Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION OUIL603 Extended Practice
Level
06
Credits 60
STUDIO PRACTICE Statement of Intent Name
Astrid Weguelin
Date
Blog Address a-weguekin1316.blogspot.co.uk
Rationale I want to create a strong portfolio, which displays a versatile selection of work in terms of aesthetic and context. I want the focus to be on books and narrative/educational illustration as that is where my interest lies, but I also want to show skills in turning out work to different deadlines, both quickly and more research based. Creating a finished product in a professional way is also something I want to develop, thinking more about packaging and bookbinding rather than just the artwork. I also want to work more with text, learning how it can work with an image rather than just beside it. Presentation of work is also something I want to become better at, as photographing work is important to be able to show bigger pieces off in portfolios. These skills will help me after college, as I will have a collection of work relevant to my area of interest in illustration as well as showing versatility within the process and good time management
Themes / Subjects Book illustration – educational, narrative, children’s books, factual, composition, text layout, packaging, book binding, nature Process – mono printing, book binding, collage, textures, photomontage, digital collage Presentation – photography, book binding, packaging, good type, mock ups Products / Methods of Distribution
A binded book Narrative illustrations Series of book covers Series of album covers Educational illustrations
Practical Skills / Media / Formats
-
Mono printing Collage Texture making Shape work Composition development Conceptual development Book binding Digital platforms Type development
Brief 1:
Educational book about Dinosaurs for children (the big brief)
Deadline
13/5/16
Rationale:
I want to illustrate an educational book about dinosaurs – the different species, their habitats, how they survived, facts about their fossils, how we know about them. The audience will be 5-7 year olds, I chose that age group because children are very inquisitive at that age and want to know more about the world; and dinosaurs are a fascinating subject for all ages. This book will be factual and easy to understand but the illustrations won’t be childish, therefore making it less patronising and more informative and fun. I chose this subject because I find their history really interesting and I remember always wanting to know more about them when I was younger. This project will also give me the chance to do a big research brief where I am interested in the subject, while also giving me the challenge to try and simplify complex facts. This will be a strong piece in my portfolio, as it will demonstrate skills in illustration as education, and for children, where there is a big market. Brief 2:
Smaller competition briefs (Responsive)
Deadline
2/3/16 (secret 7) 9/3/16 (penguin)
Rationale:
I will be putting together two smaller briefs to make them more substantial: 1. Secret 7 – I want to design at least 3 album covers for songs. I was successful last year and it gave me a lot more confidence with entering competitions. I like the simplicity of this brief where it is just an artistic response which doesn’t have to be particularly conceptual or contextual. These will be turned around quickly, which will improve my time management. 2. Penguin books – make a book cover for ‘Emil and the Detectives’, it is a children’s book so it can be a fun, energetic cover. I did this brief last year but didn’t pay enough attention to the themes or my type so I will work on that for this cover. I want this to be a quick turn around as well. I put these together as they just require making one image as a response to the story/lyrics. These will add to my portfolio as they show versatility in my work with the mixture of big and small briefs. Brief 3:
Book cover and 3 illustrations for ‘A clockwork orange’ (Responsive) Rationale:
Deadline
9/3/16 (cover) 13/5/16 (illustrations)
The book cover is a competition set by Penguin books, but I want to expand this project by adding the three illustrations to make the brief more like the folio society competition, which I couldn’t
complete. I plan on reading the book so want to make it more significant than just a book cover. I haven’t got any other narrative briefs so this will be a chance to really respond to the themes and quotes within the book, which I really enjoy. The book dystopian with themes surrounding suppression, horror, state authority, which I enjoy working with. This will also give the chance to have something slightly more adult and darker in my portfolio compared with my other briefs. Brief 4:
YCN (Responsive/collaboration)
Deadline
24/3/16
Rationale:
I will be collaborating on the ‘Feel Good Drinks’ brief with Molly from graphic design. It is to make the brand of healthy drinks more appealing to busy, health conscious women. It is similar to the YCN Propercorn brief I did last year, but I wasn’t happy with my outcome, I want to try and improve areas where I went wrong. This is very different from my other briefs but it gives me the chance to try and apply my practice to more advertising themed briefs. Brief 5:
Food editorial (Authorial) Rationale:
Deadline
13/5/16
I want to have a brief where I can focus on my process and experimentation. Using it as a chance to respond to articles gives it more of a purpose as well as adding editorial illustration to my portfolio. I had originally planned to make it one a week but I wanted more time to play around with the sketchbook side, so it is now a mix of creating food imagery and then applying to food articles as a more finished outcome. I plan on using mono-printing as a way of being more experimental with the outcomes, so not to do everything digitally. Additional Project Proposals
Contextual References Practitioners: Laura Carlin Owen Davey Blexbolex Sarah Maycock Esther Cox Jing Wei Alice Palluto Websites: ‘Design for Today’ ‘Folio Society’ ‘Penguin Books’ ‘It’s Nice That’
RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
Deadline
Read A Clockwork Orange
5/1/16
Details
Read and make note of possible quotes/scenes to work from for inner illustrations – try to have quotes from different sections of the book.
RESEARCH ACTIVITY:
Deadline
Start thumbnailing for secret 7
22/1/16
Details
Listen to all the songs, pick out at least three and come up with multiple ideas for designs RESEARCH ACTIVITY
Deadline
Thumbnail for ‘Emil and the detectives’ and ‘clockwork orange’
5/2/16
Details
Read a plot summary of the book and research into themes and characters within the book
RESEARCH ACTIVITY
Have final designs for some of the secret 7 songs
Deadline
25/1/16
Details
Have at least three designs done for at least one of the songs which are finished and ready to be submitted RESEARCH ACTIVITY
Start researching into dinosaurs
Deadline
29/1/16
Details
Gather photo/book references about dinosaurs and gather clear facts about the different species and start sketching in response to research. Start researching into educational, illustrated children’s books
BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS / TEXTS - (Harvard Refernced)
DAVEY, O. (2015) Mad About Monkeys. London: Flying Eye Books BAILEY, E. (2015) One Day on out Blue Planet: in the Antarctic. London: Flying Eye Books NEWMAN, B. (2013) Professor Astrocat’s Frontiers of Space. London: Flying Eye Books GRILL, W. (2014) Shackleton’s Journey. London: Flying Eye Books BURGESS, A. (1962) A Clockwork Orange. London: Heinemann KASTNER, E. (1929) Emil and the Detectives. London: Red Fox Multiple authors (2012) Behind Illustration. Index Book DUSOULIER, C (2009) I know how to cook. London: Phaidon Press MALE, A (2014) Illustration: meeting the brief. London: Bloomsbury Publishing
MAGAZINES / JOURNALS / ARTICLES – (include publication date and details)
Varoom magazine Wrap magazine Elephant magazine
ON LINE REFERENCES / WEBSITES / ARTICLES (include specific urls)
OTHER REFERENCE MATERIAL (Films, events, exhibitions, conferences)
Natural history museum
ACTION PLAN – use this section to identify specific tasks that you need to complete in order to resolve the brief. Brief What do you need to do? Finish secret 7 designs for ‘worry’ and ‘dream 3’, at least 2 design for each 1
Deadline 10/2/16
Read plot summary and themes for ‘Emil and the detectives’ and start thumbnailing ideas
8/2/16
Have cover for Emil and the detectives finished and ready for submission
23/2/16
Read a clockwork orange, also read articles about the book to get clearer idea of themes
26/2/16
4
Start thumbnailing ideas for cover and inside illustrations (have key quotes/scenes I want to depict sorted)
11/2/16
5
Have cover for clockwork orange finished
4/3/16
Start gathering research for big brief
11/2/16
Collect articles for food brief, get back into that project – make it more experimental
19/2/16
8
Go to natural history museum for more first hand, observational research over Easter
22/3/16
9
2
3
6
7
10
BA (Hons) Illustration - Level 06 OUIL603 Extended Practice STUDIO PRACTICE
Project Proposals 10 steps to producing persuasive project proposals
1. Set clear aims and objectives 2. Be SMART (Specific , Measurable , Achievable , Realistic , Time Conscious) 3. Use words from your brief 4. Justify the need for your proposal 5. Describe your audience 6. Describe your motivations 7. Consider the reader 8. Eliminate vagueness 9. Visualise the ending 10. Assume nothing