Wednesday 23 December 2015

Irana Douer

For a while now, I've been very interested and influenced by the work of Argentinian artist Irana Douer.I find the style of her work to be really simplistic yet effective, the messiness of the pencil marks on the paper looks really good in contrast to the rest of the fine lines in her images. Irana has tackled the issue of the role of women in society, feeling like she has always been a strong, independent female and has tried to translate this feeling of strength and power into her work. Irana's work has really influenced me to start exploring illustration using a pencil and sometimes mixing this with paint and colour, materials which I would usually stay away from due to the messiness and lack of control you can sometimes have while using them. 















Friday 18 December 2015

OUIL402 Study Task 3 - Aesthetic

Aesthetic
Marcus Oakley - I really like the pastel tones of this pattern created by Marcus Oakley. The contrast of the black lines over the top of the colours is really striking and works well. I thought it was interesting to see how you can still use quite light, pastel shades of colour and overlap them with black without letting the black lines dominate the whole image. 

John McNaught - Once again the thing that really struck me about this piece was the colour palette. The light pastel shades of blue and pink mixed with the darker blue colour works really well and this is enhanced with the use of shape and mark making to achieve texture in the piece. 

Dick Vincent - I really love this piece, the composition and use of colour works so well together, I like how theres been a fair amount of detail added without over complicating the image and Vincent has used negative space effectively to add more of this detail. This image was based around British Folklore that Badgers bury their dead and even perform a burial ceremony which I found really interesting and I think this was also another reason I was so drawn to this piece.

Natalie Foss - I really like how vivid the colours are in this piece, Foss works amazingly with coloured pencils. I love how the colours contrast with each other and also how Foss has used lighter, softer shades of these colours to add detail and contours to the face. 

OUIL402 Study Task 3 - Context

Context
Jessalyn Aaland - I really love the bold bright colours of this screen printed zine by Jessalyn Aaland. The busy background really contrasts with the simplistic white type, meaning that the image isn't too messy, or overpowering, it just creates this really pleasing, striking aesthetic.

Martina Paukova - I think the colours in this piece of illustration work really well together, they kind of create a dreamlike feel to the cover, with all the girls floating in the water and the big sea monster behind them. I also like the style of the characters, Paukova has used shape well when creating these characters.

Andrea Wan - I was really drawn to this piece of editorial work by Andre Wan because of the idea behind it. The article was on raising teenagers and I think this illustrates that idea brilliantly. The woman is holding the shape of a child but the child is actually a house with a teenager sat in bed upstairs and the mother looking up towards her. The idea behind this is really clever and shows how you can illustrate simple points using clever and complex illustration. 






OUIL402 Study Task 3 - Purpose

Purpose


Rachel Ignotofsky - Rachel Ignotofsky series of science illustrations got me interested in science and anatomy for the first time in forever! I'm sure if we'd have had these to look at in GCSE Science I might have paid a bit more attention and learnt something. Aimed at younger children, it's easy to see how these quirky illustrations can help kids to understand and learn about science in a way thats a lot more fun and interesting than just looking at a textbook.

Ryn Frank - Ryn Frank's Wedding Map struck me as a really sweet idea to make your wedding day a little bit more personal. The map allows people to know where different aspects of the wedding are taking place and how to get there, all while maintaining a beautiful aesthetic with delicate, feminine illustrations. 

CITIx60 - Citix60 are wonderfully illustrated city guidebooks brought to you through the eyes of 60 different local creatives from each area. I think this is a really great idea, the covers and contents of the guidebooks are really engaging and because it's produced by so many people you'll be able to get a lot of different information on the city from a lot of different people. Quite small and handy to carry around in a pocket, these seem perfect for any traveller or adventurer in a new city.

Lili Chin - Lili Chins great use of shape makes this illustrative dog breed poster really fun to look at! Shape is something we've been looking at a lot in Visual Language and now when i see pieces like this I can really appreciate the use of shape to make these cute little dog illustrations. This poster also thought me that French Bulldogs are in fact English dogs, not French!

OUIL402 Study Task 3 - Product

Product


Coralie Bickford-Smith - I recently saw this book in Waterstones and honestly thought it was the most beautifully illustrated children's book I had ever seen. The colours used in the book are limited to the dark blue on the cover and a bright, vivid orange that has been used for the fox illustrations. The illustrations really add to the overall feel of the book and bring to life the story inside. 

John Littleboy - I think these cards are really fun and playful, they're pretty funny to look at and make what would usually just be a plain dull set of cards become interesting and entertaining to look at. Each different suit of cards tells a story of a dog embarking on a different activity e.g. digging holes, I think this really gives the cards character and adds to the humour of them.

Vikki Chu - I really like the softness of the Illustrations in this calendar. They're very delicate with a lot of detail and I'd also say they were quite feminine in how they have been produced. I think that applying Illustrations to things like calendars, which can be pretty dull, makes them easier too engage with. Because the calendar looks nice it makes you want to use it more. 

Jon Klassen - Jon Klassen is an illustrator I've recently discovered and one who's work I have fallen in love with. The use of textures and shape work really well together and I think that applying his type of Illustration to books is really effective with the words and images complementing each other.

OUIL402 Study Task 3 - Process

Process


Sara Falli - Sara Falli's use of gouache is really striking. I love how she's overlapped different colours and different elements of the image to make this really interesting piece. I like how she's used the pink to highlight different body parts. This really stands out from the green/grey tones in the rest of the image. 

Michael Howard - I was really drawn to this piece because of the use of mark making. I think the use of marks gives a lot of character to the piece. I also like the bright pink bubble of the bubble gum, this is central to the image and draws the eyes in due to the vibrancy of the colour against the more earthy tones of the rest of the image.

Peony Yip - I really like how the Illustrator has overlapped this image, the composition is really well thought through with the girl and the animal being in similar positions. I like how the drawings are quite simple but overlap to make a piece that is more interesting and more intricate. 
Justin Lee Williams - I find this image really striking, the way the colours bleed together to create distorted facial features is really interesting. I think the image is pretty weird and quite unsettling to look at but I think that that's what makes it so striking to look at and this feeling is definitely enhance with the eerie way that the blacks of the mouth and eyes bleed into the rest of the face. 


OUIL402 Study Task 3 - Content

Content


Lizzy Stewart - I really love how this piece of narrative looks, being mostly black and white with a peachy colour that draws in the eye. I love how Stewart has made the group of girls sound like warriors preparing for some kind of battle. Being 14 myself at one point I can relate to this piece a lot, girls used to wander around in groups, gathered on walls and in parks, thinking they were on top of the world. 

Irana Douer - Since discovering Irana Douers work, she has quickly become one of my favourite Illustrators. I love how she makes her female characters look strong and wild. I feel like she really manages to push through the personality of her characters in a really beautiful but simple way.

Rachel Levit - The plant in this piece of Illustration is so striking! I love the vividness of the orange leaves against the more muted tones of the rest of the Illustration. I also think the composition of this piece is really interesting, there's an element of mystery too it with the plant covering the girls face. 

Martha Verschaffel - I found this piece to be really emotive. The blue/black tones accompanied with the image and text are really striking and to me provoke a sense of loneliness and loss. This combined with the hand made aesthetic works really well and has produced a piece that is very personal and provokes emotion in people.



Tuesday 8 December 2015

OUIL402 Study Task 2 - What Do I Want To Know? What Am I Going To Do?

10 questions I want to find the answers to as part of my degree

1. How do I network effectively with other creatives? 
I want to learn how to present myself and my work to other creatives and professionals and in turn make strong connections within Illustration as an industry. To do this I expect to learn a variety of skills that will help make networking a little bit easier and I will also try to build contacts through attending as many extra-curricular events and activities as possible.

2. What career options are available after graduation?
I want to know what career options are available to me after graduating and what I can expected as a newly graduated Illustrator. I will answer this question by researching different careers and career paths and also speaking to graduates. I will also be constantly reflecting on my practical work to see what I enjoy most and what methods I enjoy working with most, as well as trying to figure out what kind of Illustration I want to be making. 

3. How should I present myself as an Illustrator online? 
I want to learn how I should present myself online in order to attract interest in my work and to help me build a name for myself and a client base. I want to know how I get my work noticed online, and what kinds of social media platforms I should be using to do this. To find the answer to this I will be investigating the different types of creative platforms that I can use to share my work with others.

4. How do I develop my own visual signature without limiting myself? 
I want to be able to have a strong sense of identity as an Illustrator by the time I finish the course, or at least be on the right path to finding that sense of identity. Saying this, I still want to be able to work flexibly, to a variety of different briefs, using a variety of tools and materials. I will answer this question by exploring the different briefs we are given and the different materials I will be working with to their fullest potential, and realising how to bend and flex them to my own style/visual signature.

5. How do I gain confidence in my work? 
I want to learn how to be more confident in myself and mainly in my work, it has always been something I have struggled with, especially in terms of group contribution and speaking in front of an audience. To overcome this I am going to try and push my worries aside and engage regularly in group discussion and try and be a participating member of the group.

6. How do I improve my technical skills? 
I want to be able to use digital tools a lot more confidently as this is an area I haven't really explored before and one that I often shy away from. To improve my technical skills I am going to have to confront the media that I'm not comfortable with using yet and attend workshops/sessions that deal with this area of Illustration as well as trying to find some spare time to practice at home.

7. How do I stay organised and on top of my workload? 
I want to improve my time-management skills over the duration of this course, being able to keep up with the workload and meet deadlines on time consistently. To do this I will make sure I attend all sessions to make sure I am not falling behind on work and also keep my blog up to date and have blog posts completed on time.

8. How do I stay motivated and passionate about Illustration without loosing interest?
I want to know how I can keep myself motivated and passionate about Illustration in an industry that is so competitive and that is usually filled with briefs and deadlines. I want to know how I can still love doing what I do and how to effectively turn that into a career without loosing my drive. I will do this by constantly opening myself up to new things, new experiences, new illustrators and image makers, new ways of looking at the world around me, new techniques and new materials. I will keep my passion for Illustration by becoming more involved with everything around me. 

9. What are the different fields of Illustration and which one is right for me? 
I want to know more about the different paths Illustration can take you down and whether I am suited to one of those particular areas or whether I can branch out into a few different ones. To do this I want to try and fully explore most different areas of Illustration e.g. editorial, book illustration etc, and figure out where my interests lie and which path is right for me to follow.

10. Am I good enough? Am I cut out for the creative industry or have I bitten off more than I can chew? 
I constantly question my own self worth and my creative ability and constantly compare myself to others. I think the only way I can really answer this question is to push myself as far as I can. I should be producing work and images that I am proud of and happy to show off to the world but I should also be producing work that isn't as good, work that I can reflect on and learn from. I want to know whether I have the strength in myself and the belief in my work to make it in the creative field, but I guess the only way I'm going to know this is if I push myself to do my best.