My Personal Inspirations

One of my main personal inspirations which has been consistent throughout my artistic journey has been nature and the outdoors. Thinking about my childhood, it seems that this interest began through my several camping trips I was taken on with my family. I also remember as a young child playing outdoors with other children, where one of my favourite artistic memories was creating coloured chalk drawings on the pavements (ending with my dad having to bring out the power-washer). This element of nature has stayed in my interests and work right until this present moment.

Other inspirations from the past have been books. In my teenage years I went through a phase of reading many books based on the supernatural, mainly vampires. This still interests me though not as much directly into my artwork. Political issues have also been an inspiration, for example animal cruelty and human rights. This has also carried onto now, most recently I have dealt with the issues of feminism. Moreover, I seem to have an increasing interest in superstitions.

More general inspirations at this present time include: everyday life, nature, people, happy accidents and depending on the brief given at any time, it may change.

Mid-Project Brief Thoughts

As you are aware, I have been attempting to conquer a new project brief 'The Black Mirror'. This led to basing my project around the symbolism of numbers and playing cards, which has given me a desire to create my own pack of cards.

I will admit, this has taken me in several, unconnected and often frustrating directions. Many of my ideas seem to fall flat and lead to no-where. Regardless, these have given me many platforms for the basis of ideas which could inevitably lead to successful outcomes. For now, I am trying to get as many of these ideas out of my head and onto paper (or Photoshop), which is sometimes difficult. As an illustrator, it is extremely important to me that my work is original, unique and appealing to the eye.

Therefore, I must apologise in advance if my work appears somewhat disconnected, as I am struggling to decide on which idea to take forward and develop into finished pieces of work.

My personal aims: to get past the 'artist's block stage and create successful visuals through experimenting and trial and error! More work will appear soon for sure!

Thanks for reading :)

Further Experimentation

Dead Bird:

Created with acrylic paint, originally in black and white tones. Relations to the film 'Drowing by Numbers' first scene where dead bird hangs from a post. Significant to the themes of tragedy and death and provides more serious and mature attitude towards the topic.

Trees:

Also painted in acrylic. Totally from imagination, I aimed to focus on the tonal aspects of the trees. The simple image gives an eerie vibe when inverted in Photoshop, signifying the theme of tragedy and death.

Ace of Spades:

This acrylic painting aimed to capture the composition of a dead bird in the form of a classic Ace of Spades. This was an initial idea to go towards my playing cards, though I think these images are too rough an unfinished. Red in the right image symbolises blood and death

Dice Prints- Ace and Two of Clubs

These two images were edited in Photoshop from the original image seen in a previous post 'Dice Printing'. The first image reminds me of a butterfly perhaps, giving a more light-hearted feel to the symbolism of numbers. The second image appears more abstract and more is left open for interpretation by the viewer. As two of the clovers are included in this image, I would use this as a representation of the Two of Clubs.

Overall, these experiments are all unique and successful in their own ways. At this point I am not sure which style to develop further for my pack of cards, though I will create more imagery in both styles to see which work best.

Dice Printing

What's more obvious when thinking of a link between numbers and games? Dice! Therefore, having decided I had found an ideal link, I went and purchased a couple of dice with the intention of printing with them.

Here are some of the outcomes of my experiments with dice printing:

I really valued the initial dice prints and how they turned out. At first I wasn't sure because the numbers and spots from the dice were unclear once printed, however I began to like this effect when greater quantities of the prints were put together. Right: the number 5 created with the number 5- a quirky but fun idea.

These images made from the same printing technique are more refined. The left is an image of a clover, reflecting the 'club' suit from playing cards, whilst the image of the right is reflective of the Ace of Spades. Both are made from the number which reflects the image the most i.e. the number 4 to reflect the amount of leaves on the clover, and the number 1 to reflect the Ace.

Illustration created by layering two of the dice print images in Photoshop and altering the brightness, contrast and tones.

Overall, I think this printing technique is successful, however I feel it could be quite limiting when wanting to produce stronger, detailed imagery. This method is more suited to simple pattern or images though I could test it out on a bigger scale to see if more detail and tone could be added to make a better illustration overall.

Personal Brief

As an extension of The Black Mirror project brief, I was set to create a new, more focused brief based on my personal project and the outcomes. This is a flexible brief and may change due to changes in development and ideas, though judging by what I have done so far here is my 'new' brief:

'Look into the main themes and concepts in the film 'Drowning by Numbers' and create a finished body of work which can be appropriately placed within the illustration industry. This could take any form of your choice and any media may be used, but it must achieve a high level of standard so that the work will be client-ready and finished/ presented in the correct context. 

The complete works should not have literal connotations to the film, though it must be evident which theme has been undertaken. Document all research, processes and ideas in appropriate formats.'

Reflective Statement: The Black Mirror

So far in the development of my project, I feel that I have challenged my abilities

to come up with new and original ideas. Though, even at this time, a lot of those

ideas seem to be going nowhere and I need to focus on one idea and develop it

further or try out several and decided which is the most effective.

From the beginning I have had a desire to contextualise my work in some form

and aim produce work with a high standard for the 'real' world. I have also

been experimenting with different forms of traditional and digital mixed media

and collage in an attempt to find the most suitable technique for the chosen

subject. This has been primarily documented in a sketchbook but also on this

blog in order to keep my thoughts and process together and keep track of

where I am in the project. 

How do I feel about progress so far?

All in all, I do honestly feel a little lost in the project, mainly due to my personal struggle with getting my ideas documented visually and perhaps not researching enough into my chosen theme to enable my ideas to flow easily.

Even so, I have some strong starting points for potentially successful ideas, but I think that a bit more research and visual direction will help me to gain a better focus.

How does my project relate to future career aspirations?

In regards to future prospects, I have tried to focus my project on producing work which may

eventually become part of a sellable product which could feature within the illustration

industry. I am also trying to test out different areas of illustration such as editorial and mass

production to see which suits my style most. My aim for the end of this project is to create

illustrations of a high standard featured and presented within their appropriate contexts.

Mock Up of 48 Hour Project Brief

For a previously set project brief I decided to develop my illustration even further and mock up the double page spread for 'Sight and Sound' magazine, including my original illustration intended for the brief and an additional painting I created afterwards.

Here are links to the previous blog posts explaining the project and my visual response for anyone who has not seen them yet: '48 Hour Project Brief', '48 Hour Brief: Visual Reponse'

Using InDesign, I was able to make a working visual of my illustrations within a 'real life' context, mocked up for a magazine article. I researched into the magazine I had designed for 'Sight and Sound' to enable me to assess the general 'look' and layouts which were commonly used. Without knowing specific details about fonts size or type, I tried my best to make my mock up visual fit within the true magazine as though it would be displayed as a finished article. Therefore, I used a review by Roger Ebert of 'Drowning by Numbers' so it would allow my illustrations to capture the main themes in the film.

I am quite pleased with the outcome of creating an article including my illustrations, as it gives me a better idea of how I can present and contextualise my work for the 'real world'. It makes my work look more professional and client-ready which I am increasingly aiming for throughout my second year at University.