Lear

ning

Influ

ence

s

Prom

otio

n

Publ

icat

ions

Exhi

bitio

ns

Com

petit

ions

Introduction 1 My eye 2 - 3Influences 4 - 7 Negotiated practice 8 - 9 Portraits 10 - 11 Extended Major Project 12 - 13 Finding my field 14 - 15 Thinkers 16 - 17 Peer Skills 18 - 19 Out of Sight 20 - 23 Exhibitions 24 - 25 Networking 26 - 29 Achievements 30 - 31 Another Escape 32 D&AD 33 Branding 34 - 35 Online Presence 36 - 37 Promotional Material 38 - 39 After Graduation 40 - 41 Relevant Links 42

contents

The drawn image comes from a desire to depict the world, to record it and to make sense of it. Drawings to me are documents of a feeling, thought or point of view, whether they be of a person or an inanimate object. Creating by hand indicates a value is being placed on both the act of drawing and the subject, and my practice revolves around the idea that good things need time. Growing in understanding about why and how I draw what I draw throughout university, my illustrations are playful and poignant, celebrating the quiet charm and endless humour that can come from what we consider to be wonderfully ordinary.

I have been a keen photographer since my dad passed his Pentax ME 35mm camera on to me. It has been a trusty travelling companion in most countries that I have been to, including France, Germany, Holland, Spain and America. I have always enjoy the process of film photography, and the fact that each of your 24 / 36 shots are valuable because they are just that - a finite number. Similarly to my drawings, each image counts, because they both take an amount of time to produce and are not indicative of faster digital methods.

The subjects of my photographs describe something of my eye; what catches my attention when I look at the world and what kind of imagery I want to remember. I tend to use black and white film because I find it a lot easier to control tone rather than the complexities of colours, but I do think the monochromatic limiting is reflective of my subjects, often exaggerating the forlorn quality that I felt a scene had.

As a visual communicator I think it is important to seek and gather images that interest me. Not only does it gives me an understanding of my own tastes, but indicates what I can do when creating images to make people do the same thing I did – respond. I pin bits and pieces to the wall in front of my workspace so I can simply look up if I ever feel uninspired, and re-establish a firm sense of ‘what I’m about’. Postcards, magazine clippings, off-cuts from my work, drafts, found objects and little notes form a kind of mood board that is in alignment with my own interests and the ‘flavour’ of my work.

I have recently started using tumblr to emmulate this process digitally, the main advantage being it is a way of sharing this imagery with others. Designed to form a connection between people who are interested in the same visual things that I am interested in, I have started keeping a stream of activity flowing by responding to the images of others as well as posting original content. With a link to my illustration work on the page, it is hoped that users who like what inspires me will be likely to take an interest in my illustration practice too.

I count both L.S. Lowry and Edward Hopper as very influential artists upon me.

As a young child I used to enjoy drawing from Lowry’s paintings in art galleries, responding to something about his images of industrial Northern life.

I have always liked how he captured lots of people quite simply, yet with definable individual characteristics. Each of his figures can be identified; a man with a hat and briefcase, children running in a group, a dog waiting by the fence, and it is these small details that attract me.

When I discovered Edward Hopper’s paintings years later, I felt an instant association with hisimages of both urban and rural modern American life.

There is a quality of bleakness to his images, often showing people alone, in an automat, at a gas station; an example of a cinematic melancholy which I find hopelessly engaging. With an ambiguous narrative hanging within each single frame, my mind wanders to who these characters are, and what will happen to them after I stop looking.

For me the work produced for the self-directed Negotiated Practice unit was instrumental in honing in on precisely what I am drawn to and how I interpret what surrounds me, and formed a key moment in my artistic profile. Initially intending to explore a process of map-making, the project evolved into the psychogeographic documentation of my hometown. By acting as the map-maker I was able to select which ‘information’ to provide about this location. For example, branded supermarkets are instinctively absent as to me they do not contribute to my town’s character, despite being prevalent in its layout and function. This filtering process means the drawings are an idiosyncratic record of what I see when I look around the place I know the most, speaking volumes about the feeling of association and safety that can be found in the most mundane or seemingly tiresome locations.

I have a large connection to the drawings as I feel they have preserved a looseness of mark that I have previously struggled to hold onto, often over-finishing compositions in my search to create a successful drawing. I think it is an intimate body of work yet one that also holds a more general appeal, reflecting the larger scale topic of what British life is like today. Speaking of a change which is happening in industrial towns across the country, a redundancy of purpose can be seen in my town which was previously very highly regarded due to what it produced. The main thing that was needed to lift this project to a more successful outcome was in the finishing quality of it, in both print and composition. The images themselves will now be presented individually within my portfolio, but I would also like turn produce a concertina of postcards to showcase this project to a higher standard.

One of the most influential people for me this year has been photographer Martin Parr. His work focuses on British life and customs by documenting the way we live through his

eyes. I love the dated and dowdy aesthetics that come from his examination of suburban life here over the past 30 years, but he also manages to comment of the vulgarity of our present era.

This strikes a particular chord with me as a fundamental characteristic of my practice comes from the examination of how traditional aspects of life function within an accelerating modern society.

The more mundane an image, the more it excites him, and he places value on the disposable ephemera of everyday life in a similar way to me. He acknowledges amusing juxtapositions in how we live as a

society that tend to go largely unnoticed, illuminating them with keenness and humour. I myself hope to comment on the world as I know it in a similar way to Parr, in all its charm, its naivety but also its melancholy.

I went to see the Lucien Freud Portraits exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery earlier this year. His studies of the human form taught me a lot about depicting a person’s face and body through his use of different colours and tones to show the range of qualities that skin can have. Accurate but fluid, I found his painterly marks to possess a strength that I wanted to try myself. Forever struggling to capture faces and bodies in my drawings, I understood from looking through the exhibition that I was often trying to depict them too harshly and rigidly, and that the human body was not something that could be encapsulated inside such sharp lines. Leading on from this visit, in my development work for my Extended Major Project I used flesh tone pencil crayons along with brighter pinks, purples, reds and greys to play with the variety of colours I could see in people’s faces, and not be afraid to include and enhance them. I am often a stickler for getting things to look very similar to how they did in real life with regards to colour, but I particularly enjoyed celebrating the colours that are subtle within people’s faces in a more vibrant way, and this is something that has improved my representations in a notable way.

When embarking upon The Extended Major Project I lay down three things that this final unit needed to possess to take it up a level from my previous work. C O N T E N T : I want the project to be intellectually challenging; to teach people something or perhaps question what they already know. It must have a strong synopsis behind it and show an awareness to issues outside of my creative field. R I G O U R : One of the main things that tends to let me down in a project is that I only produce a relatively small body of imagery, meaning a final collection is very limited in visual choices. One of the biggest challenges of this unit is to accelerate my drawing production and apply advanced levels of discipline and time management in order to form a more significant body of quality work. P R O F E S S I O N A L I S M : Learning from the previous unit, my main focus for the project goes beyond the imagery itself and into what I can do with the images to showcase them at their best. I must show that I am creatively and technically competent, and apply everything I have learnt on the course so far and then a bit extra.

I think the philosophy behind my project is sound, and everyone I have engaged with about it has been really responsive on the topic. I also think the characters in my frames are enigmatic, with lots to look at deeper in each image. My drawing output has been strong but disappointingly I have lacked dive at times. I feel during this project a lot of taxing circumstances have been thrown at me, and as a result a more productive output doesn’t seem to have been attainable. I am however happy to have produced enough quality images to have my pick of, making a book with images of the highest possible standard. With my professionalism I have almost been too cautious with getting my book printed perfectly, and resisted completing a mock due to the expenditure. I regret not having a printed copy to hand-in but know it will be of a high standard for the show.

In this project I have produced my best drawings to date. I have tackled larger drawings more consistently than previously and learnt to see when it is time to stop before I over-fill the picture. Sometimes this point is when I’m half way through colouring and area, leaving the energetic marks visably sprawling towards filling the shape, which I think becomes a great contrast to some of the tighter finer lines. Working from photographs a lot, I have developed a bank of photo references ready if I cannot go out and get photographs of something in future. I could happily continue this project for a long time even with the material I already have, and will probably always draw people watiting, but I think the unit has come to a natural conclusion and satisfying.

Editorial Illustration for the Guardian, by Holly Wales

Drawing for ‘The Garden Room’ exhibition, by Rosie Gainsborough

Selected clients include: The New York Times Bloomberg Frieze Financial Times The Guardian Urban Outfitters

Holly Wales was one of the first illustrators I came to admire, largely through the element of play and experimentation apparent in her work. Myself using pencil crayons, graphite and ink, I aligned myself with her in a way, creating her refined yet charmingly hand-made drawings using felt tip pens. Along with her creative teaching roles Holly’s illustration profile is as diverse as her style is versatile, with a particular wealth of varied editorial clients. I myself would be aiming to seek similar clients to her, hoping to utilise my exploratory approach to making in projects that allow me to generate images in response to something intellectual; the translation of information. I feel I have a creative mind to give as well as a creative hand, and that in order to make interesting work for clients such clients must be sought.

Only finding Rosie Gainsborough’s illustrations this year, I was drawn to a lot of the imagery she explored for the subject’s “ordinary-ness”, a greenhouse; power sockets; toilet brushes. I also find our images to handle detail and colour in a similar way - keeping things lose and yet without missing anything out. She has recently done some higher profile work for The New York Times and Ideas Tap, as well as working with a couple of clients that I have always hoped to do work for: Oh Comely magazine and Boneshaker magazine. This makes me feel as if I am aiming my illustrations at the right sectors, and that there is a place for my drawings in this type of context.

Other clients: The World of Interiors Future Everything Festival Popshot The Bird’s Nest Cafe

“Gemma” from a commission for S.W. Mitchell Captial, by James Oses

“12 Matchboxes”, by Angela Dalinger.

Selected Clients: Daily Telegraph J.D Wetherspoon Bates Hats S. W. Mitchell Capital

Two people have recommended the drawings of Angela Dalinger to me and linked me to images on her blog. I can find little about who she has worked for, but the images she makes are of great inspiration to me. Small collections of matchboxes and mugs sit alongside energetic drawings of people, vegetation and strange creatures. One thing I think I can learn from her is to not be afraid to draw different things differently to each other, with some filling every fibre of the page and others more spacious and technical. Detail and energy can and should come from the same person.

James Oses draws with a dip pen and ink on location, generating images of people and places in a signature style. It is lively and sumptuous to look at, with free yet capable ink lines and more accurate washes of colour behind, creating a balance that is always enjoyable to observe. His ability to draw so well on location is something I feel that I need to develop, as drawing from photographs puts a frame on the image before I have even started drawing. Also because his style is so defined and natural that his commissioned work and the drawings he does everyday are indistinguishable, with each feeding the other; a very desriable trait. His work mainly consists of drawing shops and restaurants for clients, capturing an atmosphere or personality that the locations possess.

“Focus on the importance of ‘thinking through making’ - Holly Wales

Other clients: The World of Interiors Future Everything Festival Popshot The Bird’s Nest Cafe

I think one of the strongest qualities I possess as an illustrator is my ability to make drawings that are heavily backed by meaning; the result of a strand of intellectual enquiry and something to be communicated.

Earlier in the course I think a desire to over-research on projects meant that less drawing was done; less visual responses to that which I was learning. However I think in my final year I have reached a balance that ensures image generation and text-based research operate simultaneously.

Alain de Botton is my favourite philosopher as he is one of the most positive I have read, the main aim of his writing being to allow people to make themselves happier. Part of his philosophy in being happy involves an admittance that maybe everything isn’t as great as we try to pretend it is, but also not as bad either, a type of realistic observation about current times that is very refreshing. A lot of his writing focuses on the anxiety placed on people to perform in certain ways throughout life – to get a good job, and to obtain a high ‘status’ amongst their peers. I feel this is a very real threat to the wellbeing of individuals in a society where we must be able to consume and multiply to be considered well-rounded individuals. His words can provide people with some sanity amidst the madness of trying to feel worth something by buying the right shampoo.

Another writer who I enjoy the teachings of is Bill Bryson, a man who sees the world as one big everyday adventure. His writings on travel, language and science are illuminating, poignant and funny. In a similar way to Martin Parr, I admire that he sees the funny side of the world’s inadequacies, and highlights them with jest rather than odium.

I would count both of these thinkers as contributory to my work as they discuss things that I regard with curiosity, and in short help me understand that maybe the world is a very complex place full of shortcomings, but that we should find a way of doing things that suits us. I think it is important to keep reading and learning throughout life as it fuels my engagement, making me aware of what is happening beyond that which I experience directly.

“The challenge for a human now is to be more interesting to another than his or her smart-phone.” - Alain de Botton.

“We used to build civilizations. Now we build shopping malls.” – Bill Bryson.

One of the most important factors in the development of my professionalism has been found in the influence of my peers. When it comes to presenting my work correctly there are a great deal of factors to consider and the right techniques can undoubtedly make an image sing. Not something I have developed competence of in the past, I have learnt a lot about paper weights, types of paper surface, print company recommendations (and condemnations) this year thanks to fellow illustrators. I have also gathered samples from different companies to ensure that I end up with a product that I fully understand and am happy with.

Illustration of the creators of ‘The Secret Zine’ by Jessica Durden.

My peers have also been invaluable through my time at university in helping me look at my images objectively – what works, what doesn’t and how to fix it. When I have been working on a drawing for a large length of time, the knowledge and distanced input of another illustrator can resolve problems more quickly than if done of my own, and I enjoy that people feel they can ask me for advice about their work in return. I have learnt a lot from the diverse capable individuals that make up my class, and it has shown me that it is crucial to be surrounded by creative people that can give you an opinion on your work; someone to discuss a project aloud with. This is something which I think will be of great importance to continue my development after graduation.

‘Byng’ by Sojung Kim.

I took on the role of helping to co-ordinate the silent auction; organising bidding forms, curating the exhibition and completing the host of administration tasks following the event. I feel I have established an eye for what images look right together as a result of learning from Sharon Beeden while helping her hang exhibitions frequently in my second university year. I had little clue about the difference between a good or bad exhibition hanging when I joined the course so I think this is a huge development of artistic understanding and something that will aid me in presenting my work to look its best.

I also ensured that the winning bidders were contacted promptly and thoroughly, and that the auction lots and paying-in forms for finance payments were organised with as much ease of use as possible. I think throughout my time at university I have demonstrated a responsible disposition and one that means people know can be trusted with tasks, as well as gaining an understanding of who amongst my peers can be equally relied upon.

In September 2011 ‘Out of Sight’, an exhibition in an underground car park, was presented to the Bournemouth public. My three housemates (George Bills, Laurie Ramsell, Nathan Hackett) and I were organisers of the whole thing, co-ordinating the work of 33 artists at the university chosen from submitted proposals. The resultant exhibition proudly featured costume design, digital media, film, fine art and illustration students, from foundation to master’s level.

It was a long process, from liaising with various levels of Wilkinsons clearance (owners of the car park), completing health and safety protocols, calling for entries, selecting the artists, cleaning the car park, adding power outlets, installing the work, making our own pieces and of course aspects of promotion and publicity within local and online media.

The project taught me a lot about all the behind-the-scenes activity that goes towards making a successful art event and has completely expanded my view of what I am capable of. The drive behind this commitment was to showcase the talent of our university within the public sphere. As there are no particularly attainable gallery spaces in Bournemouth, an alternative method of showing our work to the community was adopted.

I myself designed our promotional identity, which was applied to flyers, posters, e-invites, signage, and our exhibition catalogue. I also played a big part in the design the catalogue which included photographs by Michael Compton, a fine art student taking part in the show. Michael also created a video documentary of the project with interviews by each of us which stands as an excellent record of what the project was about, and was good practice of talking in front of the camera. Overall I think the professional way we presented the project cemented it as a sophisticated show within an unorthodox environment, and it was a joy to see people from all walks of life entering the space without any gallery preconceptions; children, students, the elderly, people with shopping bags, people in suits, even people just wanting somewhere to eat lunch.We received around 1000 visitors across a week-long opening period, and a lot of local people commented that it was good to see the underground space open and being used once again, having been closed and dormant for 3 years. We hope to have highlighted the potential use of such dead spaces to positive effect.

Our ethos contained lacings of an appreciation for the overlook: including outsiders within a society as well as hidden areas within a community, and we demonstrate creativity’s resilience to unorthodox circumstances, showing that you don’t need a lot of financial backing to successfully exhibit art.

Throughout my time at university I have endeavoured to exhibit my art in the local community as much as possible. Both the ‘Bespoke’ and ‘Crayon’ exhibitions undertaken by my illustration class in Boscombe were great first platforms for learning about pricing and hanging work to be sold. The ‘This Is…’ collective events were organised by a group of students at the university and ran on a submission basis, with my entry chosen for display at the ‘This Is… The Start of Summer’ event. Well-known amongst local digital agencies, the event was social, lively and well-presented. More recently my postcard was exhibited as part of the ‘Wish You Were Here’ exhibition at Branksome Dene beach hut; a great use of a seaside-related topic and location to reflect this coastal area.

Clockwise from top left: ‘This Is... The Start of Summer’ event;

‘Bespoke’ at Cafe Boscanova; Detail of my This Is...’submission;

‘Wish You Were Here’ postcard.

I took part in the Arthouse

Sketchbook Project this year, in which participants are sent a small blank

sketchbook to fill in under a chosen topic. All of the books will then tour around America & even come

to London before being kept permanently in Brooklyn Art Library. I was excited at the prospect of my drawings travelling to

places I had never been, encountering people I would never meet. My approach to filling the book was purposeful and driven and I

produced drawings and makings unlike I ever have before, with a ‘why not?’ philosophy, resulting in drawing lots of people. This is something I often shy away from as I fear a lack of skill may become apparent in not being able to capture their complexities, and what makes them ‘them’. The drawings within the sketchbook set me in good stead for my Extended Major Project, as I understood that I can and should draw people, and that gaining skills to depict them better will only come through

practice. I think The Sketchbook Project is an example of how important it is to throw myself into new projects which make

me do something I would otherwise avoid, re-evaluating and shaping the way I think about creating images. I

had never entirely filled a sketchbook before this one, and hopefully after this endeavour I

will never leave leaves empty again.

I have been a regular attendee of the TLK seminar talks given by local industry professionals at the university. An area of discussions that was particularly enlightening was that of networking.

- Seek out creative communities - Identify those people who can help you / open up opportunities for you. - Your job will be easier the more talented people you know. - Networks deliver over time, not immediately. - Know your audience.

- Do really good work and be nice; clients will recommend you. - Think: What can I give and what can I get? - Go to places that interest you. - Don’t take no answer as rejection. - Treat everything in life as a network opportunity.

“Be a brightspark; be yourself ” - David Burton

Initially very trepidatious about this alien concept of talking to strangers in order to turn them into clients, I found the TLK lectures about this to be very helpful in considering how best to network with other creative people, particularly after graduation. I am a talkative person and happy to talk to new people, but I think I regarded ‘networking’ as quite a fake process before it being explained by those in the know a little more. I think the most important thing I learned was that networking shouldn’t just be based around getting hired, as that may only come as a bi-product as the result of the right interactions being put in place. One of the most empowering lessons was to remember that the people you want to hire you are not doing you a ‘favour’, your relationship is to be based on mutual benefit.

“Communicate yourself with confidence” - Bella Lewis-Smith

“Luck favours the prepared mind” - Louis Pasteur

Networking Lecture 1: Matt Desmier - South West Screen Gellan Watt - Thinking Juice David Burton - Redweb

Networking Lecture 2: Matt Desmier - Wise Old Uncle Bella Lewis-Smith - Salad Jamie Sergeant - Strange

In January of this year just after submitting my dissertation, I travelled to London in order to exhibit my work as part of Showcase Cities, an art showcase event that happens every month. The well-placed venue Rich Mix on Bethnal Green Road was of a high standard and expertly lit; a great environment for both socialising and seeing the spoils of contemporary creatives.

However I saw a lot of holes in the operation, including some unprofessional judgement of the part of the organisers. There was an unexpectedly strong emphasis on selling the work in show, but the artists involved had priced their work at everything from £15 to £800; a confusing message and a huge inconsistency that I felt uncomfortable being placed within. In order to adapt to the commercial emphasis on the venue I think exhibiting digital prints of my drawings would have been preferable to the originals, and this is something I have learnt from.

Despite not being there to push a sale of my work, I was happy with how I presented myself and used the opportunity to give out business cards to interested parties. I think it is important to note however that the kind of circumstance in which someone acquires your details can affect what they proposition you with, and the only responses I’ve had from this event were from organisations similar Showcase Cities - wanting you to pay them money to exhibit commercially with no control of the standard of work you would be placed with. The event was good for my growth of understanding, but left me with a feeling that I would rather have organised the exhibition myself.

Becoming a twitter user has definitely been one of the most unexpected methods in improving my profile as an illustrator. Hoping to use it simply as a platform for alerting people to my blog updates, it has become an amazing forum for connecting with other illustrators and spreading the word of my projects further afield.

Tweeting a mixture of creative activity and general life musings, I have racked up almost 500 followers and this has lead to lots of little opportunities that I never would have predicted. The ability to receive instant feedback from like-minded strangers is also a very impressive tool, and there have been a lot of kind words about my practice from users with which the admiration is often completely reciprocated.

As adviced by Matt Desmier (Wise Old Uncle), I now only montion one person at a time for #FollowFridays, and this seems to really touch people, rather than just being lost in a post full of recommendations.

Through my twitter page I have also been asked to complete interviews in order to be featured on people’s blogs. The first request was from Zenobia Southcombe, a twitter user all the way over in New Zealand who was taking part in The Sketchbook Project 2012 like me. More recently I was also featured on The Young Creatives website. I like taking these opportunities to talk about my illustration practice to new audiences.

I am also now responsible for the Feral degree show twitter page.

Recently a student at Staffordshire University asked me to feature in a creative student magazine she is working on and I was very enthused by her interest in my work. I think it is important to regard such opportunities with appreciation even if they are on a seemingly small scale because you never know what good things can come from a fledgling project. I have sent her images of my most recent work and we have undertaken an interview, so I am excited to see the upcoming publication.

I was successful in my entry to the Stereohype Button Badge competition 2012, and my badges are now on sale in the Stereohype online shop. I have been a fan of the company for a long time having bought multiple products myself, and am proud to have my images on sale alongside designs by well-respected artists.

M y e nt r y i n t o Oh Momma UKs What’s Your Type competition was also well received, having submitted typography made by hand-rendering sections from OS-maps. My letter Z was voted by the public to be included in the final alphabet line-up, which has been made into a high quality screen-printed poster and tote bag by the organisers for sale in their online shop.

My favourite project I have worked for this year has been Another Escape, a high-quality publication designed and edited by Rachel Taylor dedicated to escapism. The project is a testament to the value of harnessing creative clusters of people that are like-minded in order to work with them to positive effect. I featured in both issues she has produced so far and she was particularly happy with the combination of drawn and written elements in regard to my second illustration. Each brief was delivered at a time when I was busy, and so was good practice for what life may be like as a practicing illustrator, with lots of project overlapping at once. My involvement in Another Escape has contributed to making my practice a lively contemporary one and Rachel has been an absolute pleasure to work with, and will hopefully continue to be.

I enjoyed working to the D&AD Student Awards Illustration brief this year, involving a choice of recent film releases to draw the main character of including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The context for the illustration was to be a proposed cover for ‘Little White Lies’, an independent film magazine. Often bold and graphic, I was happy to reflect Gary Oldman by a method that was indicative of my style rather than follow the conventions of what I would consider LWL to normally choose. Their cover is always striking but consistently digitally stylised, and I thought it would be great to see a rougher yet equally engaging cover rendered by hand. It fits with the era of the classic Smiley books, and I think my portrait is a good style to showcase the character of Oldman’s face; a weathered, experienced and respected character within the story. Despite not receiving any commendations from the D&AD, it has also led a lot of people to my work by searching for the awards, connecting me with other creatives who entered the competition.

When designing the branding for myself as an illustrator I wanted to make it:- Something that represented my practice - Something that was hand-rendered yet neat - Something that could be replicated in different colours - Something that I would not get sick of (tbc)

I collected photographs of typographic elements from dated suburban signage in both the Midlands and Dorset in order to inform its design, taking heed from typography in my environment which always stands out to me. In particular the ‘Unitarian Chapel’ sign below made me feel a certain way that I wanted to harness and adopt as my own visual identity, reminding me of dated lettering that would be found on a run-down block of flats. I am happy with the bold and adaptable outcome of the blocky 3-D typeface, and have applied it to all of my promotional materials.

The colour scheme I have chosen comes from the pencil crayon colours that I used frequently; a red orange, turquoise and tan brown. They each serve a different function; the red to accent, the blue to be likeable and the brown traditional. However I think I have sent up a strong construct that could be represented in lots of different ways. For example I got vinyl stickers made of the letter shadows alone, leaving the negative space to form the letter. I also plan to make a full alphabet out of this type face in order to be able to write custom words in it with ease. ie. Thank You mailers to clients.

My blog has been up and running since March 2011 and has now been viewed over 4000 times. I use my blog as a tool for posting regular updates about what I am making and what creative activities I am part of. I think this timely approach is important because if people think I am producing things infrequently this may give the impression that my practice is a lack lustre, potentially meaning lost interest in my updates. What makes it different to a website is that it gives people the opportunity to read about how and why I did something. Using it like an artistic journal it is an insight into how I work, and this is something that has always interested me about the blogs of other illustrators; the chance to see behind the work into the person who made it. I include photographs of events such as our illustration silent auction, along with drafts and sketches, aiming to give the reader some kind of bonus content for taking time to read my blog rather than just my portfolio site.

www.louisebyng.blogspot.co.uk

I am making my website using indexhibit and have linked it up to my own domain name, keeping my web presence urls consistent by always using my full name. It is a portfolio site containing only my most recent work found in quick project links on the side bar, along with delivering everything a visitor needs to know (contact details, about etc.) quickly and efficiently. I hope to advance my site using html to make my page more individual in its design, and this should be doable as I have picked up quite a lot of coding through altering my blogger site to suit me. Things I wish to add to it include a downloadable PDF, link to my blog and an online shop.

www.louisebyng.co.uk

Finding the right business cards was quite a long process, of applying for sample packs from lots of companies and comparing prices, minimum orders and card thickness. I chose an uncoated card with a slight texture, and I think this is an important part of the design. It matches my images because they haven’t been smoothed over, letting the roughness of the pencil marks sit on a surface they belong upon.

For a while I have had in mind a drawn series of circular objects that we see every day, and tried this little series out as a set of promotional badges, entitled “Boring badges for interesting people.” I am relatively happy with them as a first try, but think the can design works better than any of the others by a long way, with a lot more definition and identity within this miniature environment. There is actually a large inconsistency in how the images are rendered that makes them a strange set and the fan design is the weakest by far from my point of view, unable to be recognised and not visually interesting. I think it looks passable as part of the set, but could not be used on its own. I would like to expand this idea and make lots of different designs, with people able to choose for to make up their own personalised set. I hope to use these either to be sold in an online shop, or perhaps giving a badge away when somebody buys another item.

Children’s book commission to be completed in August. Penny Shackleton. £650 fee. (It’s about rabbits.) I am excited to work on my first paid commission with author Penny Shackleton after graduation, producing the front cover as well as six half-page illustrations and numerous small sketch illustrations for the corner of chosen spreads. The project will be valuable in injecting a sequential narrative piece into my portfolio which is something that is lacking at the moment, as well as teaching me about character continuity and dealing with a client.

Print collaboration with Christopher Evans. A friend who is studying fashion at Bath Spa university has suggested we do a collaboration together, inviting me to produce a range of prints to be applied to his dress, skirt and playsuit designs. He wants to create a fun and easy-to-wear collection and says I have free reign of what I put on it, encouraging my personality to shine through as that is why he wants us to make things together. I think creating prints of my designs will allow them to fill space very differently, and I am interested to see what affect this will have on my image-making. I also have plans to make wrapping paper with different block of flats patterns printed on them, turning it into a decorative motif that is still recognisable as structural.

Exhibition in Brmingham’s custard factory. I want to begin planning a potential exhibition with recent graduate and friend Katherine Tromans and soon-to-be-graduate Nathan Hackett in the West Midlands, as we will all be back home there for a time at least. It has felt hard to get such ventures together in the past as we actually aren’t connected to a creative scene in Birmingham anymore, but I think it would be a very healthy and enjoyable thing to put on a show in our local area.

Personal narrative projects. I have a lot of ideas that have built up over the university years, but a more recent one is to re-illustrate The Phantom Tollbooth, a book I loved as a child. Other titles I would like to tackle include Kes, and also orchestral narrative Peter & the Wolf.

future plans

Dream Briefs.Designing stamps for the Royal Mail. Designs to make toothbrushes more interesting. Designs to be printed on milk cartons or take-away coffee cups.

Freelance. Workshops with both Anna Steinburg and Hayley Potter have given me the knowledge and confidence to try and work as a freelance illustrator, with Hayley’s self promotion workshop working in alignment with my values in describing that even though the internet is a valuable promotion tool, a handmade mailer might just cause more of a stir. I hope to use a mixture of both digital and analogue techniques to spread the word about my work, and keep creating in order to improve what I can offer a client. Anna S’s advice was invaluable in teaching me about the idea of doing my accounts and working from home, and also a bit of a wake up call about how much self-promoting and cold calling I will have to be doing per week in order to try and get and keep my name out - there -.

- Ask someone who wants to commission you which work of yours they like and where they saw it. Shows you exactly what they have in mind and which of your means of promotion is working.

- Pricing is based on the image’s intended usage, not the image itself. Copyright remains with you, you are just letting people use an image for a certain amount of time and in certain ways.

- Keep doing interesting self-led work. If you only promote your conservative client work, you will get more conservative commissions.

- Be somewhere you find stimulating.

- Be ready for luck.

Anna’s Advice.

p. 5 My tumblr; inspiration blog. www.louisebyng.tumblr.com p. 23 Out of Sight online exhibition catalogue issuu.com/byngpillow/docs/outofsight Out of Sight documentary by Michael Compton http://youtu.be/j4B52CLbpyg

p. 25 The Sketchbook Project issuu.com/byngpillow/docs/the_sketchbook_project_single_page p. 28 My twitter page. www.twitter.com/ByngSquirrel p. 29 The Young Creatives www.theyoungcreatives.wordpress.com/tag/louise-byng p. 30 Stereohype button badges www.stereohype.com/pages/bcomp11_louisebyng.asp p. 32 Another Escape http://www.anotherescape.com

p. 36 My illustration blog www.louisebyng.blogspot.co.uk p. 37 My portforlio site www.louisebyng.co.uk

relevant links