I know the last post was obscenely long… and the post before that, but this is just a quick one, I promise! (Seriously, I have to leave the house in 15 minutes else the coach to Paris is leavin’ without me). Anyway, I’d just like to talk about a couple of things that I’ve done this week other than my reflective review, proposal and time plan.
This week we were also set a ‘Self-Promo’ project, for which we have to create something (for example, a small book, poster, postcard, etc.) to express and promote our work to clients. I’m aiming to finish that by the 27th Feb at the latest as we have to stick it in the mail to Pete by the 28th. I need to get thinking about it but my initial idea was to create a small book, as I think that is what would best represent me.
We have also started thinking about an ‘identity’ for our Degree show. We had to get in to groups and come up with some ideas and the chosen idea was a 3D Theatre, which then morphed in to a sort of hybrid between that and the circus. The idea my group developed was that we can have this big set that we work on together but each person has to draw in any style that they wish their character (for example, a strong man, lion tamer, etc.) and it will have a photo of their face on it. It’s difficult to convey in text so we are all drawing an image of what we have in our heads for our next session, which is something I’m looking forward to. I think this idea is be a good way for everybody to get the chance to express their own style so that we can encompass all styles of illustration in one non-elitist, interesting and innovative way.
We also had a visit from Fig Taylor, a portfolio advisor. At first I was a bit scared/depressed as I thought we basically had to copy another artist/ move to Australia, but as it digressed I found the lecture quite interesting and informative and feel that I’m now more well equipped for the scary ‘real world’. She explained that editorial illustration was the sort of work we should expect to be doing as an illustrator, and reccomended taking a day to go to WHSmiths and write down the contact details of editors of magazines. She also said that we should approach some of the more obscure magazines as they often feature a lot of illustration and they will be less in demand. I would have liked it if she had taken some time to talk about book publishing as although childrens books get talked about a lot in illustration, other books and adult narrative tend to get brushed over.
On a less academic note, I also bought some comic books earlier this week. I usually find that the majority of stuff on the shelves is pretty generic, (great if you're in to buff/big-titted, lycra wearing superheroes) but this week I found some pretty interesting looking ones. As you can see I've been indulging my love of Tank Girl and have bought the new trade of the black & white specials they release between each episode (...does that sound nerdy?) called 'We Hate Tank Girl.' (Dayglo, 2011) It's (obviously) no longer illustrated by Jamie Hewlett and since it's return in 2007 it has been illustrated by Ashley Wood and now Rufus Dayglo. Dayglo is an immensley talented illustrator, and you can see some examples of his work here. However, I think I preffered the previous artists take on Tank Girl, Ashley wood applied his own style whereas Dayglo tends to simply emulate the style of Jamie Hewlett. Here's a couple of examples of his past work on the Tank Girl books:
As you can see they're really different, a lot more- at loss of a better word, arty. I think he uses paint and they're a lot more abstract than the work of Dayglo. I also bought 'Marvel Zombies 5', (Van Lante, 2011) which is unlike me but I thought the cover images was hillarious and the main character is a duck in a suit, which is obviously ridiculous and therefore good. One which really influenced my own work was called, 'The Bulletproof Coffin' (Kane, 2010). It's really bright and bold and the images are simple yet not at the same time, I know thats extremely vague but it's quite difficult to describe. The artist uses a technique with lines that gives an amost grotesque aestetic, which is juxtaposed by the simplicity, boldness and brightness of the image.
This image of a victim of a chemical spill is really horrible, really graphic and disgusting. The face looks as though it's melting right off of his skull and he looks really creepy, like a ghoul or a corpse. This is where I got the idea of the pieces of skin passing over Firm Turd's mouth and joining to the bottom. Finally the last book up there is called 'POOD' (Grogan, 2010). It’s full of strips by different artists that folds out like one of them stupidly inconvenient HUGE newspapers you sometimes see people trying to read on the tube. I like zines and collaborations and I really enjoy the medium as it looks like something that is quite unconventional and could have been ceaply made.
Finally, there was the day we all wore moustaches in honour of Pete.
Anyway, Merci pour la Lecture…
Quim Dehors!
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