Many More Monsters!

There have been lots of new members to the monster family over the past few months! Below are a few of my favourites... 

You can now also follow the daily monster on tumblr here TheDailyMonsterMadness

A wonderful place for all things monstrous!

Patchwork Pie

The second project I've been working on since graduation is for a website that is yet to be made live! (so not sure if I should be talking about it yet, whoops)

The idea is that you post a request for help with odd jobs etc, and then people respond offering to help. Then you can pick the best person for the job based on their price, rating or rank.

They asked me if I would produce a set of illustrations that helped explain how the website works for their users.
Unfortunately this job is unpaid and I agreed before I got the offer of the paid children's book job (whoops). But I figure it will be good exposure! It's also been a good chance for me to practice drawing people which is something I have been reluctant to do in the past. Hopefully this will show potential new clients that I'm able to draw something other than monsters!


I got a rough description of what each part needed to explain but still had a great deal of creative freedom! Its only been towards the end of the project that the client has started to request different colours and fonts, luckily nothing too complicated to change.

I've had to change a few details to enable it to work on their website layout such as the background colour and font. I preferred the lemon background with blue header and footer sections... But alas, this will have to do :P

*Update* I have just received an email informing me that Patchwork pie is now up and running! Click this link to have a look!

Hatty the Giraffe

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I have been working with on a new children's book about a giraffe called Hatty.

I was contacted by a woman working at a graphics agency who had been told about me by her co-worker who attended the grow into town event a few months ago.

This is the first time I've worked on a story that wasn't mine and had no control on what the illustrations would be. I've found this to be both good and bad. It's good being told what to draw because it saves time having to think of something to do. However it is rather dull having less creative freedom on a project.

I've never been that great at taking criticism but this project has definitely helped with that! I've always been very stubborn and sometimes lazy with my own work. If I think it will do then I will use it. However this project has made me realise that I need to try drawing things several times before getting bored and accepting the first sketch as final.

The story is about a giraffe named Hatty who gets tired of her friends picking on her for being so tall. So one day she packs her bags and sets off on an adventure to find other things around the world that are tall, just like her. She eventually misses her home and her friends and returns to a very apologetic group of animals. They throw a party, look at photos and listen to all Hatty's stories.

The only work left now is the front cover! I'm very excited to see the finished book and have been told I will receive a copy to add to my portfolio!
Will be posting more once the book is all finished. Exciting times!

Quiet Spell

I have been neglecting my blog ever since graduation, which is a shame because a lot has happened since then! I've been continuing with my daily monster challenge which is well on the way to 500 monsters now!

I have also been working on an illustration for a new website to be used to help people understand how the website works better.
My third and final project is the children's book 'Hatty the Giraffe' which I will be posting about in more detail in future blog posts (hopefully).

I've also got a ton of ideas I want to get started on! It's been very chaotic since graduation! Have learnt a great deal from the two current projects, some good and some bad.
I've also joined up with an agency called AdvocateArt which I am very excited about! 

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.