Thought Bubble: Reflection

This weekend I was lucky enough to go to Thought Bubble, the Leeds based Comic Convention. It was interesting to see how much appreciation the 'Big Two' comic companies get so I made a point of trying to stay clear from them for the first day.

I spoke to Phillipa Rice who was kind enough to sign and Illustrate a copy of her mini book 'Soppy'. I also asked her about her process in which she said once she has an initial idea/ sketch made she can draw her final copies relatively quickly.

I later visited the talk with Jeff Brown (Vader and Son) called 'Make It Then Tell Everybody'. I went in expecting it to be a talk about promoting your work and maybe hearing about the hardships of getting your work out there at first. Instead I sat and listened to him talk about his family, their influence on his work and how he manages his professional day. Although this wasn't what I expected I still found what he said to be interesting and informative. His working day is built around his child with most of his time being spent in coffee shops, not at home which is interesting.

The next day I gave in to my mainstream urges by getting several graphic novels signed, buying first print copies of comics and looking for classic DC comics.

Sam Arthur Visit

Today we were visited by Sam Arthur, co founder and managing director of Nobrow Press who gave an open lecture at the college about Nobrow before giving the Illustration group a private Q&A.

I felt today was very invaluable, not only did we get to talk to someone from a publishing company but we were given an actual insight into how to help get our work out there, the attitudes we should have as professionals and a more business like understanding of our careers.

Sam highlighted that technical ability isn't the be all and end all of illustration, he pointed out that he's worked with people whose skills are the most amazing but their passion and attitude more than make up for it.

What interested me was Sam's acknowledgement that he doesn't really draw much any more due to the demand of running a business. It's an interesting area to me, I want a career in illustration to make money, that's obvious, but I couldn't imagine giving it up my illustration time for anything.

(A postcard I got from Sam by illustrator Ben Newman)

Adrian Tomine: New York Drawings

I recently borrowed a book from the College Library; New York Drawings by Adrian Tomine. I first heard of him during Matt's Illustration Lecture on the 6th November and wanted to view more of his work after seeing the piece 'Missed Connection, 2004'.

(Missed Connection: Front Cover to 'New York Drawings')

Here is a selection of his work from the book that appealed to me the most:

 (Storytelling, 2002)

I like this piece because of the soft colour palette that has been used. I'm also fascinated with the woman (Selma Blair) in the forefront, why does she look so fed up?

(Pop Notes, All This Jazz, Classical Notes, 2003)

I love how these three connected images are also brought together by the block background colours. It's an interesting method of colouring.

(The Lost Girl, 2003)

Again the background is what made this piece appeal to me. How he uses the shape of the peoples heads to add colour is effective. It feels like the black and purple should be in the opposite place however the piece works because of this interchange.

(Pacific Street Station, 2004)

There are two reasons why this piece stood out for me. Firstly, the line work is fantastic! I hate drawing straight lines as it bothers me when they are perfectly straight. This illustration is a perfect example that lines don't have to be perfectly straight to function. Secondly there is no generic border for this piece, the illustration ends where it needs to rather than being forced to.

(D Uptown, 2004)

Again the lack of generic border works for this piece. It also appears to be the same female from the 'Missed Connection' piece suggesting he completed several studies of this woman.

(Me Media, 2006)

I feel this piece works so well because written language isn't necessary here. The visual imagery is powerful enough to explain that this is about social media.

(When Anxiety is at the Table, 2008)

This piece is similar to the trio of music themed pieces from 2003, 'Pop Notes, All This Jazz and Classical Notes' in that he has used the singular colour method to fill the background. Very powerful. I love the thick uncoloured outline of the character, it really puts a barrier around him.

(Laundromat, 2012)

What appeals to me here is the framing method of the image. The round image on black background suggests that the audience is looking at these people from inside a washing machine/dryer. Very interesting view point.

A. TOMINE (2012), New York Drawings, 1st Edition, London, Faber and Faber.

Visual Skills - End of Module Self Evaluation

I have come a long way in the short space of time since starting this module. It didn’t feel like I had when I first thought about it but the evidence suggests otherwise. In a professional sense I have learnt to work in a group better, allowing me to criticise in a productive manner as well as receive critical feedback to enhance my own work. In a stylistic sense, my work has evolved, not drastically, but I am already using tools that I would never have considered before like brush pens or matchsticks.

Tools that I previously had used before are becoming better developed too, such as my Photoshop skills. I have learnt more in the past few weeks about the software than I have since first finding out about it. This is something I want to learn more about and will have to create time outside of studio time to do this. Concept work is something I have also used in the past, although unintentionally and unwittingly. Now I feel that I am aware of the uses of concept work and will use it to produce more realised work than I have in the past.

As I stated earlier I have begun using a brush pen and matchsticks, these have altered my line work greatly and I will look further into different means of creating lines. Although I do like my brush pen, I feel that it has limitations so more interesting methods like matchsticks will be more useful as my work evolves further.

Although my work has moved on somewhat from when I first started this module it’s only through rigorous experimentation that it can go farther. However experimentation is not my strong point at the moment and it is something that I’m going to have to work on if I want to discover more varied means of illustration making. In a professional capacity, I really need to keep on top of my blog. There were several points within this module when I fell behind with it and this will hamper me later on should I not learn from my mistakes here.

From this I can say there are several points I need to pick up on moving forward. Firstly, I need to keep on top of my blog as I just stated. This also applies to my work in general. I need to be more organised with myself and my work. There were several instances within this project where I let myself down due to poor organisation and I can’t let it happen any more. I also need to experiment more to create a more varied and visually interesting style. This experimentation can take place during the development process of my future projects as these both topics are heavily reliant on each other and are both areas I need to work on.

Finally I feel I need to be more motivated and committed to my work. As can been seen by the quantity of work, I only really began to commit myself for the latter briefs. I need to maintain the attitude I had at the end of this module for the rest of my career.

Luke Pearson: Hilda and the Midnight Giant

After Matt's illustration lecture I went to the Library looking for work by Luke Pearson, I found Hilda and the Midnight Giant (which I now know is the second Hilda Book).

I really enjoyed this book, largely due to Pearson's artwork; he illustrates a very interesting world in which Hilda lives.

Pearson has a great eye for composition with his pages never feeling too cluttered yet never feeling to empty either. One particular page that really stood out for me was the full page reveal of the Midnight Giant - for me this is just a superbly constructed page. Everything works in my opinion, the line work, colour and tone, space - just beautiful.

Print Room Workshop: Rossington Street

Today we a Print Room Workshop in Rossington Street. I was ill for the last Print Room Workshop so it was important I attended this one.

We used acrylic paints on made stencils in a printing press to create coloured shape images. We were also shown how to act accordingly within the print room. Here are my outcomes: