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.

Other Bits and Bobs

Here are a few other illustrations that I have produced recently alongside work for FMP. I've been playing around with lots of new textures and a new lack of outline style.

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.