Contents Who am i? Inspiration Process Mark Making Ink Presence Exhibitons/Events Future Plans Getting out there Promotion ‘Oh Deer’ Realisations Relevant Links
Who am i?
Artist and Illustrator specialising in the creation of figurative, observational and narrative works. My work is realised through hand rendered experimentations, regarding my interest in relaying the essence of atmosphere, character and emotion through the immediant marks and process of drawing and painting. I enjoy the process of capturing a vivid moment of narrative in a single image, building imagery through my interest in the relationships of mixed media and visual communication concerning the contempoary.
A Draughtsman and Painter at heart I find myself constantly pushing and challenging my abilities, to apply my technical skills to new media and platforms. I often find inspiration in directly relaying thought and imagination in a new media or topic of interest. I relish in expanding my visual language - ever evolving and growing in my ability to relay and communicate the beautiful and interesting world we live in. For many years I felt I was on a quest, under pressure to discover an artistic style. I was used to working from photographs or directly recording what i see...I never felt completely comfortable in one particular medium and strived to try every process. Through maturity, feedback and artistic development I’ve realised that infact your conscious and unconscious thoughts produce this ‘style’. The ‘style’ is infact your personal, most original and individual mark of expression and process. Jean Ingres cited
“The style is the nature.”
To unlock drawings powerful language is a constant learning curve, you acknowledge and feel the connection between hand and brain. Utilizing areas of knowledge and insight. I now fully embrace and utilize my imagination in my work. The last few months of my degree have been the biggest turning point in my creative studies. I’ve pushed the boundaries of my creative practice. Developing in my confidence and understanding of context and story telling. I left the comfort zone of simple realism and delved into experimenting with new media and process. Key themes for the direction of my practice are contempoary story telling, process, experimemntation and the challenge of refining and showcasing my new way of working.
Process Topics of interest that feed into my work are those regarding 21st century concerns and issues. In particular involving human compassion and wildlife conservation. The human race is fascinating , documenting both the beautiful and dark aspects of our being. There is so much to portray and express with each individual. Where i previously focussed on portraiture to communicate this i have now developed this expression into imaginary characters, portraying these characters with concept has been the next step. I’m proud to have taken my figurative work to the next level and feel i’m only just beginning an exciting journey of discovery. The time i spend relaying information either observationally or from my mind enables me to gain a deeper understanding of the world and the infinite boundaries of expression. Drawing, painting and colour have always been my favoured mediums of expression. The immediacy and process of building layers of tone and marks enables me to create fantastical and conceptual representations. I often find myself in a version of a trance, drawing has become a therapeutic activity with the results often not realised until i have stopped. It’s often the immediate doodles and sketches that were not pre conceived that speak the most to me. It’s a true representation of my state of mind and emotive feeling. I fill folders of reference imagery absorbing and researching every aspect and avenue, over the past year i’ve drawn as much as possible sketching out my thought processes. Every single image and doodle is a step towards a more refined image. I know i’ll have to quicken this process for short deadlines but i’m able to work under pressure and a lot of the time it’s the initial ideas and sketches that are the ones i always go back too...
Future Plans
I have already compiled a creative cv and online portfolio that i have used to apply for a number of
internships, artist residencies and job and work experiences. I’m determined to carry on refining this mail out and hopefully in the near future an opportunity will arise from my efforts. In the meantime i will enter as many competitions as i can as i know this will only better my chances of recognition and respect in the arts sector. I will continue observational drawing practice which will ultimately fuel and develop my creative practice as a whole. I’m looking into editorial work and reportage illustration as another possible route. The time i’ve spent working and developing with others on the illustration course has been an invaluable experience and one that i will cherish forever, it’s enabled me to develop a great sense of artistic evaluation. I enjoy working within a team and have good leadership skills. I’ve grown in confidence and now feel i have the tools, knowledge and enthusiasm to learn and adapt to almost any creative job opportunity. I grew up in a seaside town on the Isle of wight. I will be moving back there for a few months in order to document this town through observational studies of the town locals, pubs, charity shops, childhood dens and landscape that i owe my childhood to. In this time i also plan on securing an internship or volunteering opportunity in London. I want to harness my new found love for narration and character design and push and challenge my abilities as a visual story teller. I’ve been fortunate enough to secure accommodation in London. In January i’ll be moving into a house with a fellow creative i see this as the ultimate opportunity to fully flourish as an artist. I plan on turning a whole room into a studio with the opportunity to even have a studio shed in the garden. I’m excited to become fully dedicated to my ever evolving practice. I still feel i’m at the start of an exciting journey of realisation and development and see the development in theory and practice learnt now being applied to my passion for Painting. In a recent portfolio review with Gina Cross i was advised that my portrait paintings where some of my strongest work, to pursue it and build a clientele. I fully intent of doing this and am excited for what’s to come. I will feel free to absorb and express my new surrounding and freedom in London. I feel drawn to the urban landscape, the architecture, the decay the communities and opportunities. I have set up a profile on ideastap, the aoi and and i plan on actively engaging in any creative or community events , events, workshops and networking and learning experiences. I want to refine and expand upon my investigative study into drawing discourse with a possible direction into an MA course. After a number of years i will fulfill my ambition to travel and document the wildlife, communities and landscape abroad in particular parts of the world that are less well documented like the islands of Sumatra and Asia. As well as travelling i will be actively engaging with the community and conservation. This in turn will directly feed my inspiration and artistic practice and enable me to further my visual language. The new colours, textures and realities will be ingrained in my being and on return i will have a fresh perspective and be able to communicate this to the world.
Now that have a few online portfolios and a better understanding of my target audience and future direction i will be diving head first into compiling a body of work that reflects my personal interest in figurative, contemporary art. I will be entering as many competitions, gaining as much work experience as i can to build the respect and recognition that is needed to succeed in selling and gaining commissions for work.
I plan on dedicating alot of time and effort to fully refine my practice in order to have a a portfolio that is united and branded. However the more i experiment the more i learn about myself and my capablities! My style of working and portraying imagary is coming though in nearly any media i try. i want to fill this next year with experimentations and see where it takes me!
Getting out there... Princes Drawing School-I’m determined to achieve a place on the Princes drawing school programme as i know how vital drawing is to my practice as an artist. Although i applied and didn’t get on this year , the experience of visiting the studios and open day’s gave me a valuable insight in what i want to and achieve. I want to carry on with the focus on drawing technique and skill to achieve an ongoing working sketchbook documenting my immersion into the city and new exciting opportunities. Pushing in the direction of abstract v representation i want to follow in the footsteps of the great artists to dedicate a whole chapter of my life to self development.
The V&A Museum
- Throughout my childhood and creative studies iíve actively been engaged with the community this has kept me inspired and motivated and helped me shape my creativity. I now want to give something back and am pushing in the direction of volunteering and applying for positions that will help me gain experience in this field. I see it helping to shape and inspire my practice. being in direct contact with my target audience and being surrounded by creativity and positivity will fuel my practice. I have also signed up to IdeasTap , AOI, and want to promote myself as a freelance illustrator sending my portfolio to Heart agency and working my way through the bank of art directors and publications i have saved. Museums are a great source of inspiration and i plan on gaining as much experience as i can actively engaging with them. Art is a globally recognised language that i want to help share and communicate.
Aims A1 To provide me with the opportunities to exercise and enhance your knowledge and abilities in the development of a body of creative and technically competent work appropriate to your course aims and criteria at Level 6 A2 To provide opportunities for me to lean the increased complexity and rigour of creative production required of this unit. A3 To encourage me to apply the advanced level of discipline and time-management which are required during the unit. A4 To encourage you to work independently, albeit with supervision, in the development of your work, in a way which reflects contemporary professional practice. I am also encouraged to work effectively as a team member where this is demanded by your project or subject specialism. Learning Outcomes LO1 Demonstrate the ability to rigorously apply specialist knowledge, understanding and creativity in the production of my extended major project. LO2 Demonstrate the ability to manage the complexity of practice demanded by the extended major project by managing my time and work effectively. LO3 Demonstrate ability in the coherent use of various representation techniques, documentation and presentations to specialist and non-specialist audiences. LO4 Demonstrate my awareness of the ethical, social and cultural issues appropriate to the concept of a responsible professional practice, whether working independently or as part of a team. Assessment Requirements Body of work to be identified through and in the negotiated Learning Agreement (Tutor Assessed) 100% Assessment Criteria Evidence of realisation through the application of technical knowledge and skills Specialist knowledge and understanding are evident and applied in the work (LO1) Evidence of understanding through critical evaluation and reflection - Informing the development and management of the project (LO2) Evidence of realisation through presentation - The communication and presentation of ideas reflects best contemporary practice. (LO3) Evidence of knowledge of concepts, contexts, criticism and theory - The work demonstrates awareness of concepts relevant to the responsible professional practitioner. (LO4)