Thursday 28 April 2016
Internships
http://freefashioninternships.com/internship/Antwerp%2BAtelier/Photography%2BIntern/17041#.VyHxODArLIU
Competitions
http://www.secretartprize.com/#about
http://www.glyndebourne.com/discover/news-and-blogs/2016/february/glyndebourne-launches-international-competition-for-young-artists/
https://www.creativelab5.com/
http://www.artgeminiprize.com/
http://www.artgeminiprize.com/
https://sundaytimeswatercolour.artopps.co.uk/
http://www.glyndebourne.com/discover/news-and-blogs/2016/february/glyndebourne-launches-international-competition-for-young-artists/
https://www.creativelab5.com/
http://www.artgeminiprize.com/
http://www.artgeminiprize.com/
https://sundaytimeswatercolour.artopps.co.uk/
Thursday 21 April 2016
300 Word Summative Position Statement
My work reflects some key elements of my interests and inspirations; colour, pattern, detail, people and nature. I think my work can still be applied
to most contexts, however I am more interested in creating work along the theme
of reportage. Creating work purposely for Editorial is not what interests me,
because I like putting care into a project and I wouldn’t enjoy really quick
deadlines as much as I would longer ones. I am currently looking for work and
internships to be part of a creative company. I think this would work best to
my social side and I really enjoy being around other people and working for a
bigger purpose.
Saying this I am also certain I will be continuing my
illustration practice even if I do not work directly under the job title of
illustrator. The Start Up Wednesday and Career Track Tuesday talks have really
helped me and encouraged me to register my business. Working on my portfolio
and creating commercial work for sale is what I plan on doing this summer
whilst working and alongside actively searching for internships and work.
Travelling after Christmas also gives me a reason to get in
touch with travel publications and propose some ideas for an illustrated travel
diary or a collection of work for exhibition etc. I have started contacting
people regarding this but I will be continuing throughout summer. Summer also
gives me an opportunity to improve on and add work to my Travel Diaries section
on my Website, online portfolio, which I think will be really beneficial to
show potential commissioners or employers.
I am also really interested in creating personal work for
people. This will fit into my commissions over summer. I have been doing this
throughout the year in PPP, starting off with my Art for Arthritis Research
Project. It is really fun creating illustrations specific to someone, however
creating broader commercial work is best for making money!
Evaluation
PPP EVALUATION
My Personal and Professional Practice module this year has
been really useful but a bit of a struggle. I found it really hard to pin down
a brand or visual identity that I was happy with. This came down to finally
creating an illustration which I could use throughout my branding, which I felt
really reflected my illustration practice and what it is all about. The key
elements I focused on for this were colour, pattern, detail and nature, well
specifically wasps. I also wanted to reflect the analogue led nature of my
practice. I really noticed during Level 6 that I found working by hand makes me
work more expressively and experimentally, it allows me to get to grips with
colour and line work more instinctively.
Photoshop and digital media’s work best in my practice to
adjust an already existing image and get it resolved to a professional standard,
which is what I have done with all of my branding and other work. For my online
presence this professionalism has been crucial. At first I uploaded pictures
from Instagram or just used phone photographs but I learnt throughout this
module the importance of keeping all your work up to a certain level. I still
have some work to do on my website reflecting this.
Being around other creatives and constant sources of
inspiration in the studio has really encouraged the idea in my mind that I want
to work as part of a team for a creative company or business. I am not someone
who thrives on being alone, I like doing my own thing which I can easily do
when I take time out to do commissions, but my ideal situation would be to work
in a creative environment perhaps for a commercial purpose such as Liberties Ltd or
Anthropologie. Concerning this I have connected and made contact with some of the individuals which work in the creative sectors in these companies such as; Lauren Wallace, design studio manager at Liberty Ltd, and other creatives like Suzanne Dean the creative director at Penguin Random House Group.
I have found social media a good way to promote my practice,
publicise my work and engage with other practitioners and clients. Facebook and
Instagram have been good for sharing artwork and it has shown me the importance
of collaborating with others as this always widens the audience to the post or
artwork dramatically. I enjoy keeping a blog on Tumblr, because there is less
pressure for finished work, as it is more focused on inspirations, ideas and
processes. This is something I plan to continue after university as a way of
keeping up to date with current artwork and exhibitions, as well as motivating
me to keep creating my own.
My website is a more selective and professional online
presence. Making a website functional and visually attractive was a lot harder
than it looked and I still have a lot more planned for it.
Throughout this year I have found the ‘Start Up Wednesday’
and ‘Career Track Tuesday’ sessions at college really helpful and they have inspired
me to register my illustration as a business so that I can get into the habit
of producing and selling work professionally. To begin with I see it as being
something I prioritise during my days off. The lecture from AOI also inspired
me to think about registering with them, as although I have learnt a lot on my
degree, I will definitely need extra guidance once I leave.
This module has forced us to plan after university. I want
to focus on my portfolio, in particular my Travel Diaries’ section on my
website. If I create a good portfolio of quality reportage work, it can be used
to show how I would tackle a similar brief to prospective clients and it could
lead to projects incorporating travelling and illustrating which would be
really interesting. I have also planned travelling around Asia after Christmas
and I have contacted people that I think may have advice for, or be interested
in a project like this. Similar to my plans for my India Brief, which I plan to
enter into an exhibition in Oxford, which is focused on the theme of a
‘journey’.
I have contacted a lot of illustrators that have produced
work for companies I love, such as Anthropologie and Liberties. I am looking
forward to sending off some promotional material, that I have explored and
created within this module to companies I would love to work for. My main
focuses are creative companies which really care about design and quality
products over supporting a throw away culture.
While I am applying for jobs and internships, volunteering
in a creative role will be crucial for keeping up a structured and directly
involved interest in the arts. I have been researching this a lot to try to
find one which is most appropriate for me and I am in the process of applying
to some.
PPP Presentation
ISSUU link to power point presentation slides:
My Presentation:
How I thought it went:
Speaking from a script... After watching everyone else's presentation I don't think it was a good idea to read from a script, I did this because I wanted to ensure I said everything I wanted to and I was worried that I would go blank. I was really nervous when I was up there but I think if I had a lot more practice actually speaking in front of that many people I would soon find it much easier. By the end of the two days of presentations I felt that I would be able to stand up and deliver my presentation without the need for a script. I am happy to speak about something I know a lot about, and I would be able to talk about my work, but what I found really daunting about this presentation was having to stand up and talk about my future, which is something I am not confident or sure about at al1!
Technical Errors... Also although I had spent a while ensuring my presentation worked, I somehow missed that because I had used a different variation of powerpoint, the font on the uni computers program had moved so that half of the font was hanging off the line into the images or hidden behind them. This was a rookie error. I also think now that I have all my branding completed I could make my slides visually cleaner and more attractive with an ongoing theme throughout as I have done with my CV etc.
Future... from listening to the other presentations I was actually really surprised that there was only a very small amount of people planning to go travelling. I am going to push the boat out to try to gain internships and other work experience now that I have completed my branding and my CVs and Cover Letters are at the ready. However I think travelling is essential! I am really not sure where I will be living this time next year because I am tempted to apply to some internships and work in Brisbane. I have so many decisions to make that I have still not made which is why I found it a struggle to organise my presentation and why I have been putting off applying to things. But there is nothing better than having options so as this module draws to a close I am applying and researching a range of different roles along with different locations. Linkedin was another thing that was bought to my attention in the presentations because I have been using it for a while but I've been googling creative directors etc and then trying to find them on there, I didn't realise that you could directly search for the role or the company on Linkedin. I have now been doing this and connecting with people in the creative roles from loads of the companies that inspire me. This provides such a good client list and contact information.
My Presentation:
SLIDE 2 Summer and Starting
Third Year!
Last summer I was lucky enough to visit New York for the
first time where I visited the Met and other galleries back in London and
Oxford. The amazing art there helped to inspire me again. When I came back I had
an operation and spent a few months unable to walk so I decided to make the
most of this boring time with a self run project I named ‘Art for Arthritis
Research UK’. I managed to raise £300 for the charity by starting a justgiving
page which offered a drawing or painting in return for a donation. They ranged
from a portrait of a girl and her friends as the Sex in the City characters to
a portrait of another girl as princess leia surrounded by ewoks. This project
emphasised what I enjoy most about illustration; creating personal work with an
emphasis on portraiture and working towards a good cause that kept me motivated
to finish work to a good quality, quickly.
SLIDE 3 Collaborations!
One of the projects I really enjoyed working on last year
was a collaboration with Fashion Communication student Robyn Shaw. This brief
inspired me get involved in more collaborations this year. One project which
has been an ongoing collaborative brief throughout the year is the Q&A
section on my blog. Because the brief is mutually beneficial, it has shown me
the benefits of professionally connecting with others. For example, fashion
blogging duo Today we Wore, shared my
illustration on their Instagram and
blog so it received a lot more attention than usual. I also worked on some
illustrations for Feminist Sci-fi and fashion zine Vagina Dentata and I’m
working on another 2 collaborations at the moment. I really enjoy working
collaboratively because I am always motivated by their passion for the project
and its really exciting to contribute to it!
SLIDE 4 Struggling
with Context
For me art has been a really personal and therapeutic thing.
In some ways this has been really good for my practice because it means I will
always create work, not just specifically for a brief. But I have also found it
means I am happy to produce work that might appear just ‘pretty’ without having
any other meaning behind it. Which of course isn’t really the definition of
illustration. So I have probably found this one of the hardest things in my
three years because creating something of meaning conflicts with making
something which is just pleasant to look at.
SLIDE 5 Writing my
Dissertation
At the same time I love the historical, societal, and
theoretical contexts that drive illustrations. I have really enjoyed the essays
throughout the three years, and I love the research that goes into it. For my
dissertation I learnt loads about a subject I am fascinated in and I think my
written work really reflected this. However I found the practical side harder
to prioritise. I should have allowed more time for making the final pieces.
From this I learnt that you really need to time manage effectively - so with my
Final Major Project I have started creating potential pieces already, in
preparation for them taking a while to produce.
SLIDE 6 FMP – India
Brief
At the start of the year the key elements I identified in my
practice were an interest in colour, pattern, detail and people, and I found
that an India based project is perfect for creating a portfolio that reflects
these. This reportage project is based on my memories, primary sketches and
primary photographs. It was fantastic to be amerced in the everyday life there,
but as a westerner it is also hard to separate yourself from the worry of waterborne
diseases when you see a child brushing his teeth in the kerala backwaters. This
project is a view of India through the eyes of a visitor rather than a local. Although
I think this can be good as it has drawn my attention to things a local may
ignore. Such as a man carrying hundreds of eggs on his head.
SLIDE 7 – Printing!
Gods and Yoga prints will form another smaller piece of my project. I see them as more commercial as they have a specific target audience. Keeping commercialism in mind is key for me when I create work after uni, because as well as making work that I enjoy, it also needs to be art that people want to hang on their walls. Lino cut is my favourite method because I love the mark making involved. For printing after uni, lino cutting is the simpler option over screen printing, and I have visited some local print studios in my area which will be really useful.
SLIDE 7 – Printing!
Gods and Yoga prints will form another smaller piece of my project. I see them as more commercial as they have a specific target audience. Keeping commercialism in mind is key for me when I create work after uni, because as well as making work that I enjoy, it also needs to be art that people want to hang on their walls. Lino cut is my favourite method because I love the mark making involved. For printing after uni, lino cutting is the simpler option over screen printing, and I have visited some local print studios in my area which will be really useful.
SLIDE 8 – Media
My practice is led by analogue media, something I have
really noticed this year. I find working by hand makes me much more expressive
and experimental, and I get to grips with colour and line work more
instinctively this way. Photoshop and digital media’s work best in my practice
to adjust an already existing image and get it to a professional standard.
My SunDIY project has pushed me to experiment with media and
it has produced some random and quite useless things, such as a pink penguin
out of a used gas canister for my penguin obsessed flatmate. Not only have my housemates loved this project
but it has given me a good insight into a commercial view of how illustration
can be entwined with other products.
SLIDE 9 - Studio
Peers & Tutors
My time at uni has been made really enjoyable by being
around other creatives and constant sources of inspiration. Being part of a
specialist Arts college has allowed me to see the industry as a combination of
separate disciplines, which although I have not studied myself, I have learnt a
lot about through peers and COP lectures. Being able to express ideas with other
creatives is something I have loved but taken for granted here which is why I
would love to work as part of a creative team or company after uni.
SLIDE 10 – Portfolio
& Online Presence
I have found social media a good way to promote my practice,
publicise my work and engage with other practitioners and clients. Facebook and
Instagram have been good for sharing artwork but I’ve found it hard to get an
increase in followers or likes unless I work collaboratively on a project. I enjoy
keeping a blog, because I feel like there is not as much pressure for finished
work, as it is more focused on inspirations, ideas and processes. This is
something I will continue after uni as a way of keeping up to date with current
artwork and exhibitions, as well as motivating me to keep creating my own.
My website is a more selective and professional online
presence. I was totally clueless at this and although I have it up and running I
still have lots of improvements to make on it.
SLIDE 11 – Visual
Identity
I am currently working on my branding because I think it is
crucial that it reflects the colourful handmade elements of my work and at the
moment I don’t think it does. I have found it hard to pin down a visual
aesthetic. I wanted to incorporate the themes of colour, a handmade quality and
nature, as well as wasps. I have chosen champagne and limousines as my type
face at the moment because I like its clarity and simplicity and I think it
sets a friendly yet professional tone.
SLIDE 12 - Life After
Uni: Own Business
I have found ‘start up Wednesday’ and ‘career track Tuesday’
sessions at college really helpful and they have inspired me to register my
illustration as a business so that I can get into the habit of producing and
selling work professionally. To begin with I see it as being something I
prioritise during my days off. I also think it is a good idea to register with
Association of Illustrators, as although I have learnt a lot on my degree, I
will definitely need extra guidance once I leave.
SLIDE 13 – Travel
Past and Future
This summer I want to work on my portfolio and in particular
the ‘Travel Diaries’ section of my website. I was lucky to do loads of
travelling last year and if I create lots of quality reportage work, I can use
it to show how I would tackle a similar brief to prospective clients. I will be
travelling around Asia after Christmas and for this trip it would be really
good if I can get people interested in the illustrations I will create from it.
Similar to my plans for my India Brief, which I plan to enter into an exhibition
in Oxford, which is focused on the theme of a ‘journey’.
SLIDE 14 Job
I have contacted a lot of illustrators that have produced
work for companies I love, such as Anthropologie and Liberties. But as soon as
I have finished my branding, I will contact the companies directly. The
companies I would love to work for are places which really care about design
and quality products over supporting a throw away culture. I would love to work
in any part of the creative industry to start with as I think there are hundreds
of jobs I may love but don’t know about yet.
While I am applying for internships and jobs in the creative
sector, I will be working at my current job in events. This job actually has
quite a lot of creativity involved and my boss has an amazing eye for detail and
manages to execute events that run smoothly no matter how drunk the clients
get. Although I do not see it as my career, the beautiful houses and land, down
to the carefully positioned coloured ribbons on chairs to subtly signal a
vegetarian, are aspects that appeal to my creative side.
SLIDE 15 Volunteering
While I am applying for jobs and internships I think it is
crucial I keep up a st ructured and directly involved interest in the arts, so
alongside working on my portfolio and working I will continue to get involved
with volunteering with arts in the community. During my time travelling in Asia
I will also be volunteering and keeping my eyes peeled for any potential arts
opportunities to get involved with while I am there!
How I thought it went:
Speaking from a script... After watching everyone else's presentation I don't think it was a good idea to read from a script, I did this because I wanted to ensure I said everything I wanted to and I was worried that I would go blank. I was really nervous when I was up there but I think if I had a lot more practice actually speaking in front of that many people I would soon find it much easier. By the end of the two days of presentations I felt that I would be able to stand up and deliver my presentation without the need for a script. I am happy to speak about something I know a lot about, and I would be able to talk about my work, but what I found really daunting about this presentation was having to stand up and talk about my future, which is something I am not confident or sure about at al1!
Technical Errors... Also although I had spent a while ensuring my presentation worked, I somehow missed that because I had used a different variation of powerpoint, the font on the uni computers program had moved so that half of the font was hanging off the line into the images or hidden behind them. This was a rookie error. I also think now that I have all my branding completed I could make my slides visually cleaner and more attractive with an ongoing theme throughout as I have done with my CV etc.
Future... from listening to the other presentations I was actually really surprised that there was only a very small amount of people planning to go travelling. I am going to push the boat out to try to gain internships and other work experience now that I have completed my branding and my CVs and Cover Letters are at the ready. However I think travelling is essential! I am really not sure where I will be living this time next year because I am tempted to apply to some internships and work in Brisbane. I have so many decisions to make that I have still not made which is why I found it a struggle to organise my presentation and why I have been putting off applying to things. But there is nothing better than having options so as this module draws to a close I am applying and researching a range of different roles along with different locations. Linkedin was another thing that was bought to my attention in the presentations because I have been using it for a while but I've been googling creative directors etc and then trying to find them on there, I didn't realise that you could directly search for the role or the company on Linkedin. I have now been doing this and connecting with people in the creative roles from loads of the companies that inspire me. This provides such a good client list and contact information.
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