Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION OUIL603 Extended Practice
Level
06
Credits
60
STUDIO PRACTICE Statement of Intent Name Olivia Newsome www.onewsome1316sp.blogspot.co.uk Date 13/5/16 Rationale I want to improve my problem solving skills, my drawing skills and my professionalism in my practice including having a clear ‘tone of voice’ in my work. This will help me to solve briefs in ways that are creative and not cliche, it will help me communicate better and help me to be more recognisable in my work. This will deepen my understanding of illustration and establish my practice more and as a result I will feel like I have achieved something really exciting and am proud of. I want to have informed decision making in my work because it will have a good effect on the work created. This will make sure that the work produced is relevant and enlightened. It will make my work be the best it can be and as a result it will make me a better illustrator. It will also mean that potential clients can see that my work is thought out and well crafted. Themes / Subjects Themes: Light hearted, colour, texture. Subjects: People, nature (trees/landscapes/fish/insects), geometry. Products / Methods of Distribution Books Book covers Poster Album cover Editorial illustrations Wall Stickers methods of distribution: Online shop Book shop Magazine/newspaper. Museum shop Gig’s/Itunes Practical Skills / Media / Formats Digital focussing on photoshop but also adobe illustrator Kyle T Websters brushes. Drawing skills Colour selection Iconic palletes. (owen davey, thomas danthony) Texture selection sourcing, developing and becoming wiser using textures Format and layout graphic design minded/informed solutions
Brief 1: Editorial illustration Pick 1 article a month from the Deadli Rolling newyorker.com from the week prior and illustrate it within 24 hours. I ne project. need to make 5 different illustrations in total, each centering around different commonly used formats in the New Yorker magazine. I need to make each illustration different in format to the previous. Audience: readers of that article. Rationale: I want to create some editorial illustrations within 24 hours every month that are informed by The New Yorker (i chose this because i’d really love to do work for them one day) because I am really interested in editorial illustration and want to explore it more. This will improve my creative thinking skills and push me to work to a short time frame and as a result I will have some more experience with editorial illustration and work for my portfolio. Brief 2: Take part in the Penguin book cover design award and go on Deadli Before to reillustrate 4 other Penguin classics. All 5 books must work together ne end of as a set. Audience: readers of those books and collectors of penguin January classics. Rationale: I want to illustrate these covers because I am interested in book cover design and the current ones could do to be reworked to bring new life to them. This will attract people to read the book and also challenge me as I struggle to interpret large pieces of text in a noncliche way and as a result I will be better at book cover design and also will have gained skills in interpreting text. Brief 3: Big BriefCreate some informative yet playful products on the Deadli End of Amazon rainforest, (specifically focussing on 5 areas mammals, insects, ne module birds, reptiles and plants) for a current exhibition ‘Images of Nature’ at the Natural History Museum. Create a sets of bespoke prints focussing around these main areas, create products to sell in the shop (stickers, limited edition notebooks, bespoke prints and activity cards) and create some wall decals/stickers for the ‘Images of Nature’ exhibition in the Natural History Museum, London. Audience: People interested in nature and botanical drawings People who enjoy art prints People who visit the Natural History Museum mostly targeted towards families Rationale: I am really inspired by the rainforest and all the life that resides within it. I haven’t ever done a project focusing mostly on animals so this brief will push me to study a subject in detail and inform myself well due to the knowledge needed to create something like this. This will deepen my understanding of creating books for a specific audience as well as my innovation and drawing skills and as a result the work produced should really show me off as an illustrator. It will also push my illustration skills as I haven’t really illustrated nature much before. Brief 4: Darts Project Digital art and storytelling. Create a piece of Deadli 20th digital artwork of a historical building (a choice of 3 buildings, I chose ne Novembe r
Corvin Castle, Romania). The work should appeal to people who are visiting the site. Audience: Visitors of the heritage site. Rationale: I want to complete this brief because of my interest in digital illustration and buildings. This will challenge me to step out and digitally draw a building and as a result I may win a competition and also have a really good piece of artwork on a historical building as well as gained skills in architectural drawing. Brief 5: Reillustrate the covers of the Hunger Games Trilogy books as Deadli February the current covers lack visual appeal ne Audience: readers of that book. Rationale: I want to illustrate these covers because I am interested in book cover design and the current ones are lacking in visual appeal for the Hunger Games books. This will attract people to read the book and also challenge me as I struggle to interpret large pieces of text and as a result I will be better at book cover design and also will have gained skills in interpreting text. It will also create some really exciting work for my portfolio. Brief 6: For this brief I must create 3 pages of a colouring book that shows children what engineering is and breaks any stereotypes that they may have. It must show a child/children going from where they are now to what they could be in the future. E.g a child could be playing with lego now and this could help them to be a structural engineer in the future. (Audience: children ages 49) Rationale: I want to complete this brief because it will be very good for my ‘exposure’ as well as helping me to tackle briefs that are unfamiliar. This will give me confidence in doing less familiar work and will push my practice. This will therefore create some work for my portfolio that shows more of the scope of my practice. Brief 7: ‘Fight the Dice’ EP cover. I was asked by a band called ‘Fight the Dice’ to create an EP cover for their band, it must be very busy and have lots of references to pop culture. (Audience: Listeners of that artist) Rationale: I want design an EP cover because it is something that I have never done before and the scope of the reach will be much bigger than a self directed brief. This will deepen my understanding on how to create a good EP/album cover and show me how to deal with a client and as a result make me a better and more experienced illustrator. Brief 8: This brief was to create some illustrations for The City Talking newspaper promoting the development of the Southbank of Leeds, the HS2 Railway and the Leeds Culture Strategy which centeres around the Leeds 2023 Europe Culture Capital bid. The illustrations could be any size but had to be about this subject. (Audience: Readers of the newspaper) Rationale: This brief will be really good for my exposure and working with new clients. Creating this work will push me to work more conceptually and to a more organic brief. This will heighten my brief interpretation and will also help me to create some well informed illustrations. As a result I hope to create work that will look excellent in my portfolio.
Contextual References How to be an Illustrator Darrel Rees (2008) Visual Communication: From Theory into Practice Luciene Roberts (2006) How to Create a Portfolio & Get Hired Fig Taylor (2010) The Illustrator's Guide to Law and Business Practice Association of Illustrators (2008) Mad About Monkeys Owen Davey Websites: www.itsnicethat.com www.formfiftyfive.com www.varoommag.com www.illustrationmundo.com www.illustrationfriday.com www.booooooom.com www.todaysinspiration.blogspot.co.uk www.daviddoran.co.uk www.owendavey.com monkeys http://mattsewell.co.uk birds http://www.bennewman.co.uk www.nhm.ac.uk BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS / TEXTS (Harvard Refernced) How to be an illustrator. / Rees, Darrel (2008) Visual communication: from theory to practice. / Baldwin, Jonathan & Roberts, Lucienne (2006) How to create a portfolio and get hired: a guide for graphic designers and illustrators. / Taylor, Fig (2010) The illustrator's guide to law and business practice. / Stern, Simon (2008) Mad about monkeys / Owen Davey / (2011) MAGAZINES / JOURNALS / ARTICLES – (include publication date and details) 3x3 Varooooom ON LINE REFERENCES / WEBSITES / ARTICLES (include specific urls) www.itsnicethat.com www.formfiftyfive.com www.varoommag.com www.illustrationmundo.com www.illustrationfriday.com www.booooooom.com www.todaysinspiration.blogspot.co.uk www.folioart.co.uk OTHER REFERENCE MATERIAL (Films, events, exhibitions, conferences) ‘Images of Nature’ exhibition at the natural history museum