Something a bit different

Before I started this Illustration course I was out of education for a couple of years and I needed something to fill that time. Within that time I had two knee operations to get my knees fixed and in the right place and I now actually have metal knees (I know when a cold spell is coming before the weatherman) There was a lot of sitting around with my leg in a splint unable to move apart from one sofa to another sofa. I started reading blogs and I discovered quilting blogs, I was hooked and since then quilting and sewing has become a big part of my life. I write another blog about my makes and even sell some of what I make in my Etsy shop.
Along with illustrating children's books I would also love one day to design my own fabric line (which is something I have never told anyone) to be able to sew and make quilts with my own designed fabric is a dream come true.
This summer my plan is to teach myself how to make repeat patterns and to start dabbling in creating fabrics and maybe even getting some printed on Spoonflower and creating sample items that I could send to fabric manufacturers and potentially get a contract with.

These are some of my recent makes, I love using a variety of prints and colour in my sewing, something I wish I could be braver with in my Illustration work, but I feel through the course I am becoming more confident in my work.
So although I said I hadn't really thought about what to do after University, I do have my little (not so) secret dream of having my illustrations on fabric!

Artist Spotlight - Hunter Paper Co.

Today I am going to talk to you about Hunter Paper Co. which is run by Emma Jackson. I first met Emma at the Fine and Dandy market when I was selling my quilted and sewn items and she was just starting out in her business, that was about 3 years ago and since then I have followed along on Emma's journey and seen how her business has grown.
Emma graduated from Falmouth with a degree in Illustration and after graduating decided to go freelance, which was a scary decision.

She now makes a range of cards and prints in her own very unique style. She believes in working completely handmade and does most of her work through either lino printing or screen printing. One of the best piece of advice Emma has gotten is "My uni tutors always advised to just go with what you enjoy doing. An individual 'style' will eventually materialise out of the way you like working, and it'll be 100% you. You can't really go wrong when you're doing exactly what you love!" which I think is very true

What I really like about Emma's work is her use of typography, from doing my HND Graphic Design course I quickly learned that me and typography were not going to be friends, it was far too technical for me, I understand it and admire people who work mainly within it. I really like the minimalist look of Emmas work and that she has developed a distinctive style and she says she is hoping to start including a more Illustrative approach in her work.

You can Emma's work here and follow along on her journey:

Website: https://www.hunterpaperco.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hunterpaperco/

Inspiration

Being a creative person I often look at other creative peoples work that inspires me. Some of the most influential have been children's book illustrators. Growing up my mum and dad would read me stories every night before I went to sleep and I remember just looking at the pictures in aww and wonder.

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One of my absolute favourite illustrators is Lauren Child who is probably best known for her books about Charlie and Lola. I love her child like style and the naiveness of her lines. From my sewing I have developed a love for patterns and would love to one day design my own fabric line, I am completely inspired by how Lauren uses pattern within her work, without it taking away from her illustrations.

picture source

Axel Scheffler is the illustrator behind the Gruffalo. I love the cartoon style of his work and the simple characters. One thing that really draws me in is his use of colour and this has helped me in my work use more colour.

picture source

An artist that I only recently discovered is Oliver Jeffers. He is originally from Belfast (my hometown) and I had seen his work but never really taken notice of it until I had to write an essay about an Illustrator and I saw his name pop up. Again he has the same child like style as Lauren Child where his images aren't drawn really realistically but are still recognisable. He uses a lot of negative space in his work, which gives the eye a place to rest and more appreciate the illustrations.

One of the best things about doing Illustration is being able to buy all the children's books and when the cashier gives you the "aren't you a little old for those books" look you can say 'oh i'm an Illustration student' and they nod knowingly. Of course I am only buying them for the pretty pictures!

My creative CV!

I have talked about my CV before here and how I had used the same format since secondary school in the classes i'm sure everyone remembers. When Debbie from the careers department came in and talked to us about writing a CV and when she mentioned creative CV's I was excited.
I haven't really given much thought to after University because I have been in education since 2003 with only a 2 year gap, being in a learning environment is just what I know, so apart from sheer panic, I'm sort of just not thinking about it.
Of course I obviously have to put on my big girl pants and think about what comes after and an important part of that is a CV. I have my old CV the one that I use to apply for part time jobs to help me through university so i'm not a poor student, but I don't think that it would cut in the creative world.
I had always made my CV's using Microsoft word but apparently that is not the only way! Indesign was recommended but having used that before and having a few naughty words to say about it I was not quick to use that. Instead I used Illustrator a program that I am quite familiar with and feel comfortable using to create something that I would be proud of.

Here is my new and improved Cv. In our lectures with Debbie we were told that a Cv shouldn't be more than 2 A4 pages but I have found that I am someone who only writes what needs to be written, I tend not to waffle on. I would say that it is one of my weaknesses, I find it hard to elaborate on points, this is something I was always told in my school reports.

I kept my Cv to only one A4 page but I think that I got all the necessary points in and all that needed to be said, said. I like to think that it's short and sweet. I enjoyed creating it and had fun adding some creative flair to it. I am sure it will change many times before I finally am brave enough to send it away for an Illustration job but for now I am really pleased with what I have created!

Derby Book Festival

Our third project was a live brief set by the Derby Book Festival we were tasked with designing 6 bookmarks that went along with the winning stories under the theme 'secrets' I absolutely loved this brief as I love reading and stories and when I grow up I want to illustrate books, so this was perfect for me.

Here are some pages from my sketchbook of me working through my ideas. Out of the 6 stories there were some that I found more challenging than others and I found that I really struggled with them. But this pushed me in my work, although I feel that I played it quite safe with my final designs. The judges from the festival came into have a look at our work and give us some great feedback on ways to improve our work, they were so lovely and helpful.

These are my finished bookmarks and I am really pleased with how they turned out. The one that i would 'do-over' would be the little finger, I found it to be the most challenging but overall I am happy I would say that I wish they were a bit more cohesive so that they work together better as a whole. I again used colouring pencils which is becoming abundantly clear is my favourite medium to use. I like how I can get the 'scribbly' textured look which I think adds another dimension to my work.
There was one winner with two runner-ups, unfortunately I was not chosen, but you can read all the stories and see the winning bookmarks here

Self Promotion

One thing I have learnt from the Professional Practice unit is Self Promotion and how important it is an Illustrator (Graphic designer, Animator) to promote yourself and your work, to get seen and get known in the industry. There are many ways to do this such as entering your work into competitions, the saying is true "you have to be in it to win it" there are many competitions for Illustrators to enter and it is a good way to see what others in the field are doing and how they are working.

It seems that everyone and everything is online these days, also another great way to promote yourself as nearly everyone has access to the internet. Social media is so simple to use and an easy way to get your work seen.

I have created a Facebook page so people can follow along with my work and I have also linked back to my blog so that they can read about what I am working on and what is inspiring me.

In this module we are required to design promotional materials to drive traffic to our blogs. One of the items we were asked to create was postcards to be able to send to potential clients and to build relationships with people in the art world.

Here is the postcard I designed. From this course I have discovered that my work has quite a 'child-like' feel (my first tattoo was Peter Pan because I don't want to grow up) so this is reflected in my postcard. I illustrated a few of my favourite things that I feel represent me and my work well. Although it is quite a simple design I think this works best for my work instead of having it all too busy. I have been consistent with my font throughout so it is recognisable as a brand.

Another item i created is a poster that I can send out. I decided to use some of my previous work, the one which I most enjoyed working on.

This was my comic for the Thought Bubble Art competition and I feel this is a good representation of me and my work. I also feel it is quite unique and eye-catching.

Something i have found throughout this module is that I find it difficult to write and talk about my illustration work. I have another blog where I write about my quilting and sewing and I find that much easier to write and far less scary. But this module is all about teaching you for the real world and being to talk about yourself and your work, so that you are able to get a job and be a 'proper' adult!

In the industry

I was out of education for 3 years before starting my Graphic Design course and then moving to Derby to study Illustration. I had always been interested in art, but I have found that the Illustration course is very different from art classes in school. Coming to University has opened my eyes to a whole new world, finding new influences and ways to work. I am slowly finding my voice as an Illustrator and I continue growing and learning.
Within the industry there are many competitions and awards from designers and illustrators from all around the world. Many of these are open to professionals as well as to students like me. This is great as it lets me get my feet wet and into the world of Illustration.
The place to be for Illustrators is the Association of Illustrators (AOI) they hold the World Illustration Awards. It is now in it's 40th year and is partnering with the Directory of Illustration which is widely regarded the leading marketing program in the United States.

Benji Davies was the winner in the Children's book category 2015. This is an image from his book Granddad's Island where he was both the author and Illustrator. The story is about remembering someone and the things you did together, it explores how that connection lives within memory. Through his illustrations he aims to evoke and celebrate human emotions. He works largely in digital, and relies on his own visual memory and allowing his work to surface through his sketching.
I really like this style of work and the thought and emotions put into it, working from personal experiences is a key part in illustration as it keeps you genuine.

The winner of the Design category was George Douglas who is an Illustrator and Artist living in Edinburgh. His wining design were the posters above, he wanted them to show a whole story within a single image and these were made by silk screen.He also likes working with found objects and enjoys most working with his hands and not digitally. 

These two winners work are very different but I like both of the styles as they work for their intended purpose.

There is also the Thought Bubble Comic Art competition, which I have talked briefly about as it was one of the live briefs we worked on within the first module. It is a competition open to Artists and writers in the UK. It is split into two categories 12-18 and 18+. I had not previously heard of this competition before, but having entered it I feel that it is a good one for students and anyone looking to become an illustrator, while still a big competition it is not as big as the World Illustration Awards. 

My entry to the thought bubble art competition

From looking at some other illustrators work and what has won in competitions I can see that there is a place for my work and how important research is in helping me to become an even better illustrator.

A visit from Mair Perkins

In one of our lectures Animator and Illustrator Mair Perkins came to talk to us about her work since leaving University and how she set up on her own as a company.

Hearing people working successfully within the art world is brilliant because it can be a bit scary thinking you won't get a job and even more scary when you have many, many people telling you that you won't be able to get a job and that what you do is just a 'hobby.' 

Mair is a former pupil from the University of Derby. When she was applying for University she knew she wanted to do something involving Animation, Illustration and Storyboarding, that allowed her to have a creative job, but she didn't have a specific job role in mind. Mair chose the course in Derby because it offered animation, illustration and graphic design modules. She liked how there was an emphasis on communicating through sequence imaging which she still draws upon today in her work.

Creative CV's

This module, Professional Practice is all about teaching us how to go to go out in the 'real world' and be able to promote and talk about our work and actually make a living within Illustration or an Arts based job. When I first heard about this module, I have to say I was excited, it sounded brilliant, then CV's were mentioned, my heart sank. I should have known CV's would be involved, it's a big part of getting a job, but flashbacks to secondary school started and I was dreading it!

Here is my current CV, I have taken out my contact details and referees but this is it. I have to say that I am still using the same format which I was taught in secondary school. I haven't used my CV that much and when I have used it, it has been applying for part time jobs mainly in retail. 

In one of our lessons Debbie from the careers service came into talk to us about CV's and the do's and don'ts of having a good one that will get you a job versus one that would get binned straight away. She talked about having a professional CV but also having a creative one. This intrigued me, as being a creative person, it was exciting that I could be creative with my CV instead of just having a bog standard one like most other people.

I started looking at some creative CV's to start collecting ideas on how I would design my own, here are some of my favourites that I found

link to CV's

These were not like any I had seen before, being able to use bright and fun colours as opposed to keeping it very proper and professional was very exciting and now I didn't have the same dread as before. I am looking forward to creating my CV with the help of what I learnt from Debbie.

Artist Spotlight - Andsmile Studio

Today I am going to talk to you about one of my favourite Illustrators, Viktorija and she runs Andsmile Studio. I first discovered her last year on Instagram and I fell in love with her work and free form style and have continued to follow her journey as a freelance Illustrator.

Viktorija has a studio in London where she creates and packages her designs and products to send to customers and shops around the world that stock her work. She loved drawing since she was young and it was at the age 14 that she realised that she could actually be paid for drawing. She studied Illustration at the University of Bedfordshire, where she explored and experimented to try and find her style. In her course she found that there wasn't much practical advice on how the Illustration industry worked. She graduated in 2009 and moved up to London to become an Illustrator.

Like most art graduates she didn't fall into a job straight away, she worked in a retail job until 2011. In the two years after graduating she tried to find any creative job and was sending out her portfolio and work to agencies, all the things she had been taught in University. In 2011 she became part time at her job and opened an Etsy shop, first only selling postcards and then moving onto wearable art such as earrings and brooches using her illustrations.

she says "I love freelancing! I love to be my own boss, I am so excited about each working day, about all the amazing and sometimes unexpected opportunities that come my way. But it helps to have a clear vision of what kind of work you want to do and where you want to go.

To be honest I enjoy working on my own but I do have a group of friends/creatives with whom I can discuss any creative or business worries, so having  a business/creative club and support is really important."

What I really like about Viktorija's style is her bold use of colours and the free form shapes that she uses. Most of her work is done in either watercolour or gouache paint and these are two mediums that I would like to explore more of, since they are outside my comfort zone and I also want to be braver with colour in my work. 

Reading about Viktorija's experience in University and not really learning how to be an Illustrator in the real world was good for me, as it is something that is rarely talked about. Making money from your work is quite a 'taboo' topic that know one ever really brings up and discusses openly, from this module I am now a lot more comfortable in realising that I can make a living from what I love doing and seeing Viktorija being successful in the creative industry is a real boost!

You can read more about her work on her Blog and follow along on her creative journey on Instagram.

Sequential Illustration

Before I started my second year of Illustration I had been studying Graphic Design, so I didn't really know what to expect when I started the course. We could choose between three optional modules within Animation, Graphic Design and Illustration. I chose Sequential Illustration, which is using sequences to tell a story.

Our first project was to create an A3 Graphic Novel about any subject, telling a story for the Thought Bubble Comic Art competition. This is how Grumpy Bear came to be! He was a character that had been in my sketchbook for a while and I thought it was time he came out. Since moving over to Derby in September I have been losing my socks and it makes me grumpy, this is how I picked my story of Grumpy Bear and his missing socks! I used colouring pencils, my favourite medium for drawing. It appears to be a nice, sweet story but it has a dark ending! Grumpy Bear gets annoyed that his socks have gone missing (they have actually run away) so he decides to knit some more socks and ends up knitting a very long scarf which in the final scene he uses to hang himself. My lecturers were not big fans of my ending as they thought it was a bit morbid but I like the surprise twist!

For the second project we had to work in 3D, something I had not worked much in! We were given the task to create a 3D picture in a frame, this only had to be one scene that still told a story. I chose the bus stop scene, again I used animals for my characters as I find it difficult to draw people. I felt a theme developing in my work and that was death. Although this picture looks like a nice innocent scene of some animals waiting at the bus stop, it is in fact, the story of the chicken crossing the road. If this picture was too carry on the chicken would be hit by the bus and die. For this picture I used book pages from a book about murder! This is not obvious at first glance and some people may never notice it, but me as the creator knows this and I feel like it's my little secret. We got to use the light box and camera equipment to take professional photographs of our work. I learnt that by changing the angle of the light and the depth of field it could give my picture a 'moody' look, which i did focusing on the chicken.

The final project for the module was Circus and we were tasked with creating a story around the theme of circus. I went with puppets and my story was the little girl that  always wanted to go to the circus, and then it arrives in town, but it's no ordinary Circus and she ends up becoming a puppet and a part of the show. Although this story is not as 'dark' as my other works I feel that it still follows along the same theme. I found this the most challenging out of all the projects but I think that it pushed me to develop the story and try new things!

I didn't really know what to expect from the Illustration course, other than that we would be drawing, but I really enjoyed my first semester and was excited to see what the next semester would bring!

Hello!

Hello! and welcome to my blog!

I am Rachael and I am in my second year at University of Derby studying Illustration. I know it's a bit of a cliche but I have always enjoyed art! It was my favourite subject in school and I would often spend break and lunch times paddling about the art room. I thought that I wanted to do fashion design but after applying to University and being unsuccessful a few times, I took some time out, got my knees fixed (I now have metal knees) and really thought about what I wanted to do!

Why Rosey Cheeks Illustration? On my Illustrations my characters always have rosey cheeks, because it adds a certain cuteness! I think the real reason is growing up with my mum who has had rosey cheeks her whole life and that has crept into my work.

Before I started at Derby I was studying a Graphic Design course, which I did find interesting but was just not for me. When i completed that course I could either go out into the real world and get a job (eek!) or continue on to University and complete my degree. I decided to move to Illustration and while I could have went into third year, I chose second year so that I wasn't thrown completely in at the deep end. It took some adjusting moving away from home for the first time to a new city, but I think I am finally starting to settle in and find my way, both around Derby and within my course, I can feel my own personal style emerging and am looking forward to developing it!