SB2 - The Illustrated Self INITIAL THOUGHTS

Following on from the word map task, I have tried to simplify this into a more basic model to drive some initial ideas. I am now starting to think how I can communicate these things as elements of my practice rather than just interests. 

To understand the dimensions of my practice, I think there are 3 main aspects to consider; studentship, illustration practice, personal concerns. What am I about?

Person
Romantic ideals, I wish everything could be the way it was. I really love to imaging past ways of living and I think this drives my interest in found objects, vintage paraphernalia and books. The music I listen to is primarily from past decades, I don't really concern myself with contemporary musicians, except a few who capture some sort of nostalgia, perhaps because these artists say something about the world they lived in, the authenticity of the time. Children's books and play are exciting to me, I wish I could be an adult child, free to play and make things up. This probably is the biggest driving force behind my interest in being a children's book illustrator. Being interested in past music, the value of the book, and dying social cultures, perhaps shows my romanticised view of the world, searching for authenticity in an ever homogenous world. 

Student
I aim to be conscientious but sometimes let fear and worry get in my way. Need to channel the drive I had at school, why was I always on top of my work even though there were so many subjects? Hardworking but wish I had the constant rush of ideas some of my peers have. Want to nurture my approach to work, and feel less scared to just start.

Practitioner
I want my practice to continue under a playful, fun and naive tone of voice. I'd love to develop my practice to such a level that I just know how I want to make an image, sometimes I worry that I don't actually know what many things look like and that I can't just imagine an authentic illustration. Working in a collective could be a nice way to maintain a creative community. Would like to see my work in books but also on toys or homewares. Like to create a sense of craft and authenticity in my images by would like to develop this through traditional analogue media, focus on screen print. I am excited by simplicity and shape based images but textural details and mischievous characters are a driving force too.

VISUAL MOTIFS/ APPROACHES TO TAKE:

• Nostalgia - toys as metaphor for play, imagery of past eras
• Romantic notions - lyrics as language to drive meaning of image, can i summarise my values in a song?
• Playful, fun tone of voice 
• Intent for practice - use character as symbol of where I want my practice to go
• Sense of community through multiple characters
• Screen-print or collage to achieve authentic aesthetic
• Imagery of traditional cultures - brass banding

VAROOM #35 -Storytelling

INTERVIEW WITH ISOL ON STORYTELLING

This interview, found in Varoom, explores the insipration around Isol's (Marisol Misenta) storymaking and the approaches she takes to creating a narrative. Certain ideas popped out about the act of making a story. Isol describes storywriting as 'a nice game to invent something'. I am really interested in this idea of inventing something, that the story can be your own play with ideas and dreams, perhaps becoming a completely new invention. 

On the issue of invention, Isol goes on to say that the most important part of a narrative is 'an original point of view', suggesting that the author or illustrator does not need to necessarily invent a completely new world or narrative, but just be able to tell a story that is unique in it's perspective. I think this is something to consider in line with my interests in british cultures, I would not want to create a book that relays the ideas and perceptions that are stereotypical, but perhaps find interpretations that are personal. 

Isol also discusses the idea of taking the reader on a journey; 'The capacity for the artist to have an original point of view takes the reader into a new state of surprise so that he/she can feel or think about the world and its wonders (in which the book is included) in a fresh way.' It here seems that the artist's way of seeing becomes the binoculars through which the reader looks onto the story. As I move into level 5, I am really excited to start focusing on the sort of narrative work that inspires my work so frequently. I have taken inspiration from many children's books but have not yet fully had the opportunity to explore story telling which I would like to be a key part of my developing practice. 

SB2 - The Illustrated Self WORD MAP

TASK

Commencing the next studio brief of PPP, the production of a word map about myself and my practice enabled me to draw connections between seemingly isolated aspects of my interests. This task encouraged a consideration of the self, creativity, the discipline of illustration and studentship.

Breaking myself down into subheadings, these issues seemed most important:

-PRACTICE - illustrations/ mischievous, playful tone of voice/ children's books/ character design/ conscientiousness/ fulfilment and achievement

-CHILDREN'S CULTURES - picture books, toys, secrets and story telling, fictional languages and characters, playful clothes, fun primary colours

-LITERATURE -importance of reading and language, interpretation of language through image making, tales of past eras

-FOUND OBJECTS - nostalgia, restricted ways of living, mechanical, packaging

-MUSIC - Morrissey, romantic music, melancholia, social criticism, Alex Turner

-FILMS - Wes Anderson, nostalgia, colour palettes, Submarine, youth cultures

-GENTRIFICATION - Working class towns, mining, mills, dying cultures/traditions, brass banding, communities

While these aspects of my interests and practice operate in their own terms, the task of creating a word map helped me to realise the links between these sources. 

CONCLUSIONS

I have always been concerned with working class towns and cultures, probably for their raw and honest ways of living. Run down or even derelict buildings seem to maintain the narratives of past eras and I am particularly intrigued in the idea of restricted ways of living and how this drove working class towns to operate close knit communities and develop social cultures such as brass bands and morris dancing. 

A conversation with Matt helped me to identify how this related to the music I am interested in and more generally, how all these things informed my practice, however subtle. 

Recognising the romantic and idealist narrative in Morrissey's songs, his working class, Manchester background is developed in his story telling and melancholic lyrics. Something which although I had recognised, I had not connected with my interests in gentrification. Matt immediately picked up on Morrissey's story telling as being a realisation of the authenticity and community of working class towns and restricted living. 

I was then able to draw a connection on my interests in children's illustration as I very much value the importance of reading and the book but particularly want to celebrate storytelling in the way it was when books were a child's entertainment. It seems that this celebration of the book channels the nostalgia and primitiveness of working class cultures, further drawing a connection across my practice. 

I also identified that through the crafted approaches I take to image making, my work becomes concerned with authenticity, perhaps a more subtle connection between my practice and wider interests. 

Having completed the word map, I have identified synthesis in my practice and understood connections between things which stood in isolation at the start of the task. I will hopefully be able to draw on the conclusions of this word map in the development of my Illustrated Self response.

Tereza Rowe - MISTER PIP

I BOUGHT A NEW BOOK!

I keep seeing this book around and am always enthralled by the beautifully delicate illustrations. On a recent visit to the Tate, I got a copy of the book and now having read it, I can see that Tereza Rowe's lovely image making is complimented also my a similarly charming narrative. Taking us on a journey of all the mischief and troubles of a cat, Mister Pip, the narrative explores actions and sounds, perfect for an engaging early children's book. 

VISUAL DEVICES AND DECISIONS

A decision Rowe has made about composition is to allow scenes and actions to interplay across spreads. These ever-changing visuals drive the action-packed narrative and drive the pace of mischief and trouble. It is interesting also that Rowe has decided to use scale in her images to create a hierarchy. Logically, the little girl and cat wouldn't be too far different in size but Rowe chooses to scale down the little girl to enhance the prominence of Mister Pip, perhaps using the girl then as a visual device to explore a sense of observation. This seems to play to ideas and experiences children might have about their own pets, as such, creating an engaging narrative.

Texture is used throughout the book to mimic pencil crayon, contrasted by warm block colours that create a very fun and exciting tone of voice. Texture works to add visual interest to the more minor elements of Rowe's images, enhancing the impact of block shapes forming the base of each illustration. Variation in font size also works to enhance the sense of action and pace of the narrative, drawing attention to sounds and actions that children can mimic, again encouraging audience engagement.

This final spread explores a merging of all the components we have seen throughout the book, achieving a very busy scene only to highlight the adventures of Mister Pip. As a final spread, I think this works really well to encourage children to imagine the life of Mister Pip and or their own pets, and the exciting adventures thy may have, enabling the narrative to continue outside of the book.

DISPLAY - London Transport Museum - COMMUNICATION DESIGN

IMAGE, IDEA & CONTEXT

On a recent trip to london, I paid a visit to the transport museum to see their collection of information and tourism posters. I'd been inspired by the wealth of illustration used on the underground signs and posters on a previous visit so thought a visit to the collection would be exciting. Something common across many of the posters in the collection was the use of reduced colour palettes and often shape based imagery. From seeing a wealth of posters from throughout the years of the museum, these approaches to image making seem consistent, perhaps for their simplicity and immediacy. The images above by Frederick Charles Herrick were created in the 1920s, demonstrating the importance of design even in more restricted eras.  Herrick employs motifs of leisure to promote the city's rich social culture. Playing to London's theatre heritage, the 'seeing' image is immediate through imagery, yet appropriately considered in line with the cultures the city boasts.  

This is paralleled by Victor Galbraith who also employs visual devices to communicate motifs of the city. The image of the pigeon appeals to humour whilst employing the iconic underground sign as his eye to merge the ideas of travel. The use of the underground symbol as a device for the eye draws an immediate connection between social opportunities and travel, demonstrating the on-going connection between travel information posters and tourism. 

The work of Horace Taylor explores the vibrancy of 1920s London, his work perhaps serving to colour the city. Block, vibrant pop colours explore fun and playful aesthetics, achieving a tone of voice that unveils a brighter, more exciting way of living in such a metropolis. It is interesting that across these posters, one thing is consistent, they all appeal to a lifestyle that can be achieved by using the underground, demonstrating the weight of visual imagery on the success of seemingly necessary facilities. 

DISPLAY - V&A Post-Soviet Print-Making

REJECTING SOVIET VALUES OF IMAGE-MAKING

I saw these gorgeous prints at the V&A last weekend. In a collection of post-soviet printmaking, the work of Olga and Alexander Florensky seemed to really celebrate colour and shape. Through the use of numbers and titles, these images seem to echo children's alphabet books or encyclopaedias. The text fosters a cut-out aesthetic, complimenting the seemingly child orientated aesthetic of these images through the playful qualities. Direct and limited language supports graphic black and white images, grounded on bold block colours. Colour here seems to contribute to the encyclopaedia aesthetic by creating immediate visual divisions. Visible from just the tank and fish is the value of line. Dashes and arrows direct the line of sight an enhance a sense of action in these images. Composition is well considered with central text, allowing the figurative elements to occupy space as necessary to their context. 

As a series, the prints have a real immediacy and power to them through their graphic qualities and bold colour palettes. In regards to the post-soviet context, in is interesting that these prints celebrate very reduced and simplified components, rebelling against the values of soviet-realism.

This illustration also stood out as being full of charm and narrative. Despite the macabre subject matter, the child-art aesthetic appears so playful and delicate, creating humorous characters. Mark making and tone here seems to achieve a really delicate texture, enhancing the charm of the overall image. 

EXHIBITION - Tate Britain - DAVID HOCKNEY 60 Years of Work

A lawn being sprinkled, 1967

Peter getting out of Nick's pool, 1966                                              Sunbather, 1966

Seeing such a huge amount of Hockney's work was really overwhelming, yet really insightful as the exhibition displayed the artist's development from art school to now, with all the different directions taken along the way. The work that I was most excited to see were Hockney's swimming pool paintings. I think for me this was because they seem most demonstrative of Hockney's very characterised approach to image making, through line quality and gesture. Hockney seems to achieve a tone of voice and aesthetic that is very unique and illustrative in quality. Considering, both the pool images above, both explore line quality as a means of employing gesture. It is interesting that Hockney has used line in this way to communicate the qualities of water rather than attempting to mimic photorealistic imagery. This line quality not only employs gesture to assert a narrative, it also works to foster an illustrative and characterised image. 

From the swimming pool images, and the wider exhibition, I recognised that Hockney's playful aesthetic and very sophisticate consideration of line and mark is something that transforms Hockney's  practice from drawing to image making. It is Hockney's decision making and employment of visual devices such a line quality that translate his way of seeing into a very unique body of work.

Twenty 6th V.N. painting, 1992

Hotel Aclatan, 1984

Something which also appeared pivotal to Hockney's wider practice was colour. Most of his work seems to revolve around saturated, warm tones, creating very fun and playful imagery. Many images seem characterised by saturated colour as this works to elevate subject matter and enhance value and hierarchy. Consideration of colour, particularly in the image above, seems to work simultaneously with mark making to achieve a delicate yet playful tone of voice sensitive to Hockney's observations of ways of living. Texture here works with colour to capture a playful aesthetic, helping Hockney's work to resonate with a wider audience through its perhaps more joyous and celebratory approach to still life painting.

Red pots in the garden, 2000

From seeing such an extensive body of Hockney's work, I am interested to consider Hockney more as an illustrator than by his 'fine artist' label. I think this is informed by his visual language, informed by visual devices, gesture and colour palettes, Hockney seems to communicate his observations through what he chooses to see and how he chooses to see it.

Lord Whitney - Connoisseurs of make believe

Yorkshire Post Article
I came across an article about Lord Whitney in a supplement in the newspaper. While I haven't yet concerned much of my work with the 3D, Lord Whitney have demonstrated the diverse range of possibilities and values brought about by working 3 dimensionally. Reading the interview, one think that stood out to me was their interpretation of illustration; "The first jobs we got were illustration, so we'd build mini-sets in our bedrooms and photograph them, dress as canaries, anything to be as original as possible". It is interesting that 3D is their instinctual approach to illustration, perhaps through the ability to play and move components to explore a range of scenarios. 

 

Their work explores such a vibrancy of colours and textures, merging the hand-made with the found object, or even themselves. These images above capture very illustrative scenes and objects, characterised by colour and shape, yet realised through the presence of a figure to a very immediate image. I am really intrigued by Lord Whitney's ideology around the possibilities of image making and how I might be able to use 3D elements to enhance the immediacy of my own narratives. 

EXHIBIT - Print Stuff

PRINT COMMUNITY

I paid a visit to the lovely print stuff in York this weekend. There were so many great print-makers and illustrators there, a super inspiring bunch. It was great to see such a high level of professional illustrators and interesting that print fairs such as this, inform such an integral part of their professional and commercial practice. Already a fan of Louise Lockhart, I was interested to see her work in a more community based outlet, rather than in the larger bookshops I have seen her work in previously. The print fair seemed like a suitable outlet for the artists to display a range of work in order to reveal something about the practice as a whole, something which I feel is difficult to identify when you seen just single prints or books in shops. 

The print fair seemed like a great networking opportunity for many of the artists there, with print-makers, presses and crafters exhibiting alongside each other, informing each others practice.

PARTICIPATION

I got involved by having some screen-prints on sale on the LCA stall. Having not created any personal print work this year, I chose to display some prints from my foundation final major project. While my practice may be developing, I had many prints prepared from a previous stall I had run and so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to display my work again. Contextually, the print fair seemed like a more appropriate outlet to display my work, with the audience perhaps being more like-minded than the community market I had previously sold at.

MARKO

From the fair I came away very inspired by the shape based work of Mark Wheatley. His prints explored very playful, delicate shapes within a range of textures. Abstract forms seemed key to most of his outcomes and I was particularly interested in the way Wheatley had characterised these abstract shapes through simple visual devices. Play is something I would like to develop in my own work in order to resonate with my interests in child-art and fun characters.