Turners Art Challenge

So a couple of weeks ago a small art shop close to my uni has decided to make an 'art challenge' called 7x5. Anyone of any experience can enter for £2, 50p of which goes to a local charity and then you get a small 7x5 inch canvas to draw onto. All the drawing will go on display in a small gallery they have opened upstairs. I decided to enter, since it's for a good cause, it's an opportunity to get my work in a gallery for free, and it's a ton of fun! So this last to weeks I have been planning what to make, and actually making my small piece! For the challenge, you can work in any media you want, the content can be anything you want, as long as it fits on the 7x5 canvas you are given, so it's pretty open. One of the main challenges is to think of a design that would fit onto a small canvas (which is why it's called the '7x5 art challenge'), and i don't mean to boast, but being taught how to be an illustrator may have given me a better consideration for using space well. I know all artists will have experience with this, but usually you create work to any specific size that you like, but going through the process of making editorial images, I have learned and practiced well how to make good use of space, and not complain!

So moving on from my mahoooosive ego (yeah right), I'll give you a bit of insight about my work and the meaning behind it. The piece I have named 'Unbound'. It took me longer to decide the name rather than actually making it, but i think the name is a good fit and says a lot about it. Being hit with a lot of issues regarding self confidence and not being afraid to EXPRESS yourself lately, I've decided to stick to my guns and go along with the theme. It sends a positive message out, and I feel very passionate about it, so naturally i went with it. If you didn't know I'm actually basing my entire FMP on this subject, so I'm really in the mood! The concept is that there is the girl in the picture, inside a picture frame, her face is neutral, but her hair is very striking. The hair itself is reaching out into the white plains of the canvas and even spreading to the side of the canvas that you would only be able to see from a certain angle, as if it is going to crawl off the canvas. Her eyes are closed and the mandala and piercing eyes on her forehead indicate she is using her mental power to reach a heightened level of ingenuity. It's all very intense. Her hair is laden with white dots that look like tiny stars in a black night sky, as if it contains infinite amounts of energies. I can't explain much more in words, please take a look for yourself. I am very proud of this picture! 

Youth Club Visit #1

Today I went to a local Youth Club after arranging a visit  a couple of weeks ago, to get started on the street event (where the dolls would be on show!). I made some work sheets for the little work shop i was doing to get some ideas generated for after the holidays when it comes to painting the dolls. I wanted to get them thinking about different ways to show your passions and aspects of themselves by thinking about what kinds of things they were interested in, like favourite colours, favourite shapes, and animals that they think are like them in some way, i got them thinking about how to put their favourite things into symbols and patterns, without it being 'realistic'. I wanted everything to by somewhat stylised so it would be simple to apply it to the doll. I have kept the work sheets so that they can look back and remember what things they've drawn to apply to the doll, which i will figure out next time i will go (after easter). Next time I go i will be preparing drawings of dolls to help them figure out where to place the drawings they've done. The time after that I will have the  model dolls ready to paint! Exciting! Here are some stuff that the children drew today, and some of the work sheets I prepared for them.






                   

                                                                                                                 

Worksheets

Click to Enlarge!

Examples:

 Work already produced, this was to help inspire them!

Express:

This was used to think of things that they are passionate about and things that make them individual!

Ideas:

 This was where they put words to drawings! I asked them to create patterns & simplify the shapes.

Create:

This was where they drew a version of themselves using the patterns and things they liked!

Portfolio Visit with LBFL Consultancy

LBFL is a small website design agency that designs websites for various kinds of people and websites. In the future I could potentially see myself working in an agency when I get started, so this is why I have chosen to speak with LBFL. They work with a lot of people across the world, a lot in france and Monaco, so it would be a really great chance to get myself out of england too! With everything going digital lately i figured it would be a good step to take into getting myself out there. My work could be seen by hundreds of people & spread fast over the internet. The internet is really the best thing since sliced bread. Working over the internet also means that you an work from home, which is a lot cheaper than travelling everyday, so you get more time and money to spend getting yourself out there in other ways, though also it would probably be very beneficial to be surrounded by people in an office, being able to travel around more could get that done too.

 After talking for about 30 minutes about the industry and the style of illustration out there, it became apparent fairly soon that my illustrations weren't completely fitting the categories. The manager was showing me various different websites that he thought was linked into my work and explaining the different audiences for websites. He told me that my style of drawing is fairly unique and that the audience for it would be the odd websites, probably designed for arty companies and illustrators themselves. He told me in order for me to sell my work the best bet would be to sell my art online in something like a Deviantart account (which i already have) and to do some freelance, which is the way a lot of illustrators are taking their work now. I must present yourself as an illustrator because website design doesn't fall exactly into what kind of things ive drawn. Magazine design would also be a possibility given my experience in university and my style, it all comes down to the style! he told me that my work is contemporary and it adds character and value to an article or something more specific. I am looking in the wrong area for now, i need to develop my digital art skills and layout techniques before I would do well in the web design industry. He recommended this American website to me that he has been following and said that the things on the website is aimed more at my area (http://tympanus.net/codrops/), and it has some really useful information for people like me, who are learning how to aster the art of web design (coding? OH NO!). I would go far if i could harness my abilities and rework it for that type of thing. Although I don't really want to go too graphic with my work because i am comfortable with it, I can't pick and choose because at the end of the day I have to make a living from drawing, and it is more than okay to have a mix. I explained this to him and he said that mixing is a really good idea. I would designing for a cutting edge look. If i started to practice on illustrator and put my drawings through there, it could work really well. He said since it's in demand, theres not much else out there, but because of my illustrative style it could be a new 'thing'. He also said i could try to look into photography, and other electronic methods of producing work, it is all in demand, and could make make my style develop really well into something that is diverse and would have the ability to be use in any sphere. I also asked him about animation and how much that is in demand for the web industry, but he said i shouldn't try to overload myself with too much at once, animation isn;t that important, and it's mostly simple flash animations that  take a long time to make. He also told me that the key to web design is all in the layout, and the drawing come after that. It's very specific and there are many different categories, for each different client. 

He said this is how he could vision my work.

So yeah, huge success! I've learnt so much about the web design industry coming out of that visit. The web design industry sounds like it's set it standards, and my work will have to grow before i can ace it there, but I definitely think i should give digital drawings a try!

Animation: Initial thoughts & inspiration

My initial thoughts for the animation were quite narrow from the start. I knew I wanted to do a stop motion with my mannequins and paint patterns on them - it kind of went in hand with the project i was doing so naturally I decided on that. But I wanted to look more into what other things i could bring into the animation by looking at some videos related to my interests anyway. Of course with my work having a bit of a 60's feel to it, i decided to look into psychedelic music videos to see what kind of things were going on, and my favourite was of course Yellow Submarine by The Beatles. The video is VERY psychedelic from the moment it starts to the end, and is quite cartoonish. But i've screen shotted my favourite parts which have a more artistic look and feel to them. Theres a really nice part towards the end where the videos colour palette becomes darker and more limited, which i really like. I'm all for going crazy with the colours of the rainbow, but my work is more simplistic. The wide range of colours fir the cartoonish feel anyway. With my work being a little more adult visually, i wanted it to be taken a little more seriously. Not that it would be bad if it wasn't just that the content is a serious subject and not really one to be mocked. 

Once I've completed my Storyboard and mannequins, I will begin animation!

 

 

Images from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_q4kF2Hh18

Another video that i've been looking at is The Wall by Pink Floyd. The video is quite dark actually, but the art is a lot more simplistic, often surrounded by darkness or dark scenes. The art goes through some kind of metamorphesis where things change, e.g a raven turns into a german plane. Most of the video is actually like any other movie, is filmed on a camera with real people, and theres a strong storyline. The art is quite abstract. I'd perhaps like to try some abstract moments, perhaps i could switch from photographs to sketches, like the animation 'The Johnny Cash Project', where each still is a completely different drawing, with different medias and in some he draws the characters differently. For example in this scene here, this man is walking through a tunnel, carrying a guitar, surrounded by beautiful plants but then a still comes on for a split second and it looks like he is a skeleton. It's very interesting, do not miss this animation! It is one of my favourites.

The Wall - Pink Floyd

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiVGD1rcQxY

The Johnny Cash Project

http://www.thejohnnycashproject.com/#/explore/TopRated