Illustrator.... me?

As an illustrator, I love to draw, like most illustrators. But what makes an illustrator an individual. Personally I believe it's there drive for why they want to draw, you know, what makes them lose track of time as they're putting pencil to paper. For me, it's a quality of line, I love the fact that you have that control over a pen of a pencil, depending on the pressure on the pencil or the thickness of pen that you're using. But what is most fun is when you use a tool where you have hardly any control at all. It's like learning to draw all over again. Dipping string into ink and trying to create a coherent line. You know what you want to draw in your mind, but the string is going it's own way. Lines are made where they are not wanted and lines you want aren't created. But sometimes this works and it's the chance that you have taken to create it. Lets face it you wouldn't have created that line if you were using a pencil. The string will haven a uneven quality to it, it won't have the same consistent ink flow like a pen, the consistent thickness (or thin) like a finelines. It won't provide straight lines like a pen. But it may still work. Below are a few example that I have done to show this.....

This drawing above is meant to be a drawing of my nan, I used the edge of a cardboard packaging, it was bendable so I could create some curved lines but it was hard to try and apply and even amount of ink, so I just gave up and let it do it for me. Even though I had less control I was still able to make all the features of the face recognisable, you want to worry when you're drawing and it's incoherent!

This is a self portrait using the edge of an old card out of my purse, much like the edge of cardboard but it's much more stronger doesn't lose it's shape as quick and also it's harder to bend without snapping it. So this is the result of a drawing out of nothing but straight(ish) lines! 

Improving my employment prospects...

When I am at home in the summer I work in a pub but that isn't going to get me a job in the business that I want to break into, so I am going to do some volantary work so I get the chance to work in a group with different people. I am going to contact Hallam services in the new year and also with connexions when so I can prepare something for the Easter/Summer holidays.

CV.CV.CV come to think of it now I don't understand how I haven't even got one?! This probably my highest priority seen as I need to produce one for Professional Studies but also a paper copy one so, just incase. Action plan, just do it!

A design placement, as I said before I go home for the summer, so I need to look for design placements nearer to home, this is important as I haven't really had any experience in the design industry other than university. The action plan is to find out an email possible places, also not to be afraid to email, I'm going to have the attitude that if it's a no, it's a no. I've asked, and if you dont ask, you don't get. :)

I need to create my own blog of my processes of work and make sure I keep it up to date, so I have a place to collect images that are appealing and feel that they may come in handy in the near future. Make sure that it is kept UP-TO-DATE! A high priority to go alongside your portolio as it may not be the portfolio that ensures your employment but your blog!

Improving my performance....

As I target I need to improve the appearance of my sketcbook. Not for the fact that its not tidy for the fact that it 's too tidy! I need it to make it look jampacked full of different paperstocks and textures, it gets that thick that it's almost falling apart! My action plan is by the next module I am going to use a bought sketchbook but I am really going to personlise it and put my mark on it and have less precious overall look over it! I want it to look worn out because it's been opened and closed so many times.

Here are some good examples that I would like to aspire to....

Another improvement I need to make as a designer is to become much more confident using Adobe editing software such as illustrator, photoshop and InDesign. This will only come with practice and will improve through the duration of the course. The action plan is to learn the shortcuts (especially on a MAC, seen as I am a PC user) and just to get to a MAC and really get used to using the programs by experimenting with the tools it provides. I know this would have been my downfall seen as I am analogue based. However, the digital side will develop as progress from last year, I am much more comfortable using photoshop and I can get the effects that I am visualising in my mind. It's just illustrator that I really need to work on! As an action plan, I have downloaded the free trials so I have the chance to use the programs on my PC but I must go into uni or even the library more seen as they are available for much longer. Also, I have been following peoples blogs and youtube videos on texhniques of using Adobe Creative Suite, these have been a definate help as I never realised that there was such a massive resource of step-to-step guides for such softwares.

Another target that I need to improve massively is the organisation of my time, it's not the fact that I don't work is that I need to make it more structured as I like to work in the evenings till early hours of the morning, which isn't always the best idea as I am having a lack of sleep. There are other mornings where I wake up and start work straight away and the next time I look at the clock it's 6 o'clock in the evening, nothing else done other than work. (Which is a good thing I suppose but bad as I have done nothing else). So a high priority action plan would be needed! I HAVE to make decisions QUICKER in what I want to do in my final designs. It's not that I leave everything to the last minute but if my time was more structured I feel that I wouldn't stress as much as I do in the last fortnight of a project. Although I learnt from my mistakes my first year I need to be more organised and structured. So gonna make a timetable to stick to....

Forte...

I love my drawing and I am not bad at it, but you've always got to strive for better. Practice makes perfect as they say, this is a highest of priorities is to keep on working on this skill.  Not for the fact that I'll lose but I wont get better at it. In the ikllustration business, there is always someone bigger and better than you. So to overcome this continue to keep drawing, take a sketchbook with me wherever I go and sketch where I am stood. Seen as there is always something to draw.

Since this beginning of the module I have decided to go out into town for at least an hour and create some quick drawing of my surrounding, and to make sure that I am drawing people, so this can improve on my figurative sketching. Some results of a couple of pages...

I go home most weekends to work at my local towns pub, but before I arrived into work I saw an advertisement for Life Drawing sessions  at the town hall every saturday morning until the end of November, so I thought I'd join as this would be the perfect opportunities to improve my life drawing skills. Will post pictures throughout the blog on some of the work that we have done seen as they taught us a few techniques.

Here's an example...

I also want to build on my strengths in the print room, I absolutely LOVE producing monoprints and dry-point etched ones! There are several reasons. Using this monoprint/drypoint etch method I can create textures, a create lines that I can achieve using tools such as pens and pencils. 

Here is a print that I did for the design specialism module. For me to improve my printroom skills is quite important as an illustrator it is good to have as much practice to be more versatile in all areas. The action need ed is to carry on experimenting with the quality of line, awareness to tone and also texture. Another action point would be to be re-inducted into the screen printing as I have forgotten the method from last years session. The final action point would be to go to the print room in my own time so I can create some prints to add to my portfolio.

Another strength of mine which I consider to have as an illustrator is that I enjoy working as part as a team, discussing and listening to others ideas and concepts. You know you're having a good conversation about ideas when you say, 'How did we get from that idea to....this?!'' Being able to talk about ideas to a group is a useful skills to have because if one person can create at least 40 ideas alone, imagine the range of ideas you'd have between 6 brains. An action plan to help continue building on this skills would be to participate more in classes, voicing opinions and not being afraid to be passionate about what I am doing. 

Who am I?

From a very early age I have always been drawn to illustrations in books, I felt that they communicated the story so much more than the words ever did to me. My favorite illustrator used to be Quentin Blake's drawings for Dahl's books. I found his drawings humorous but now that I am older I appreciate and understand why his drawing style reflected upon his characters, for example, The Twits were messy, unclean and thick. Much like the quality of lines that he produced to create the drawings of the characters go hand in hand! Still to this day now that I have read the books over and over again, I always look at the illustrations, brings back fond memories of primary school.

From the age of  9 I began to draw, alot, it was anything really, I found drawing people the hardest and even still to this day, even though when I draw certain features of a person in detail are much better than the person as a whole. I like drawing eyes and mouth but I avoid drawing hands like the plague and that is something that I need to work on! But at the age of 9 Pokemon was a massive phase, my brother and I collected all the magazines and cards for the game. But as I grew out of it I always used to love drawing the characters, because they were made up of shapes and this really helped out with my drawing skills and addition of colour to some drawings. From that point on I have always loved art and anything creative...

Throughout Secondary school, I was determined that I would be doing fine art as a GCSE, I did and continued to do something I enjoyed. However, although I was always improving my observational drawings and other art skills like clay work and collages. I continued into A Level and it came to the point where I had to choose whether I wanted to study Graphic Design or Fine Art. When I chose this course I knew it would allow me to experiment and get my hands messy like I did at college.