PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO
HARRY WEBB
MA ILLUSTRATION
CONTENTS
STATEMENT OF PRACTICE UNIT 1 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO This secton gives an overview of my Unit 1 PDP document and content. CV SKILLS This section includes my current academic and creative CVs and my creative intentions. CONTACTS THE PROJECT JOURNEY - PRACTICE, METHODOLGIES AND REFLECTION OF PROJECT 1 This section documents Project 1 and explains my creative intentions, processes and critical thinking. It includes descriptions of my research methodologies and reflection on my practice which has been instrumental in producing and informing my Body of Work. REFLECTION ON TUTORIALS AND CRITIQUES This section details tutorials, critiques and group discussions that have had an impact on my work and thinking. It includes feedback and reflection from visiting tutors as well as my response. REFLECTIVE DISCOURSE - INFLUNCES AND REFERENCE This section catagorizes the interests, experiences and people that have shaped my thinking and practice so far. It includes articles, practicioners, workshops, experiments and aesthtics. BIBLIOGRAPHY
STATEMENT OF PRACTICE
I am an illustrator and independent creative who lives in Dorset, England. I am interested in drawing, line, live performance, collaboration and digital innovation and am currenty mid way through an MA in Illustration specialising in drawing as enquiry. A yesr ago my late partner and I were making plans to develop our own graphics/ illustration collective. We wanted to be able to work from anywhere, collaborate and experiment with digital and traditional materials. My style is gestural, open and led by continuous line but I am always experimenting with materials and process. All my work is routed in observational drawing; a journey of exploration through mark making in environment, and drawing as a response and documentation of experiences, atmosphere and action.
HARRY WEBB ILLUSTRATOR
UNIT 1 PD PORTFOLIO
My PDP for Unit 1 was incredibly helpful in documenting and reflecting my work, processes and thinking. But for the scond Unit - Project 1 - I made a concious decision that I would not simply add information to each section of the previous document. I wanted my new PDP document to be an up to date resource that truely underpinned my current journey and so I have kept information that I have found relevant and that compliments my Body of Work. With regards to design, I was dissapointed in the overall appearance of the forst PDP document itself, even though the hand drawn finished elements seemed to work quite well. In light of this I decided to use InDesign to try and format a more polished and professional looking PDP. I have learned more about the programme through this process. I have made a concious desicion to keep and exclude information but by analysing my influences, processes, practices and artists who have made an impact or not have come to a more rounded and relevant resource.
‘The Who Am I? brief was a huge challenge but I have found that I am drawn to particular ways of working that fuel my creativity as well as being hugely productive.’ ‘I do not think visually all the time and like to plan in lists. To be productive I would need to digest images and reference material, make sketches and studies in order to exercise my mind and formulate the concept’. ‘I want to embrace a new working method - research, draw studies, create work, and then edit’.
PROEJCT 1 In order to progress in the MA my working practice and methodologies need to be underpinned by my PDP- my viewpoint, theoretical standing, influences, experiences and aspirations. I have tried to do this with this unit through looking at my previous PDP document and evolving it into something that I can then refer to again and again. I didn’t want my PDP to be a bible of all things but useful to me now and in the future. I want my PDP to show where I’ve come from, what I’m working on and where I am going. I want it to be concise, easy to read and relevant to both my work and to those who want to know a bit more about what I do and who I am. PROJECT 1 IS ALL ABOUT EXPLORATION AND I HAVE COMPLETED THIS THROUGH A RESIDENCY FOCUSING ON DRAWING AS RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTATION WITH PRINTMAKING.
CREATIVE CV EXAMPLE
I have been an arts professional for 12 years and striking out into the illustration industry is either the best or the worst decision I’ve ever made.. My practical illustration experience is building. I have been ‘employed’ as an illustrator a number of times now through self initiated projects and am creating work all the time. I have made the decision to make an academic and creative CV. I want both to be a true reflection of my abilities but clear enough to use together or separately. I am still exploring my future path but I am certain that I want to work accross many platforms. My acadeic CV needs tailoring to the illustration industry whilst still showcasing my skills and experience. I do not want to ignore my previous professional life and feel that information is important in adding vaildity to my current working practice. I have yet to produce an actual creative CV. I want my creative CV to be a true indication of my skills, and abilities, as well as a showcase for my best work in each area.
CV
CREATIVE CV EXAMPLE
ACADEMIC CV
PROFILE ACADEMIA CAREER SUMMARY EDUCATION AND TRAINING OTHER
CREATIVE CV/ PORTFOLIO
PROCESS TRAINING DICSPILINES PRIVATE COMMISSIONS RESIDENCY ILLUSTRATION - EDITORIAL ILLUSTRATION - PATTERN ILLUSTRATION - PRODUCTS
SKILLS Study plans in both MA Units have been helpful as a way of focusing my mind, as well as outlining my research, goal setting and evaluation of my practice and ways of working. Evaluating my skills alsongside this has been invaluable and essential in ensuring that I continue
to be honest about what I already know and how I apply this knowledge and understanding. I carried out an overview of my skills and moved forward to address key areas that I wanted to address.
In repsonse to the overview of my skills check I have made the following observations: RETAINED VS NEW
R. Working history and good overall arts knowledge. R. Set of financial, managerial and business skills R. Desire to have my own business, work with a partner or as part of a collective.
N. Industry specific knowledge in drawing as research, an N. Want to make use of my managerial skills- art direction
R.Cmmunication and administrative skills
N. Specific visual language- this is still developing. N. More confidence in speaking about my work and about
R. Drawing skills
R. Basic knowledge of digital tools
R. Printmaking interest and skills in Lino, mono print and screen print.
N. Enhanced drawing skills and tutorial/ engagement/ edi N. Editing and advising other students work in a collabora N. How to use drawing process to achieve specific results I N. How to draw on location and without traditional materi N. How to use drawing to inform other work.
N. Basic level of unrstanding with after effects and animat N. In design creation of leaflets and other. Media N. Additional skills in Photoshop re editing, colouring and
N. Additional skills in screen printing N. Additional skills in processes such as Lino, mono print, N. Bringing drawing into the print room.
DESIRED SKILLS • Traditional mark making and craft skills Contemporary drawing: how to transform drawings into a finished/polished outcome through different means i.e. into products, posters, as accompaniment to narrative, into artwork for exhibition or an interactive landing page. How to utilise unused or surplus drawings through publication i.e a zine, online, blog Mono print: how to create multi colour finished pieces Screen printing: stencils, bitmap and free painting finished pieces Paper craft: printing- whether digitally or through the print room in order to showcase work or create products for sale Animation: more simple gifs or interactive elements online • Technical Photography: same Photoshop: same Wacom: not as important as I fell more confident with analogue materials edited my digital tools In Design: enhanced design and formatting Animation: same • Other
nswering a brief, contracting and contacts, competitions. n/ teaching
other illustrators and influencers
iting. ative way. I.e. Large bodies of work ials
tion
d texture, as well as formatting i.e. PDP creation
, relief and screen print.
Visual planning: this is coming along although through the process I have embraced creating large bodies of work and then editing. The workshop with Rob Nicol chanllenged this but positively as in I now feel as though I can combine the two if I need to. I want to practice his ‘task’ so that I come away with more skills as a responsive and conceptual illustrator alongside the more commercial product and research based work Finishing/ polishing: this will be the largest focus of the next unit. I want to be able to easily and quickly decide what can be developed and what can’t, and be confident in the transformation process. Building a portfolio: .The Drawing Year prep was great for starting to look at this. I think this combined win my creative cv will help to solidify my direction and clarify my visual language. Online presence: same Network: same, needs a lot of work though Products: same
CONTACTS My career history and personal interests have afforded me an expanding network of contacts within the arts industry. Dyring the past few months I have be able to take advantage of symposia, networks and personal contacts to position myself within a creative network more suited to my future career aspirations.
MEMBERSHIPS, LINKS AND NETWORKING FORUM EXAMPLES
As ambassadors of the MA Cohort for the MA SHOW 2016, a couple of us have been asked to work with design agency Bond & Coyne in July of this year. We will be spending time creating and art directing the brand for the show and I hope to make the most of the opportunity.
OTHER CONTACTS AND PEOPLE OF INTEREST
A Farmers Daughter Illustration Rally Strickly Paper Katie Leamon We Explore Drawing UK Start Up TED Urban Sketchers 12foot6 Redweb ThinkCreateDo The Mighty Pencil Drawing the City AOI Varoom Pick Me Up Adobe Artsreach Celebration Crackers Sarah Colley
Illustration Ltd Ben the Illustrator Illustration Cupboard Visual Arts South West Dean Lewis D&AD New Blood V&A Creative Boom Hamilton House People of Print Paperchase Jo Bird Dezeen Craig Oldham Inktober If You Could Jobs The Factory Studios Jelly London The Drawing Centre Jerwood Foundation
THE JOURNEY From the outset I found desciding on a project focus very difficult. I am constantly inspired and interested by a variety of subjects and it took a while for me to settle on an idea that I was excited about and that challenged me in various ways. Writing my study plan was a great way of clarifing my intentions, although the document turned out to be longer and more ambitious than I had anticipated. The two areas I focused on were drawing as enquiry and reportage. ‘I chose these subjects in order to combine my two main areas of interest as well as give myself both enough structure to work within whilst allowing myself flexibility to repond to any opportunites that may appear.’ I was able to outline specific questions that I wanted to answer and detail the methodologies I would use in order to get there. I also outlined the type of projet I wanted to carry out - a residency at one familiar location - LULWORTH ESTATE - and one unfamiliar location yet to be determined. I then outlined the methodologies I would apply to the project focus within drawing practice, drawing as research, printmaking, reportage illustration and professional practice and an action plan that detailed a timeline and acitvity schedule. I was able to take this information and a project proposal to Lulworth who accepted me as an Illustrator in Residence for 6 weeks during April and May this year. I had an initial meeting with staff and presented a proposal and outline structure of the project. We then drew up a schedule and secured access for me around the estate. For the next 5 weeks as it turned out - due to illness and injury I spent two to three days a week on location at lulworth drawing, speaking to people, researching and reponding to the elements, environment, personalities and experiences.
Throughout the residency I have applied different drawing, researching and printmaking techniques. I have shared work wtih tutors, peers and the estate staff. The project has been PROCESS and RESEARCH led, which means that a finished outcome has not been the main focus. This however has been a question raised over and over again and to some extent I feel as is the work itself and the processes I’ve explored have themselves helped to resolve this .
PLANNING AND PROCESSES
Planning the project and how I was going to apprach it was very important. Saying that, however I didn’t plan too much out in order to let the process and the experinece guide me. This way I was able to respond as and when I wanted to. I researched many process led ways of collecting, collating and interrogating a subject and made a reference book of the ones I thought could be useful. I took this ‘guide’ with me so that I could refer to it on location. I still have things to add and feel as if it will be very useful in the future!
VISUAL JOURNAL I began by drawing in a journal everyday wanting to record as much as I could. I found this helpful as familiarised myself with the landscape, the sense of place and the environment. I spent time on location at both Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door and quickly realsied that the mile between the two was very rich in subject. After a couple of visits I decided to concentrate on this part of the landscape which freed me up to really explore what it had to offer.
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THE JOURNEY
SOUND Sound played a very large part in my project, which was a surprise to me when evelauating had an impact. I interviewed the staff, rangers and customers, as well as recording my own comentary. I found listening back to this when lookingback over my daily journals helped to fix my memories of the experience, as well as give shape and context to my sketches. Drawing and recording together have been an important way for me to get the best out of my work. In Unit 1 ifound that I was most productive when listening to War Horse. My visual response to spoken word encouraged more energetic and immediate images, and in the same way either on location or back in the studio my audio of Lulworth had the same effect. I think that sound will also play a huge part when exhibiting my work. I was unable to do this within the time frame of this project, but have in my own mind aleady selected pieces that I would like to exhibit and hope to generate a soundscape that will accompany them.
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THE JOURNEY
DRAWING AND PHOTOGRAPHY ON LOCATION As part of my research I used drawing in many different ways in order to interrogate a ‘point of view’. I also used photography as a refernce tool but tried to limit my camera to only a few outings. I used a variety of materials in order to vary my mark making and experiment with the process of creating images outside. As part of this I made a series of images which were a way of collecting information about colour, texture and the elements. My lecure, tutorial and research with artists and illustrators really influenced my work in this area and helped to give structure. These images then formed the basis of work that I then took into the printroom.
LIFE DRAWING life drawing continues to be something that I can use to experiement with my ideas and processes. But as we move into the second Unit I have been think around how I might be able to use my skills in life drawing in another way. I interviewed Denise Poote and led an independent life drawing session to gain insight and expeeince into this area. I think I’d like to pursue this more.
PRINTMAKING Once in the printroom I was able to expeiment with mark making through mono print and screen print. These techniques really helped to ramp up my working practice and fuel the development of my visual aesthetic. I have really enjoyed taking time to experiment in the studio with texture and form relating to the rock and patterns of the landscape. I’ve also enjoyed working with stencils to explore the shapes of the landscape. I use both drawing and printing in this way in order to inform each other. The results have been surprising but have given me confidence in creating polished images that can then be worked back into. I am now sure of the processes that I like and can use in order to get the desired results. This has only happened through making and trusting the processes of drawing and printing, as well as my own creative drive. .
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THE JOURNEY
PATTERN During my time at Lulworth certain themes and subjects have emerged. The idea of pattern cam about through looking at my sketchbooks and then interogating this out on location. I have been able to then work pattern back into the printmakingprocess, testing how they may look hen screen printed. I want to explore pattern further in the next project and hope to work more with colour and shape, test techniques and texture to create something that can be either used to create new images, or applied to products.
BRINGING THE PRJECT TOGETHER I have communicated my continued development with the staff at the estate on regular occasions, asking for input, feedback and ideas. I also displayed all my sketchbook workings and printmaking pieces up in the estate office which worked well to encourage discussion and feedback. I was keen to share my work so that I could get a feel of the direction I was headed in, what questoins were being raised and what themes or families of images were emerging. This was helpful as I was going back and forth from location to printroom to studio and back onto location. It gave me an opportunity to grasp an overview of my work and actually see how much I was producing. I unfortunately did not get an opportunity to carry out some of my planned activity during the project due to illness. I had planned to lead two drawing walks and include printmaking on location in that walk. I also wanted to carry out some audience/ customer participation activities such as using social media to collect images or by displaying some of my work in large format so that people could work back into them. I am still excited by these ideas and hope to continue to work with Lulworth to develop some of these ideas. I would also like to exhibit some finished pieces at Lulworth but may have to posposne this until I have developed some of my work more fully. I have, however, selected some images I would like to exhibit and even thought about how I would do this. I would clean up and edit my daily journal, possibly trying to draw or paint from memory to make the images more coourful and interesting. I would then listen to the audio I collated and attempt to write reflections back into the images. In terms od display it would be great to exhibit my work in proress, journal, sketches and finished pieces in a location on the estate and add an interative element either as part of the exhibition or online as a way to promote and connect to the work.
FEEDBACK FROM CAROLINE SHARP: HEAD OF MARKETING FOR LULWORTH ESTATE Massive subject matter and as a ‘client’ I didn’t provide a specific brief. I was interested to see the estate - in particular the coastlines - from an different perspective. One that was neither a tourist nor an employee. Over the course of the project, Harry has updated me on progress, output and we’ve met and discussed the work (not as much as I’d have liked owing to a large workload and summer on its way.) Her different views have sparked ideas for future content and marketing activity; have raised questions about what the audience wants - and challenged us on the experience that we are providing. It has also reminded us why people come here in the first place - to drink in the majesty and sheer beauty of the area and to create memories. The work itself was displayed in the marketing office. Colleagues were asked to comment and feedback on pieces. This was a new experience for them. It challenged their perceptions of a place that we all know very well and made us think about how others view it. The continuous line drawings were too messy for some. They didn’t like yet fluidity. Others found the darker work more edgy and , as anticipated, the most popular was the more traditional illustration. Personally I’ve found this whole experience enlightening. It’s opened up my eyes to the roles that illustration can play in the marketing of the estate and for our visitor experience. Looking ahead I’d very much like to work more with Harry and to explore ideas such as audience participation, engagement and insight development, as well as looking at commercial opportunities. The final pieces that I have seen seems wonderful. For me it captures the scale of Durdle door, the sense of place and the movement and flurry of people. Yet it’s not the iconic door shot which are everywhere. You are drawn instead to the people on the beach making the most of this timeless space. The colours and the level of detail instantly transport me to a busy sunny day!!
REFLECTION TUTORIALS AND CRITIQUES Tutorials, critiques and informal group discussion conWtinue to be increadibly important with regards to my practical and critical develoment. I have continued to follow the same process, always preparing for each instance beforehand with questions and points to raise, listening and then reflecting on my experience.
Tutorials over the past few months have thrown up many questions that need answering. I am more confident in interrogating my work and so the process has been revealing in the fact that I’ve had to seriously think about in which direction I would like to head. this was difficult at first as I found myself increasingly influences by new and exciting prospects. Despite this I have become immersed in my project work, and over time, have reseloved many of my processes and working methods. This in turn has led me to focus more on what the future holds and has brought about a sense of clarity not just in my practice but also to my professional outlook and aspirations.
Peer review is becoming increasingly important which leads me to believe that I would be much happier in my professional life and honestly more productive if surrounded by other creative people. I find the sharing of work and the insightful Comments of my peers to be helpful in a variety of ways This unit has afforded us the time to work independently from each other on personal projects but I have found that discussion around work has been invaluable in retaining enthusiasm for a project or subject matter, sharing expectations, thoughts and concerns with practical application and as a means of interrogating the work produced. My work as well as my critical thinking and influence would not have evolved if it were not for these interactions with my peers.
• Tutorials with visiting tutors have been helpful even if the work is not particularly relevant • Actionable points have become less prescriptive and more discussion has taken place in order to get to them • Confirmation that creation of large bodies of work and editing are the way I like to work and produce my most creative outcomes • Process based work is still at the core of my work but there needs to be a shift in focus to concepts and outcome driven work • Study plan was helpful but too ambitious for this unit • Reflection is still important but I this is becoming embedded in my practice. • Confirmation that per review and discussion are vital to my creative health
08/03/2016 Joel and Paul After a short discussion about my project proposal I expressed concerns that I had not conceptual development and focus. The advice was to begin by look at something or make a list of all the things you love and go from there. If you read around the subject you may find instresting points of veiw, opinions or raise other questions that could spark your interest. Being interested and inspired by contrasting subjects, times, environments, perspectives, may lead to something wonderful.
‘Don’t try and force an idea. Look at what you’re interested in and passionate about then research and create work.’ Trying to figure out what Im passionate about has been incredibly difficult. I am hoping this will come by emmersing myself in this project. I know I love nature, the environemnt and drawing, and so I will begin with that. We also discussed how my project might run and came to the conclusion that I needed to focus on making lots of observational drawings which could lead to large body of work. I was reassured that the concept will come from that and will usually be unexpected and surprising. Since this tutorial I have been advised the smae thing a nber of times and now know it to be true. We discussed the theme of the project and I allowed myself to focus in on a few areas: Landscapes Processes Layering I was advised to look at the following references and am excited to get started. Clare Woods landscapes http://www.contemporaryartsociety.org/artist-members/clare-woods/ The Dark Monarch - Michael Bracewell http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-st-ives/exhibition/dark-monarch A field in England - Ben Weatley - not the actual film but the synopsis is good http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1282201088/tt2375574?ref_=tt_ov_i
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REFLECTION
I DECIDED TO APPLY FOR THE DRAWING YEAR AND PUT TOGETHER A PORTFOLIO OF WORK - 10 IMAGES OF DRAWINGS IN PENCIL WATERCOLOUR AND DRY MEDIA AND 10 IMAGES IN OTHER MEDIA INCLUDING PRINTMAKING.
23/03/2016 Impromptu tutorial with Joel After the Royal School of drawing’s lecture - The Drawing Year - I included in my study plan and project proposal a attempt to gain some workshop experience with them for a week or so. After asking Joel about this today he suggested that I should apply for The Drawing Year itself, reason being that another year of drawing would be useful for my practice and experinece but alsothat there may be a small chance if I don’t that they may think I have potential and offer me some workshops. Deadline is 7 April so I need to work fast. Joel will help me edit a portfolio next week Thurs/ Fri so I need everything in or those two days. The application needs to include sketchbooks so I will need to think very carefully about which ones to include.
14/05/2016 Tutorial with Rob Nicol Tutorial - useful as my current project and one of my ocncerns is how my work could sit between fine art and illustration. He had some good advice on not loosing myself in the work if it is research based, as well as positive comments on mark making and working towards final images and/or presentation. I felt as though I don’t know where my work sits in relation to fine art and illustration. I WANT to be an illustrator but don’t feel as though my work is truly representative of what that means. this is something I’d like to explore further and need to clarify if i am going to succesfully sell myself and what I can do. Rob thought that experimentation is a strong point of my work which is encouraging as I enjoy it and get alot from materials and process. With regards to my residency he had some good advice which should help with focus and outcome. Have a frameork for working - think boundaries as you have before and aim for 100A4 images or 50 A5 images by a certain time. Print experiment is GREAT - line and tone. Now work with colour to see what happens Approach Lulworth for other rooms to display in - what about the boat house - can I have access now?? to work in?? Always consder this when appraoching potential projects. Consider presentation of body of work - A3 box files or something more exciting visually Don’t loose the immediate nature of the work. Look at scale - prinmaking large, have more confidence with brushes
Rob also had lots of helpful suggestions for inspiration. Watch Le Jeteé - Chris Marker : very strange film about post war humans find themselves underground facing the extinction of human kind. Scientists and doctors experiment on prisoners - test time travel out on them using their memories in order to send them to the future and ask the future race to help save them. The film is a narrated series of black and white film stills. It envokes a sinister but hopeful outlook and is beautifully shot- using light and dark to capture the sense of nostalgia, memeory, imagination and documentary fiction. I found this film captivating in content but also in the way it visually explored film, audio and using still images. Feliks Topolski: South Bank the work of this war artist could be helpful when looking at reportage and documentary drawing. Rob was concisous that I shouldn’t loose the energy and expression within my ‘on location’ drawings and so should look at some of the paintings FT was doing in reposnse to his sketchbook work. I have moved away from reportage as a proejct focus but still use the methodologies to begin my working in sketchbooks. I think my work has energy becasue of this but i would like to revisit this later on in my career. Norman Ackroyd: What do artists do all day/ Short film about life and work ofprintmaker. He works with landscapes and draws on location, taking sketches back into the printmaking studio to complete finished etchings of his drawings. This was helpful in that I can relate to his porcesses and am gradually coming round to the fact that my expressive landscape work might have a place. Robert Weaver http://gabicampanario.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-journalistic-illustrations-of.html Davd Gentleman - Britain http://www.davidgentleman.com/about.php These two artists were great when looking at aesthetic and application of images. 19/04/2016 Group tutorial Body of Work I was nervous going into this tutorial as I was eager to see what others thought about my work. I am concious that the majority of my work is so process based that I don’t have enough conceptual drive behind my images. My work is very expressive and gestural which I love but I’d like to do something more restrained. Maybe screenprinting will help me to achieve this? Feedback and reflection The work looks like LAYERS might be a theme, so think about ways of presenting the work so that the audience has to work to see it all. Think about framing. This might be good when trying to engage the public and it would tie in with the piont of view theme. The idea of framing would also feed back into the work I created with War Horse in unit 1 where I made work from various sources and found pcitures within pitcures. Try using the pattern of the landscape to produce textures for the drawings. Take my watercolour and search for patterns in nature - either repeated or singular. The idea about engagement is exciting. Take an oversized drawing into a place where you can ask people to come and add to it. Draw both Durdle door and Lulworth Cove and invite the pubic to draw back into the image - children in particular might be an interesting audience. PLAN for this week: with all feedback in mind I planned the upcoing week. Wednesday Meeting AM Studio work PM - task and sharing with others - complete task
Thursday: On location rock pooling with Lynn Patterns Plan for engagement with audience- set something up. Content for blog
03/05/ 2016 Tutorial with Maria Midtturn In this tutorial I explained about my porject - drawing as research and the Lulworth Residency. I had looked at Maris’s work before the tutorial and was eager to ask her some quetions around products, to ask her about her ways of working and producing end products and outcomes, and how she thought I could use my work to create something saleable. I was also interested in her commissions and how she appraoched engagement with the public. The conversation was really interesting and helpful Feedback and Reflection Try working on separate sheets of paper so that you can see everything together Try working on location with etching plates/ lino so that you can then bring something back into the studio and print directory from it. How to get people drawing??? The Big Draw or similar natonial events are a good place to start. Look at the campaign for drawing website to get ideas for participation activities at Lulworth. Try and shcedule time for getting people to interact - come and join in - use blog entrie of competitions to get people involved. Suggested acitvities for drawing days at Lulworth - drawing walk - what’s your point of view? - drawing the veiw from where you stand on a postcard - instagram photos of your favourite place Look at the experience more than the view- i.e. what you see.....the wind and salt in the hair - wet hands, picking up stones and shells, the noise, the elements. Experiment with how to communicate that visually??? Have an adventure - go and see everything for the first time. Get in and down and feel, touch, experinec things. Experience the elements and record it however you can. Maybe illustrate a narrative or a story taken from someone you meet? This advice was so exciting. I found a new lease of life for my proejct at a time when I was ‘running out of ideas’. I made plans to organise a day where I experiented with the elements, take 2 drawings walks with people who had drawn before and those who hadn’t, and made an effort to look towards exhibiting some of my findings in a pubic space. IMAGE EDITING In my practice I seem to struggle with the gap between creation of lots of work and a finished result. we spoke about how I might navigate this and came up with some helpful answers. It might be good to look at products and textures ABOUT a place as opposed to seeing the VIEW the entire time. Thie for me may lead to eperimentation with textures and patterns which is exciting. FINISH RESULTS MAY INCLUDE a combination of drawings one on top of the other, an edited version of a sketch or drawing from an audio recording, or even a series of textures or patterns. Clean up the images you already have, make them look more polished and cleaner so that you can showcase them on the web, make them interactive or simply dispay them differently. You can also then print your drawings and painting out to sell.
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spur - interactive commission http://www.spurspurspur.org/
MY VERSION
REFLECTION
Collective in leeds, interesting how they work and why and how they create I love the idea of the interactive landing sitegreat idea for legacy work with Lulworth using shapes that have been created as part of the project.
24/05/2016 Tutorial with Hayley Being ill for a week has scuppered my plans for planned activity at Lulworth and put me 2 weeks behind on my project. this is making me feel a little anxious seeing as our deadline is looming. But if I’m honest I am more concerned with not being able to achieve everything I set out to. I called a tutorial with Hayley so that I could bring her up to speed and think about what needed to be done and what could be achieved in the time remaining. This tutorial was incredibly reassuring as I was able to talk through my concerns and ultimately it put me at ease about my options for hand in. Feedback and Reflection • Remember that my project and therefore my body of work is PROCESS LED • If I’m concerned with finished pieces then why not trying to EDIT BACK INTO PIECES OF WORK to demonstrate my ability to reflect and edit...and how that might inform future work. • Look at the value of mark making and find quotes that support my practice. • Look at Dan Fern graphic artist • What were my original intentions? i.e. I was going to exhibit my work...so if I had done this which pieces would I have chosen and why? What was the feedback from the residency and how would that have impacted my choices? • Help the assessor so to NAVIGATE the body of work by putting things in sections. Mirror this in the presentation and in the physical hand in so that they know what’s going on and don’t have to work too hard to figure it out. Be clear and make it easy to understand- perhaps by using handwriting to bind everything together.
Since the tutorial I have been able to display all my work in the studio and evaluate what I have and what I need to do to resolve any issues or gaps in my work. I am realised that the pulling together of work at the end of a project (or in my case towards a deadline) has somewhat of a opsitive affect on my working practice. I would like to be more organised and/or get to this point sooner but feel as though I may not have come to this point without positive pressure.
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DISCOURSE
DRAWING AND RESEARCH Stephanie Black One of the most interesting and influential visiting tutors has been Stpehanie Black. Before her lecture I was able to look into her working practice and methods which are based around drawing as resarch. She is a PHD student, professor and illustrator and I found her lecture both inspriational and reassuring as it focused not only on how to use drawing to interrogate your world and gain understanding but aslo on how images can be repirposed and capatalised. ‘Drawing can be direct, incisive, intimate, surprising, funny or confrontational.’ ‘Illustrators do…we don’t make’. ‘Drawing is the main tool for researching the world. It forces you to be specifi, to look, to draw what you see and not what you know’. ‘Be informed, emmerse yourself in the subject’. ‘Use drawings to act as a counterpoint’. ‘Asks further questions and triggers larger discussions about culture’. ‘Ask questions about your practice - interrogate how it works and why’. I was also fortunate enough to have a private tutorial with Stepahnie where I was able to ask her some questions about my project and discuss my work. She was keen that i should not ignore what I had done before, or been doing in the past few years in my professional career. She advised me to use my skills and knowledge to position myself where I am interested and so this is what I have to now look at closely. For starters I came up with the following; theatre, collaboration, information, reposnse, performance, visaul language, research, drawing, printmaking. Stpehanie also advised that a subject or line of enuiry will come up through the work which echoes what Joel said about conept. If I base everything in ovservational drawing, I need to be specific so that I can see properly. She also gave me some ideas about how to go forward practically - adopt drawing methods as an aproach t a subject; use sketchbooks as tools and create multiple images; use editing to spark new ideas; you have a unique experience and perspective when it comes to illustration- as an industry outsider what do you notice?
George Bulter and Anna Cattamole: reportage The work of reportage artists such as George Bulter and Anna Cattamole have fuelled my intrest in this area, and in particular, helped me to pursue my passion for drawing. For me, the materials, the energy and the notion of ‘capturing a moment’ is far removed from photography.
HATCH
Wendy Rhodes: drawing on location I love the way Wendy uses charcole and pencil to capture the hardness of the landscape.
Philip Gray: artistic adventure Philip is inspirational in that we take painting and drawing to seemingly unreachable places. His sens of adventure is something and tenacity is to be admired and I would love to be as brave as he is and explore the world through drawing.
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DISCOURSE
PAMELA HOWARD DRAWING THEATRE I attended a panel discussion hosted alsongside the Drawing Theatre exhibition to celebrate the opening of the new Drawing Studio on campus at AUB. I was new to scenography but was inspired and delighted by Pamela Howards work and personality. I came away from the panel discussion enthused about drawing and with a totally different perspective on how drawing can be at the heart of a creative career. she has a strong sense of self which is expressed in her work. She experiments with materials and regularly uses audio when creating work. Her drawings becaome a ‘visual score’ which I found incredibly poetic. ‘Scenography captures the dynamic as well as the positioning of things. ‘Drawing is enlightening, inspirational, interesting.’ ‘Drawing can encompass any medium. The relationship between sound and colour, syncronicities of text. Find the medium that encompasses all this - find the moment when you MAKE A MARK AND FALL IN LOVE WITH IT.’ ‘Interest lies in the CONTEXT of theatre - through materials- under the illustration and the text. NOT illustrating the text but what is not said i.e. “So the eyes see what the ears don’t hear”.’ ‘Recognise the accident: BE OPEN BE AWAKE BE ALERT BE LOOKING’.
Exhibition experience I’m sitting in the new drawing building on AUB he middle of a room surrounded by colourful and exuberant drawings and listening to carmen. I’m on my own in this wonderful space looking up at the oval window and drinking in the atmosphere simple created by a soundtrack and space ful of inspiring images. I am transported to another world by the act of listening and seeing these vibrant images. It is captivating and periodically I find myself just sitting on the floor drinking it in. A real sense of the theatre is created around you and your can feel yourself in the middle of the performances.
Even thought the room is filled with light, colour and sound I felt a calm and sense of peace. This was a very strange experience, sitting on my own having no one else around. Theatre is usually enjoyed by the masses and opera itself on a grand scale but as I sat alone I was able to enjoy a private viewing of the exhibition and the opera itself. The applause at the end of the first act sounded like rain on a tin roof.
Jon Klassen: style and making Jon’s work is primarily used in self-penned children’s books. His images are humourous and playfrul but retain a severity through their construction and composition. i love the way he approaches his work - having a need to experiment with new things without ignoring what really works.
Joanna Neborsky: composition and mark making Joanna is an illustrator who I have recently discovered and would like to look at in more detail. She mixes ink drawing, painting and collage to create fun and exhuberant images for a rande of books, campaigns and personal projects. i love her compositional style, use of colour and mark making.
Rhona Garvin: texture I love the textural qualities of Rhona’s work. She is playful with materials and subject. I love her use of bright and vibrant colours.
Kate Pugsley: shape and pattern Kate is an illustrator i have recently discovered whilst looking at pattern, I can identify wiht the simple shapes and tones of her work and would love to experiment with ways of working similar to this.
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DISCOURSE
PRINTMAKING, MARK MAKING AND PATTERN Thomas Good http://www.thomasgood.co.uk/Velo Thomas is an alumni of the AUB illustration course. I recently looked into his work as a way of seeing how ‘loose’ and ‘unfinished’ pieces might be applied to different platforms. His illustrations around the landscape are used for posters and taken into animation which is something I’d love to try.
Norman Ackroyd: drawing into printmaking I love the way that Norman has such a passion for his subject, landscapes. His working processes are incredible interesting and i take inspiration from how he uses drawing to inform his printmaking.
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DISCOURSE
ROB NICOL LECTURE Rob Nicol is a multi-disiplinary artist who work accrss many platforms. Both his lecture and workshop were very informative and helpful, especially when trying to answer questions regarding where one sits as an artist in a professional context. Am I an artist, an illustrator, a creative or something other? I got from Rob that he loves to make work, to experiment and to use refernce material in exciting ways. he has an interesting and refresing attitude towards drawing and colour but works in a methodical and professional way to achieve results. he is articulate about his work which is soemthing I’d like to emulate. Rob has a gestural style and a strong sense of identity- even though he works across many disciplines. He mentioned that ‘images and style comes out of the process as opposed to creative identity’ which instills in me a confidence that through making I may be able to find a style or creative identity that sticks without loosing my love of experimentation. I believe that as long as my work has depth - whether applied through materials or subject matter- i will be able to communicate something relevant and interesting.
FINAL IMAGES
WORKSHOP Workshop outline - concept based, work through a task, work on roughs and a finished liece based on researched images. Not having much experience in this way of working really helped me to focus. I think my conceptual thinking needs development but this workshop structure really helped me to understand the applied process. I enjoyed finding images and making something new from or inspired by them. My initial concepts seemed to work best but I still have a huge problem with thinking through my ideas visually. I’m not sure how to rectify this but am thinking that practice may be the way to approach it. In this vein Lisa and I had decided to set a weekly ‘short task’ i.e. set an editorial/ choice of quotes/ text etc each Tuesday on fb so that we can then respond to it in a set period of time before sharing the next day. We’re hoping that this will train our brains to work in this way and set us up for working to tight deadlines. I feel as though it will focus my mind and also help up my editorial/ print production and conceptual thinking. Not necessarily the work he produces but his attitude, working methods and application of skills that straddle the fine art and illustration industries. Ways of working including practice of timed tasks, materials- be more comfortable with brushes/ mix your media.
CREATIVE RESOURCES
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HARRY WEBB
MA ILLUSTRATION