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(Don't you, forget) About me

I’d introduce myself as Ellie Gratrick, although that would be a lie. My Sunday name, as my mother says, is Eleanor but I’ve honestly hated it since becoming conscious around 3 or 4.  Don't get me started about some of the misspellings of Gratrick! (Gay-trick is my personal favourite).

I am a worrier. I think it’s something that comes with this ability to create, an anxiety that nothing is good enough. My brain is like the underground at rush hour, so many thoughts are packed in there and keep piling in and overfilling creating so much noise, sometimes I wish it would just be an empty carriage. (especially when I’m trying to sleep). It’s a blessing and a curse, I love some of the ideas I come up with but other-times I feel like the shittest person ever. (This isn’t a cry for help!)

What calms me as well is visiting galleries. At home, in Wakefield (nr Leeds, people are never sure) we are lucky to have a lot of galleries nearby. The Hepworth is one I always enjoy. A exhibition I saw recently was of David Hockey and Alan Davie’s early works. https://hepworthwakefield.org/whats-on/we-two-boys-early-works-by-alan-davie-david-hockney/ . You can feel the energy and vibrancy of the strokes splashing across the canvases. Being from Leeds there are a large number of illustrators working there which I often come across at art fairs and bars and try resist the temptation to buy all their work. I think this is something I could see myself doing to try support myself with my art before becoming fully freelance. Molly Pukes (https://www.instagram.com/mollypukes/?hl=en) does a lot of comics, that often become a visual diary. Working in this way also helps me process my feelings and get them out into the world. Seeing her work in these fairs gives me the motivation that people out there do want it! I’ve found Bobbie Rae (https://www.instagram.com/bearcubs/?hl=en  ) work in an art shop in Leeds, Colour May Vary https://coloursmayvary.com which stocks a lot of independent publications. She  uses her illustrations to spread positivity and affirmations often about self love and accepting yourself using bright colours and squishy non conventional bodies. She applies these to all sorts of media such as clothing, bags, stickers, publications in order to create a plethora of merchandise to sell. I would like to go into something similar putting my work into lots of avenues but still retaining my own personal voice. Another thing I’ve found interesting in the Colours May Vary shop is the array of magazines. I’m often drawn to the Anorak and Dot kids magazine that features bold and bright colours and characters. https://anorakmagazine.com/collections/all . I would be interested in my illustrations being used in an editorial sense like this as it doesn’t seem too restrictive and work I’ve seen is full of energy and life, no holds barred. 

This love of narrative means a lot of the time while drawing I’ll be watching cartoon series or an animated film found. One series I’m watching now is on Cartoon Network called Summer Camp Island. I absolutely love Julia Pott’s character design- http://www.juliapott.com .  Characters, like the monsters, remain mystical but you still empathise as a viewer. I try to bring elements of these animation styles to my own work, creating characters that aren’t bound my reality or form. Her illustrations also retain this same empathy and joy often featuring characters and using humour. 

 I’m also drawn to Studio Ghibli characters for these same qualities. Characters like the Radish spirit in Spirited Away don’t talk but are animated with subtle body language and use of facial expression, which as a viewer mean you still follow the narrative. https://www.studioghibli.com.au/spiritedaway/ . In a lot of my narrative work I try to utilise this lack of text and communicate through the character instead.

As well as animation, 2d illustrations such as graphic novels are fun to read. A few of my favourites right now are Coyote Dog girl http://www.lisahanawalt.com/coyote-doggirl, Pantheon https://nobrow.net/shop/pantheon/? and Retrograde orbit. https://www.waterstones.com/author/kristyna-baczynski/1676440 . Two out of three of these contain quite raw and personal themes of not belonging, loneliness and sexual assault using characters to put these ideas across. I think more personal stories appeal to people as it becomes somewhat relatable even if it is a half dog half coyote girl, there is a sense of empathy created. What I want for my work is this relatability and become more vulnerable with my work, show my feelings since it’s not so easy to express these with words.  I also want to create my own full graphic novel in the future possibly published by Nobrow. I find myself looking at a lot of their books as they seem to represent fresh and unique talent. Hopefully I will have the stability as well to work as a freelancer, maybe in a collective with some of my friends I have made on this course. We’ve talked about making our own clothing collection in the future, I think screenprinting on t-shirts or bags could be really fun!

In light of the economy and how the arts are being treated:

 I hate tories.

The end. 

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BLOG ONE ABOUT ME 

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Debbie’s talks

The first time we met Debbie and she mentioned about networking my heart dropped. A naturally quiet person’s worst nightmare, meeting and talking to new people let alone ‘professionals’ in the industry. My mind spiralled a bit as all I could picture in my head hearing networking is ‘arsehole-y’ arrogant men in fancy suits in a conference hall all shaking hands and making deals. I am very much NOT that. I have the confidence of those shaky Chihuahua dogs in meeting new people (minus the aggressiveness). Debbie’s sessions were useful in explaining the use of these more business skills and how they can benefit our future careers. It taught me if I start to create these relationships now and within my remaining time at uni, it can prove beneficial in future life after graduation due to the large percentage getting jobs through a contact. I saw a lot of myself in the loner profile and relate to the section about ‘feeling like a nuisance’ to people. I think it is a lot to do with the anxiety and I project my feelings onto others of how I think they will react. This isn’t going to prove useful for my career and I don’t want it to restrict me and how far I can go with my practice. I think if I start getting into new habits of contacting agencies and talking to new people even if it starts on social media it may start to break down ideas in my head that I’m annoying them. The worst that can come of it is that I am ignored or rejected but could get myself a contact. I think by having to contact a practitioner and the studio visit will start off this process.

After her sessions, I feel less Chihuahua like and a bit more prepared with the skills I need and the ways to handle networking that will work for me. Doing the Myers Briggs test and getting the outcome of INFP explained a lot about myself. Planning things out causes me more stress and feel better when things happen naturally and more casually. For my work, I use a basic time management idea but often don’t stick to it as I find creativity and work flow come and go. In terms of networking I found it comforting the idea I can first contact people on social media and build on the relationship from there. It gives me the security of building relationships with intense 1 on 1 conversations rather than jumping right into a conference environment with lots of motion and people. It feels more comfortable knowing this approach.

Watching Susan Cain “The Power of Introverts” TED talk, really helped solidify and reassure my feelings of introversion. She comments how there is a bias in society toward environments that are intense and gregarious swaying in a way towards extroverts. To come up with unique ideas and solutions, introverts need to find the zone right for us. As she said, I find myself coming up with my best ideas when I am in my room alone and solitude really matters for us. It helps me in future work as when I will need to be in group works I can use my own solitude to come up with ideas and then meet later to discuss these ideas in a more chatty cafe discussion like format than forced group work where people are swayed by the loudest in the room who doesn't necessarily have the best ideas.

I learnt from Debbie’s session that design work is a precious commodity in need by not just people in the creative industry but everywhere. Places that need our creativity and ideas for advertisements, branding, etc. I wouldn't mind working with companies like this if they were considerate of my style and didn't want me to water myself down to fit them. A lot of newspapers use editorial work for articles that are not at all related to the arts. Al Murphy does this, using his quirky characters to advertise a brand you may not expect to use his work! I think something like this would not only pay the bills but be an avenue that could be interesting as it would be something new each time. An example I saw of this is Genie Espinosa’s work. She applies her style to these pieces and keeps a sense of herself in them. 

I would like to start considering working part time or doing some sort of work shadowing during the summer to gain experience in a creative industry. I’ve got contacts at a gaming company Team 17 at home and within the Hepworth gallery which I think I could start emailing and see whether they would be open to having me visit and a chat. I could also see if they would be interested in me shadowing and seeing behind the scenes. If this fails I could consider practitioners who work at Bank Mill Studios. I know Jodie Bambit has a tattoo studio there from her following me on instagram that I could chat to. I have also found that an illustrator called Saskia Cameron is there which I could talk to. If I was pushing myself out my comfort zone I would ideally like to visit the Anorak Studio in London to see how they manage commissions and place these into an editorial style. However, depending on them an appointment may not necessarily be available.

Action plan:

email team 17?

email saskia cameron

look into hepworth internships over summer

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BLOG 2

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5 Guest Speakers

Al Murphy 

Al Murphy gave a light hearted and honest look at where his creative journey has taken him, showing both the high and lows. He was funny and eased my stresses about life after graduation. He reassured that we don’t need to have it all figured out in three years. It’s a constant learning process of growing and improving, building on your skills. If you do make a piece of work, in six months you’ll probably hate it! The strong message throughout his talk is to be maintain your own individuality, be yourself rather than catering to what you THINK people will like. Most of the time it will end up looking like shit! This is what he explained happened during his ‘art school wobble’, which I think all of us creatives go through at some point. The advice he gave that its ok to not know where you’re headed I think gave the room some relief. It took him 5 years to finally have the eureka moment and have confidence in his own style and perspective. Something I found useful what he said is that what YOU like drawing can be translated into a professional setting like an editorial or advertising.  This I felt was reassurance as sometimes I worry my work is too ‘weird’ looking for mainstream consumers and won’t get me hired in future. It eases these worries and affirmation I should keep drawing these bizarre looking characters and that they can work for both the personal or professional. Some of his personal work he created which was huge billboard advertisements led to him being hired to create a mural in a bar. Still doing what he loves but getting out of his space and taking a risk with these billboards expanded his creative and professional horizons.

A lot of the companies he worked with like Specsavers and Perrier I would never have thought about being involved in the creative sphere. Again, this is an affirmation that there are many jobs in the creative industry, despite what your (insert family member that hates art) might say!

Simon Spilsbury

Without saying much, Simon Spilsbury just started manically drawing to the Foo Fighters. It was quite a shock as you don’t often see many illustrators with the confidence to draw live in front of an audience. He seemed quite negative with the rhetoric of ‘young people= Instagram obsessed’. I didn’t agree with this view point, I enjoy being inspired by other creatives work from across the country and world and engaging with them, creating a positive space. I feel possibly this comes from a generational gap and traditional upbringing. From an upbringing in fine art, realistic copying transitioning into illustration later in life. This resonated with how my creative path has gone: believing ‘good art’ was how well you could replicate a photograph with oil paint transitioning to a more freeing and expressive illustrative style. He stressed how important it is to always draw. I have personally noticed this difference in my own style when I draw most days compared to when I hardly drew at all. Simon started in his first job for advertising that then led on to illustrating.What he learnt from advertising was a lesson in collaboration, a future skill necessary for all creative for working with brands, customers and art directors.

A nice way of saying it was that he was ‘honest’ about life in the creative industry. There wasn't many positives which for some may have been worrying. I also found that explaining how to draw wasn’t that relevant as many of us have our own personal voice which his instructions didn’t relate to. I needed more process/professional advice. 

I found the way he explained ideas creation interesting, I could never put it into words myself. Take one idea and feed them into something else, collisions of separate ideas. E.g a normal chair but then combine it with a frog= a froggy chair. You shouldn’t have any preconceived ideas before you start. Thinking freely means a wobby line can become a skeleton for a character which you can build the figure on top. I feel this is a useful tip as a lot of illustrators including myself overthink “is it right?”. You define it for yourself. His talk ended with a ‘rap’. I say rap lightly… maybe just keep it for Christmas when you’ve had one too many!

Lyndon Hayes

Lyndon has been our tutor this module, travelling up from London every Thursday to come chat to us and see our work. Lyndon does a lot of editorial illustrations and reportage style illustrations. He did a talk for us, explaining his work and the advice that comes from being in the industry 20 years.  He has a passion for painting (which he still does in his spare time) which is where his work started. Creating pieces on found surfaces, wood, textures anything you can find in the skips with his painted figures. Many of his paintings including ones done at a boxing club, had this exposed sections without paint, highlighting the found material’s surface texture. I found these pieces really exciting as I seem to always be drawn to texture and painting was always my first love. You can see his inspirations of Hockey in these pieces. These paintings began to catch the attention of various newspapers who wanted this painterly style in their editorials. This is what most of his portfolio consists of. His illustrations are now digitally done but still have the painterly quality. They have a bolder line and often more paired down background with a restricted colour palette.

He told us the importance of keeping drawing for yourself, in his spare time he does observational drawings around London, a more reportage style. By building up his sketchbook and regularly posting these on Instagram and his own website lead to professional work. Keeping things fresh may lead to opportunities you’d never expect.

He said there are high and lows, sometimes there is lots of commissions sometimes there are lulls. These lulls are times to maintain your own personal projects. One of the regular commissions he gets is to illustrate Observer Food Monthly where a celebrity is interviewed on their favourite place to eat. These regular jobs provide steady incomes.

It’s reassuring that there can be (some) stability in a career and some creatives’ rent money is just made up of commission work. (If you can get it!)

Kirk Brown

Kirk Brown was a recently graduated alumni of the University. Finishing his degree in graphic design only a couple of years ago. Whilst at uni, he said he entered into all the competitions he could, putting in hard work to do well both in his uni projects but other personal projects as well. He spoke of the usefulness of Linkedin in finding commissioned work whilst still studying. I’d never really thought it was for creatives, more for people in ‘business’ but it couldn’t hurt to put myself on there. If nothing comes from it, I’ve not lost out anything.  Since graduating he has gone from graphic design to being a Creative Lead at SQN: a PR, sponsorship and marketing agency in areas such as sport, technology and automotives. This didn’t happen overnight. He mentioned how he worked for a couple of years at a smaller company before moving to this larger one. He says that smaller companies there is more creative control compared to larger ones there are stricter boundaries but more budget avaliable. I wasn’t sure if this talk was going to be relevant to me however this information was useful. For example if I was hired as an inhouse illustrator depending on the company size would depend on the creative control I could utilise. Businesses that I may not ever imagine I would work for may commission work like how areas such as racing/ sports etc needs creative teams to help them!

When presenting ideas he recommends putting up a substantial amount to give clients a variety to choose from as well as a wildcard that pushes client guidelines. They may even pick it! Be precious about work as if you bodge an idea and its not so good, a client may pick it and you’ll be stuck working with it. This is something to take forward. Don’t just half arse an idea to make up the numbers. Take care and to think about what you’re coming up with.

Neil Sheakey

Neil Sheakey is a design director at Uniform  in Liverpool. It is a multidisciplinary creative agency where all work is done in house. It’s made up of a global family of diverse backgrounds. There was a lot of waffling and jargon and what I got from it is that is a PR agency that uses creative solutions, branding, design and advertising to make businesses stand out in a world that is all morphing into one. The talk lasted a long time with my back going into some other worldly pain so it was a bit difficult to concentrate in this talk. 

He spoke a lot about his life before graduating and the journey that took him to Uniform.  The creative process they use there is empathy-perspective-direction-creative-action. This means taking the time to consider clients and businesses and their perspectives. To start creative ideas the team mood board initial ideas as well as those related to the concept. The benefit of working in a team of people each with different disciplines is that they all have unique perspectives of how to tackle a project. Combining these all together creates successful pieces of work such as Mitre football designs (for what football competition? League? Game? I have no idea?). 

What he recommends for our time at university is to make the most of our time. Getting our work out there on places like Behance or even Instagram is going to benefit you. By exploring, experimenting with techniques and process at uni we can find our voice, collaborate with others and there is no pressure like you would have in an agency once you graduate. What I found the most useful piece of advice is that you need to look after yourself, be yourself and enjoy it! At the end of the day you are the most important person in your life, you won’t make your best work if you are not caring for yourself.

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GUEST SPEAKERS

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Oxford Trip

I’m going to show how northern I am here, before this trip I had no idea even where Oxford was. The south-est I’ve ever been is London and the idea of anywhere else used to be a big no thanks! It doesn’t help that usually I get travel sick as soon as I step anywhere near a coach. Thankfully being full of travel sickness tablets and chewing gum I was fine on this trip, apart from the traffic holding us up. This is where I wish the flying cat bus existed.

As we were getting into Oxford, I couldn’t handle how HUGE all the houses we were passing were. At home if you have two bathrooms you’re considered posh! These were massive detached mansions. I noticed the amount all made of the same sort of stone, sandy coloured that makes all the buildings look old.  This sparked off a conversation between me and Tom (who I was sat next to) about different regions across the country and how they use specific stone. Thrilling, I know! I might research into this when I’m bored.

Rain! Of course, When we got off the coach me, Nelly, Mia and Tom made a group of our own since my group had gone with their friends. I had never met Natalia but she joined us. Spoons was the first stop as soon as we got off. The walk there for about 10 min, gave me the realisation that people aren’t as friendly here. Not sure whether it was the weather in combination or just the general attitude but a lot of the time we just got chuntering like we were in the way. We left spoons full and slightly confused as to why there was a pineapple that had been left on the table?! It was now our child to look after. Maybe I’ll make a short comic about pineapple baby.

It wasn’t the nicest of weathers to be out in but we tried our hardest to wander around and find interesting things. What we all loved was this row of pastel coloured terraced houses. Of course, we had to have photos in front of them. From these houses, we could use the idea of colour giving joy or maybe houses like dollhouses people look into, like a dollhouse. We found a bookshop that was full of graphic novels. I found one I liked by an illustrator Tillie Walden called ‘Are you listening?’. I might have to save up for that one. For our project, we could also look at creating a story on the platform as people become invested in stories and that brings them joy.

We found our way to the Ashmolean museum, what surprised me was how huge and stately looking it was. The massive doors to enter were a tiny bit intimidating. The first part, the natural history museum made me uncomfortable with the number of stuffed animals and insects pinned to boards. Why would I want to stroke the taxidermy bear?  The elephant skull made for an interesting drawing in my sketchbook if I forgot the fact it used to be alive and was only three years old. Once we got to the back where the Pitt Rivers museum started is when I got more excited. Mia even gasped out loud as we walked in. I did not expect this many collections. What we found funny was the collection of characters found among a lot of the East Asian deities. The faces were so expressive and something I could use to help me with my own characters. We could use the idea of characters in our project using humour with them to bring people joy.  Another collection we spent a while looking at was the Japanese Noh masks. I learned of lot of these represented scorned women and the male masks were of heroes. One of them was a woman transformed into a demon by jealousy of an ex-lover. The emotional state of the women in the plays was represented by their hair: Innocent young maiden’s hair was neat, not a hair out of place whereas a wild untamed mane of hair told of a woman emotionally disturbed, grieving. This collection made me want to research more into this culture of masks and particularly how through these they use metaphor and symbolism represent the parts about the women in the plays. It got me thinking I could do my own updated modern version of these masks. On the coach home, I felt I needed to draw these masks and capture the expressions in my sketchbook.

Time got away from us in there and before long we had to be back. I think Oxford would be a place I’d like to return to and try visit more places. It was interesting the history held behind the place. Hopefully be better weather next time!

Action Plan:

research into masks

draw some of my own masks!

see if there's any virtual tours of more museums around oxford

find tillie walden’s book

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BLOG 3 OXFORD TRIP

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BLOG 3 Oxford Trip 28/02/2020

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Virtual studio visit

Saskia Cameron- Email Conversation!

Me and my friend had organised a trip to go visit Saskia Cameron in Banks Mill Studio. I had found Saskia’s work on the Banks Mill website when looking what creators were based there. Her work instantly drew me in. I particularly like her  series of woodcut illustrated train tickets, following the West coast line. The blocky shapes, quite angular shapes used still show a sensitivity and sense of tranquility. The medium of printing means marks and textures come from the screens and lino which gives her work a lovely tactile feel. Unfortunately this visit was planned just around the time corona virus really became serious. It was safer for all our sakes to do the interview over email. It’s disappointing as I would have liked to see the space she works in and what is on offer after you graduate but not much can be done! 

How did you get into illustration? I studied illustration at Edinburgh College of Art - I had done a foundation before that and honestly I don't think I really got the opportunity to try enough stuff there, I wish it had been a bit less narrow! I knew I liked drawing and I was good at it, and I was too impatient to do animation at the time, so I picked illustration! But I think overall it was a good choice - what I really love about illustration is how good it is at transcending boundaries, and now I dabble in textiles, graphic design, all sorts. Top 3 illustrators that inspire you? Oh man this is a hard question. I love Sophy Hollington's work - I work a lot in woodcut and lino myself and it's great seeing that someone else is out there doing that too. It's a weird medium to work in nowadays as it can really restrict how you work to a deadline, but usually if a client wants it they're willing to put up with those restrictions. Roman Muradov is a really great illustrator in the truest sense of the word - his work is clever and clearly communicates concepts visually. Jesus Cisneros is brilliant, his work always pushes me to loosen up and open my horizons about what drawing and narrative can be. Honestly although I do look at a lot of illustration, I think the most important thing is to have people who AREN'T illustrators to inspire you, don't get stuck in an echo chamber of your own discipline. Other creative people who really inspire me are: Jon Zabawa (graphic designer, illustrator, art director, allsorts man) Braulio Amado (graphic designer artist type - he's prolific and so creative) Palefroi (this is arguably illustration, but they're a collective of two, and focus on print, art, installations, small press and animation) Ako Castuera (artist and ceramicist) Ali Smith (writer) And that's just contemporary people - I like to look at a lot of stuff from the past as well, and if you asked me next week I'd probably have a different list of people! When you create a new illustration, what is your process? Research > rough exploratory sketches > thumbnailing > work up a couple ideas > pick one and refine it into the final thing. What's your favourite thing to draw right now? I'm really into drawing people's gardens at the moment, especially those ones that are really overly 'done' you know, with sculpted hedges and garden gnomes and stuff. I just think they're really weird. Is illustration your sole income or is it managed around another job? Nope! My illustration work has always always been wrapped around at least one other job. This has varied from cafe/bar jobs, to admin jobs, to teaching. At the moment, I teach part time on the graphic design course at Nottingham Trent. Most illustrators I know work other jobs most of the time - it's pretty standard, especially at the start of your career. Personally I like this, I think I'd go a bit crazy if I was working alone on my own work all the time. I try and stay open to what my working week looks like, because at the end of the day I need an income, and freelance work can come and go. For me, I don't plan to ever go full-time freelance - I don't like the pressure it puts on my work, it can suck the joy out of it when you need it to provide all your food and shelter. Honestly I still consider myself fairly early career, I'm only 26 and it can take a really long time to carve out a creative career, particularly if you don't come from a wealthy background that can offer you a safety net. I worked full time my first year out of uni as a studio assistant, then went from that to working 3 jobs, then did a masters at Glasgow School of Art and now I've moved back home to Derby and until recently I've been working 3 jobs again! Wrapping an illustration career around that has been tough going, so for me it's only now that I feel I have the time and space to start making this all work properly. If illustration is an income, is the work you produce mainly through commissions/selling prints/etc? Mostly commissioned work! I need to develop more of a passive income, and I'd like to get into selling work more. So far it's mostly practicality that's been stopping me, as I've moved every year for the past 4 years. I'm hoping to be a bit more settled soon! Do you find putting your work out there on Instagram helps? And what’s your attitude towards social media? There's no good answer to this. Yes, it helps. I've had a fair bit of work come through Instagram - and most art directors/clients out there look at it even if its not their main way of finding illustrators. But it's not the be all and end all, the work I've had through it is just a product of having my work out there in the world for people to see - that's the important part. So exhibitions, physical and digital mailouts, networking in person, all of those things are just as likely to find you work. Social media is good for getting seen, but it can be a bit of a sinkhole. My attitude is to use it but not get too reliant on it - really I should be a lot better at updating mine, but I find real life gets in the way a lot! Thanks for reminding me to actually get organised with that. Do you find it more productive having a separate studio space vs working from home? Oh my god yes. But as a caveat - I have never had the luxury of a dedicated space at home. I think if I lived somewhere with a spare room I could convert to a studio it would have a pretty similar effect. Studios vary a lot too - I'm on my own in this one, but usually they're shared spaces. I think my dream scenario is to find shared studio space so I have other creative people around me to bounce ideas off and keep me motivated! I think however you work, it is important to get out now and then. Either for a walk or for your second job, whatever it is. If you can say What are your ambitions or future projects? My current plans are a bit up in the air at the moment with the corona virus! As I was saying above - I'm finally getting into a position to push my illustration career a bit, so I'm working on getting some new, self-directed work together. I'd like that work to be a bit multi-discliplinary, and to involve making work to sell so my income is a bit more diverse. I have a lot of big ambitious plans, but for this week I'm just focusing on keeping alive the commission that came in last week - I know it could be a difficult few months ahead and it could be my last in a while. After that, at least I'll have a lot of time to work on personal projects, so hopefully at least my portfolio will benefit! I have a collection of illustrations that I'm working on putting into a book of some kind, and I'm starting to work on getting a collection of prints, textiles and objects together over the next 6 months to start an online shop! I'm looking to get into a more permanent work/home/life set up soon, but who knows - life looks like it's being put on hold for a while. It’s really interesting to hear from an young illustrator and relieves my own internal pressure of having to ‘have my shit together’ as soon as I graduate. I am particularly interested in the people who inspire her as they are from a variety of disciplines. It motivates me to expand my horizons and not be so narrow focussing on work by illustrators. The rebellious and chaotic style of Bráulio Amado is something I’m really drawn to. It welcomes me to accept my own mistakes and be more loose and free with my drawings. Not worrying so much if a hand looks like a hand! The colours are vibrant and full of life. 

She mentions a shared studio space which something I hope for in the future.  Working on your own, I often get in my own head and overthink my pieces. Being in a space with other creatives definitely boosts your own creativity and you can ask questions. It gives another opinion on your work and ways to improve. A shared space opens up avenues for collaboration and collectives. Hopefully I will stay in contact with friends from uni and could be something we all do together!

Action plan:

definitely look at manicured gardens and draw my own! there needs to be a poodle or worm shaped bush

explore more artists from different avenues possibly looking at film/ book festivals for directors, authors

read more books (i have the time now we are quarantined)

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Saskia Cameron’s work

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JOY project

This joy project has become even more relevant and necessary in the current climate of the world. Flashback to before we were all locked down, at the start of the project, it took a week or so after getting the brief for us to meet since people had to travel. This worried me a bit as I saw other teams starting straight away. However, in the end I think this time allowed us to create ideas alone and not just go along with the person’s ideas that was the loudest. Starting the mind map, we wanted to do our team’s initial and personal responses to joy. I believe this was necessary before considering what we were going to create. Thinking about what brings us joy personally with also resonate with others. I felt this mind map’s creation was equally spread between us all as a team.

After investigating what brings us joy personally, I wanted to research the theory of well-being and joy in the library. The most interesting research I found was that people respond more positively and report higher feelings of joy after watching a narrative. Being around other people and interacting also lead to higher feelings of satisfaction and long term gratification. I personally wanted to include a sense of meditation where people on the station could interact with. Through my own practice I found meditation allows you to focus on breathing and let go of everyday stresses. Me and Tom also found the Intu centre was hosting pieces of work from Liz West titled Light House experience. It was a series of 3D walkthrough pieces, exploring colour and its impact on our emotions. She used shapes like rainbows that evoke joy and neon lights.

When we came together as a group again we had multiple ideas of making a interactive filter on Instagram, QR code hunts, doing some sort of positive messages in typography and adding characters to our own world on the platform. We collided our ideas together to make a 3d carriage based on the platform or station concourse where commuters can walk through and find a sense of calm and peace from the bustle of everyday life.  Around this time was when University was shutting down and group work could no longer happen! The submission of our pitch was received with positive feedback which was reassuring. Now having to carry out the visuals myself I began trying to find shapes in which this carriage could be. Looking at Jon Burgerman- Be Yourself solo exhibition that was being held in Korea. He had created 3d pieces of his crazy characters, creating the world in his head in real life. He uses mostly bright primary colours that keep this sense of childhood joy. I wanted to create this carriage with a character. I did many iterations and ideas exploring what shape expresses joy. Would food work? Sunshine? Animals? Weird characters? After consulting with other creatives we all concluded that the sunshine is the strongest idea. Not only the connection with nature, warm sunny weather boosts people’s mood and yellow is known to be a colour connected with happiness.

Plan for inside my carriage would transport commuters into a separate dimension. Nothing really feels real, there’s lots of colour and using light to create a sense of safety. The world I wanted to create inside was inspired a lot by neon work by Bruce Nauman I’ve seen in the Tate modern before and Teamlab in Tokyo. The exhibitions I’ve seen photos of in teamlab use electronics and screens to create worlds still inspired by nature but somehow diseparate from reality.  They take the viewers into another reality, one with a sense of calm and filled with colour. In the main space of the carriage would be multiple interactive screens that engage them with their senses. I wanted to include the emotion scanner from Uniform that plays a piece of music to improve their mood. Music was found by many researchers to boost happiness and general wellbeing. To engage people’s creativity I wanted a station where they could create their own characters. Mixing and matching different heads and bodies to create their own unique being. The other station is to create a narrative, a mad lib style where the commuters pick noun/adjectives and a funny story is created. Commuters can watch the story they’ve created be animated at the end. It gives some sense of purpose to their day. In a separate area would be a meditation zone for people to decompress and be a relaxation zone. I wanted to use blue lights in this space, either echoing the sky or sea. Giving this natural connection gives people a sense of calm. I want there to be a screen at the start people can choose a meditation based on how their feeling. Like Headspace’s meditations that have visualisation of success/ stress relief/ anxiety relief. People can take a pair of headphones and engage for 5/10/15 min in this meditation.

To go all out I want commuters to be able to go up to a balcony where the glasses of the sun would be and can look out on to a VR scene of their choice. It could be the seaside, a jungle, space, a fantasy cloud land! Using sensors they would be able to navigate through this land and explore creating a sense of escapism.

The final images came out as I imagined. I kept to a colour palette of blues,pinks and yellows give the carriage a more dreamy quality. The carriage is placed in the concourse of Leeds train station a place that gave me a lot of sadness and anxiety! I think by making it larger than life it would draw people in and give them relief from life even just for 10 minutes. I wish I could actually create this!

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JOY project 

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Anastasia Tasou Workshop 27/03/20

Doing creative things has saved me during this quarantine. I’ve learnt to do macrambe and picked up doing crochet and knitting again as well as having all the time I want to draw! Even had time to bake bread in between. What I love that’s come out of this situation is how positive and uplifting all creative community is on Instagram. Its currently full of lots of challenges and fun workshops. I thought I’d join in one. I joined in Anastasia Tasou’s livestream/ art workshop. Her work tends to be more simplified using often a continuous or simplified line art, often with text or poetry included. As well as being something to do, possibly the freedom of her work is something I could learn to be more like. I came with my paper and pen ready to be carefree!

The workshop consisted of observational drawings made up of continuous lines layered with opposite hand drawings. She encouraged freedom and not to create for perfection. Create because it feels good. This is something I particularly struggle with. A lot of the time I want my drawings to be ‘right’. ‘Does this actually look like a hand?’. Doing this workshop I’m starting to accept things don’t need to reach this imaginary standard of perfection I have in my head. If I enjoy creating that should be what’s important. These exercises not only help my drawing and observational skills but my brain! The process of drawing with my right hand (I’m left handed!) was fun as its something unusual. The wobbly nature of it makes the pieces more interesting and something I’m going to try incorporate more in my practice and drawings just for fun. The drawings I made from this workshop don’t particularly make sense but they don’t have to. They can just exist. Layering up drawings is also a technique I would like to bring into my drawing practice. I find it interesting how the lines become interweaved and become one entity.

Action Plan:

Do more opposite hand drawings

Try closed eye drawings

Find more workshops to draw along with

Layering drawings!

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Anastasia Tasou workshop Instructions + my drawings

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Joana Vasconcelos: Beyond

I live near Yorkshire Sculpture park and its always been a place I love to go to. If you’ve never been, (you’re missing out) its an open air gallery based in the yorkshire countryside filled with sculptures and the odd sheep or two. As well as sculptures out in the open, there's a couple of indoor exhibition spaces. The ever changing work means I often discover new artists and creatives. It opens up to find creatives not just from an illustrative discipline. A few of my favourites I have found there are: Alice Pattulo, KAWS, Saad Qureshi and Holly Hendry. 

Just before the lockdown happened on the 13th March, we went to visit the new exhibition by Joana Vascconcelos. She creates monumental sculptures and installations, frequently using items associated with domestic work and women’s crafts to comment from a feminist perspective about women’s roles and how they interlink with national identity and cultural traditions. Some of these items are telephones, saucepans, crochet, clothes horses and even hair. (Its fake hair don’t worry). The underground gallery doesn’t restrict her pieces. Hanging from the ceiling is an immense 12-metre-long sculpture titled Valkyrie Marina Rinaldi (2014). Made from multi-coloured woollen crochet, fabric and embellishments, the sculpture seems to have these limbs stretching across the gallery. The piece represents ‘Valkyries’, from Norse mythology, the most prized women soldiers. Due to the choice of material the piece’s size and choice of brightly coloured wools means it lacks a threatening presence, it feels comforting and protective of you. The way it hangs and the ‘limbs’ feels like it is an escape ride, a flying creature of sorts to get you out of trouble. Vasconcelos transforms a technique, crochet, that is was formally dismissed as low brow and a craft than an art, into a victorious piece of artwork. 

A common technique she utilises to express meaning is using a collection of objects, e.g. pans, phones, wheels to create one huge imagery. An example is a huge pistol created from black rotary dial phones. Call Center (2014- 16) is comprised of 168 rotary-dial telephones creating the form of an enlarged Beretta pistol. Guns are commonly linked to masculinity with ideas of strength and the power that comes with a threat of violence. Dominating others is a quick cure for the emasculated man. An almost deafening ring from the phones comes from this installation, a sound that rings like a gunshot. The rotary phones could be a representation of women; they are often stuck in secretarial roles. The phones that create the gun is the metaphor of the collective power of women that have risen from these roles to take the power like this gun. 

Another, made from stainless-steel saucepans, she creates the iconic oversized silver stilettos. The piece is titled Marilyn (2009/2011) obviously referencing Marilyn Monroe, one of the most notable American actresses to symbolise female sexuality. This sculpture is a comment on dichotomy between women’s traditional domestic roles and those of public roles. It is a reminder of the private is political. Women looking up to Marilyn were trapped in the shoes of housewife and domesticity. Women were only considered valuable if they were public figures. 

I left this exhibition feeling inspired and I wanted to draw! Particularly the crocheted pieces, were something I’ve never seen before. It’s not some pretentious convoluted meaning. You can see and feel it the emotions behind the works. As soon as I was home I used her Valkyrie Marina Rinaldi and drew my own characters onto the work. I felt this piece was a creature my characters could ride and escape on. After uploading I even got this work featured on her Instagram!

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Joana Vasconcelos Exhibition YSP