A reflection of the competition

When creating the artwork for the Buckland Abbey Poster competition I was really excited, I quite liked the outcome of the poster and thought it was successful, it is a watercolour painting with black ink detail. However when I asked how I was expected to submit the work, I was told to send it digitally. When I scanned the image (in order to send it) it distorted and became very grainy. The quality lessened, I therefore put it into Illustrator and made the background a solid colour and sent the image. However I felt the quality still wasn’t as good as the original and generally became quite disappointed. I wish I asked how to submit the work before I created it, as I probably would have thought differently about the materials. I personally feel it also would have been nice to hand in the hard copy of the work so the viewer could see clearly the colour and detail.

A mind map of illustration disciplines

Alongside researching areas of illustration that I have not looked at before I have also found two artists from disciplines I am very interested in:

Helen turner has been working as a freelance illustrator since graduating from Nottingham Trent University with a Ba Honours in Graphic Design in 2003.
She has created cards for Hallmark and Watermark and has regularly illustrated for Mizz and Bliss magazine. The combination of traditional techniques with digital software such as
Photoshop creates beautiful imagery full of character. Turner also uses interesting fabrics and textures in her work which aids in the bringing to life of her characters.

Yellena James grew up and attended art school in Sarajevo. At the age of 18 she moved to the U.S. and gained her BA in painting and graphic design at UCF. James mainly uses pens, inks, markers and acrylics to create intricate pieces transforming abstract forms and making them come to life. Her detailed arrangements of organic shapes and lines create a fresh and unique twist on floral designs.   

A brief reflection of session 3 – in this session we were asked to create a mind map of all the different disciplines of illustration and choose 2 that we haven’t researched before to look into – I found this session quite refreshing as it give me the opportunity to investigate areas which perhaps I thought were out of my skill range or didn’t capture my attention. I also put together some questions I would personally like to ask an established artist/illustrator - which i fully plan to do.

In the third session I began researching areas of illustration I have not looked at before, I started with Medical Illustration where I came across Peter Gardiner, I must say I found his work interesting however it has not changed my view overall – I still find it too strict for my style of work. The second discipline I researched was Fashion Illustration and found the work of Bobby Hillson – I fell in love with her work and really love the detail applied in her images. I have found that fashion illustration is a beautiful sub-topic of illustration and is definitely something I would like to research further, I am worried however that my skills would need to be improved for me to consider a route such as this.

Peter Gardiner is the Managing Director of Clinical Skills Ltd, a company set up to provide an illustrated portfolio of clinical skills procedures for educational and reference purposes.
Gardiner’s work has appeared regularly over the years in many UK nursing and medical publications he is also a co-author of the book, Surgical Procedures in Primary Care (Oxford University Press, 1995), which won First Prize in its category in the British Medical Association's Medical Book Competition in 1996

Bobby Hillson has been creating fashion illustrations throughout her career. She worked as a full time illustrator for vogue. In the 60’s she created her own childrens wear brand that was sold internationally and pieces from an early collection were acquired by the Bath Museum of Costume for permanent display.

Then in the late 70’s she returned to Saint Martin's where she had studied and set up the MA Fashion Course. She famously offered Alexander McQueen a place on the course when he made an unscheduled visit to the college
Hillson lives and works in London. She doesn’t have a website but can be contacted through www.fashionillustrationgallery.com
FIG was created to promote and sell original artworks made by artists who have worked as fashion illustrators
info from: http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/biographies/bobby-hillson

       http://www.medical-illustrator.co.uk/

Here is the artwork I created for the National Trust Christmas poster competition. I used watercolour paints and ink to create a contrast. I am very happy with the outcome of the poster. Silhouettes are something I would like to see more and more of in my work.

The second session of work based learning was a group interview with Ian Hankey – however my interview ended up being a one-one as the members of my group joined in with the group interview before. The tutorial was again getting me to consider work experience placements, where I basically told him my plans and how I will go about achieving them. I was also shown where to find the relevant forms to fill out as part of the coursework. Finally with Maria, I was told about various competitions which I could enter for experience – I was particularly interested in a National Trust Christmas poster competition, which I plan on entering.     



Year 2 Work Based Learning

In our first session of work based learning, we were primarily introduced to the brief and what would be expected of us throughout the project. We were asked to consider work placements we could embark on as part of our coursework. I was lucky enough to get some commissions over the summer which could be used as a freelance artist work experience. I personally would like to enter illustration competitions as I feel my commissions over summer weren’t always illustration based, I am also considering a work placement in a gallery/studio alongside an established artist.

The above image is a painting I did for a couple to commemorate their engagement.