discussed before in college lectures. He mentioned a situation where they had worked with a very difficult illustrator and because of that would not be working with him again. There are thousands of illustrators out there so why would they want to work with one who is rude and difficult. 


He also talked about how you have to be willing to make lots of little changes to your work because if something isn't quite right it could make or break how well the product sells. This shall be my reminder to never flatten things again!


Overall another very useful visit and I was also able to give out another one of my business cards which brought a smile to his face.

Nobrow - London Visit

Whilst in London we also got the opportunity to visit Nobrow in their shop/studio in Shoreditch. Sam Arthur gathered us all in the shop and talked to us about how they started and what they do. He then led us out of the shop, through their studio and downstairs to the print room. 

I really wish he had shown us around the studio because it looked fantastic! Individual desk spaces, huge computers and plastered with inspirational images. It was my idea of working heaven!

The print room was also fairly interesting but much less swanky. Sam continued to discuss how they work and how they sometimes collaborate with illustrators. He said that they get a great deal of emails and portfolios in the post that they just don't get the time to look at.

He discussed the importance of self promotion and that as an illustrator you need to develop a much harder skin and not be discouraged when people don't respond.
I really loved all the work on display in the shop and found the whole visit very inspiring. Also gave me another kick to learn how to screen print! Running out of time!

Serpent's Tail - London Visit

Last week we all went on a jolly trip to London for gallery, studio and portfolio visits... 


One of the studio visits was at Serpent's Tail publishing, an independent publishing house owned by Profile.
Our appointment was with the marketing director Niamh Murray. She showed us lots of really great book covers and explained how it goes from an idea to a finished book cover. She showed us examples of rough work that had been sent to her from various illustrators and explained why it wasn't suitable or why they had to change it for the finished cover.

She also talked about Amazon and that to successfully market a book on there you have to have a suitable cover. The title needs to be large and easy to read because Amazon only allows you to see a small thumbnail example of the book. This is something I have never considered when designing book covers in past projects.

Another interesting thing she talked about was how an illustrator had sent in his own interpretation of a series of published books as an example of what he was capable of. As a result he did eventually get the chance to do the cover art for one of their books. This is worth doing to catch the attention of a potential client. Seeing an illustrators work in context can clearly make a huge difference.

I've never really felt that my work is suited for book covers and haven't enjoyed producing them in the past. Unfortunately it's something I'm going to have to consider when producing the cover of my children's book in the near future. This visit was very informative, inspiring and have given me a lot to think about.

Before we left we got the chance to have a short portfolio visit with the art director Peter Dyer. One by one we went and showed him our work away from the group. When it got to my turn I suddenly felt quite nervous. We sat down and he immediately began looking through my portfolio. He flicked past the first few pages without saying anything. He got to the monsters and I felt that I should say something as it had been silent up til now. I said that I was hoping to become a children's book illustrator after graduation and that my strong point was character design.

He replied something along the lines of 'well I don't know anything about children's books so I can't really give you any feedback.'

I kept quiet again after that...

Once he reached the end of my portfolio he said that my new pig story art work was an improvement on my Uganda story work. I thanked him and gave him one of my business cards but I couldn't help feeling that the whole thing had been a waste of both of our times.

FMP Progress

Lots of progress has been made for my FMP children's picture book.


I've produced several story boards and rough books that have helped me to refine my ideas to an almost finished state. I still think there are elements of the book that could be improved on but I still have 8 weeks to pull it all together.


Below are some examples of what I've been working on... 

These are 3 of the pages from my most recent rough book. I'm really happy with these three.

These are a few of my characters and background objects from the book. The textures and designs might still change. I also want to incorporate some hand rendered texts into the book.

This is my possible colour pallet for the majority of the book. Once the paints have been introduced in the story the colour pallet will become more like a rainbow.