Feedback From Hannah Firmin

I send linoprint illustrator HannahFirmin a pdf of my portfolio she said :

"Hi Vicky, just had a chance to look at your great portfolio.
I feel these pieces are very strong and individual.I really like the way you combine the linocut look with flat areas of colour ,this I think would appeal very much to art directors looking for images nowadays.
Keep on doing this great work ! But never forget that behind any technique there needs to be good drawing ,so keep on drawing ....sketch books etc.it always shows if someone has neglected this side of their work. I 'm not saying you have , and I am always saying this to students....a bit of an obsession with me.
Great stuff! Have a good Christmas and good luck in the new year.
Regards Hannah ."

Anna Betts

I looked at illustrator Anna Betts  Linoprints for some inspiration on different ways to experiment with making my own lino prints in terms of texture, colour, line etc. I like how this print is mostly flat colour and shape based, but there is also hints of texture.

Hope Fears and oppurtunities

My hopes for the future are to pass this course and  get a job as a freelance illustrator. My fears are failing the course and being unable to get a job as an illustrator. I also fear not being able to develop my lino prints to a higher standard. The opportunities I have to get into the illustration industry are competitions, talking to people in the industry via emails and showing people in the industry my portfolio.

Matthew Carey Simos

II

I have looked at  artist Matthew Carey Simons  Linoprints  for some inspiration on how to improve my own linoprints for example the way I can add texture, line and colour in different ways. I like how some areas of his work are heavily textured and some aren't, this gives his work more sophistication.

Feedback from Alan Baker

I asked illustrator Alan Baker for feedback on prints that I made for my current project. He said
"I like the work a lot, the colours work well.

They would work well as large posters, or even as multiple images put together and playing with the colours in Photoshop [Andy Warhol style]

or- made up as postage stamps with the queens head and a price, they would also look brilliant reduced down to stamp size.

Your choices of limited colour works well and likewise the composition. The print making quality gives a really nice loose feel to the work.

Great stuff!"

 It was interesting to get feedback from someone working in the illustration industry.

What does illustration mean?

To me, an illustration is a piece of art which is made for a specific purpose, for example a children's book ,posters, manuals etc.. It is mainly used as a visual aid to accompany text. By pushing the boundaries of illustration, however,  illustrators can find new audiences for their work. The problem with this is that when people see an illustration separate from its original context, it becomes art instead as it has no other purpose other  than to be for viewing pleasure. As long as an illustration does serve a purpose other that to be admired by people  like a piece of art,  than  it doesn't matter what media is used to create it.  Illustrations help people understand what something is about- they are particularly useful for someone who can't read because pictures can more easily sum up what words may not.  In terms of my own illustrations, I need to experiment more with possible outcomes and planning in general.

 

 

Website Research Post

I have investigated a variety of illustrators websites.



The first website I have looked at is  printmaker  Hannah Firmin's.  The website is easy to navigate with  several links down the right hand side.  The main page is simplistic looking, with a plain white background and a summary of how she creates her artwork and examples of her work.


The next webite I looked at was illustrator Martin Haake's. Like Firmin's it also has a plain background,  however, on the main page it has news and his recent work. Design wise,  this website looks more like that of an illustrators because of the style of the text in the navigation bar at the top, also when you hover over each link, there is a small illustration relating to it.

I then looked at illustrator  Henning Wagenbreth's website. The main page of this website is more busy in terms of the amount of images on it,  there is also a journal on it. The navigation links are at the top of the page.

The next illustrator's website I looked at was Matthew Carey Simos'. On his website the navigation bar is  on   the left with an image on the front page. He  also has a logo above the navigation bar.The website is very ima g aEbased, there is very little text.
I would like my own website to  intrigue the viewer , so I would want the general design of the website to  reflect my way of working and at the same time be easy to navigate and have a good balance of text/ images of my work.

Final Prints

 

 

 

Here are the final prints I made for this project, the  process involved drawing the design onto the piece of lino, then cutting out the pieces of the design which I wanted to leave white , the printing the first colour which had to be the lightest in order for the subsequent colours to print out best.  After printing the first colour, for example the yellow on the print of the king , I then cut out that part of the design to keep that colour when I printed another colour onto the print.  I printed several prints of the first colour so that if I could afford to make mistakes- i.e if I failed at lining up the lino with the new colour with the old colour. 

Dwelle Lecture

Yesterday I went to a Lecture by Rik Frankland, who is the founder of a  company called Dwelle. He is an architect,  eco-building manufacturer and urban designer.  Dwelle did a project called 'Ugly House' where they questioned  what a house should look like. They teamed up student to make good, bag and ugly small ceramic  houses and then asked people to vote which house they thought was the nicest. Dwelle have also worked on a variety of school projects and built a building for First Direct Grand Village. Rik talked about two  quotes that were important to him "Making a different mistake everyday is not only acceptable it is the definition of progress" Robert Burgess and " I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand" Confucius.  He then talked about what makes a Dwelle.ing - They are timber-frame buildings which are primarily homes that are personalised to meet different tasks.  Dwelle.ings have a simplistic system, they are very green and therefore as sustainable as possible. They are highly insulated (sheepwool or recycled newspaper), air tight with heat-recovered ventillation and have high quality LED lighting throughout. Rik said that Dwelle thought it was important to listen  and then spoke about the health benefits of a dwelle.ing  such as the excellent hygrothermal conditions (temperature and humidity), good air quality(air tight but well - ventilated), they are made from materials that don't  "off - gas" (no or minimal VOC emissions) and controlled ionisation of the air (reduces asthma triggers etc). Other positive attributes of dwelle.ings were: a minimum 60-year lifespan, they are mortgageable, they have a structural warranty, there is a wide range of options, they have brick cladding, zinc cladding, rainwater harvesting, a PCM board, triple glazing, a wood-burning stove  and a variety of kitchen options.They are low energy,comfortable, affordable and low- carbon. Rik showed a video about the positives of wood as a building material. He  then spoke about Dwelle making an exhibition home which is being sponsored by HomeBase  and an Eco- Home demonstration  project exhibition.  It was interesting to learn about an architect's life and how he worked he worked his way up from being a student.

Portfolio and Business cards