'...which is being themselves in their art, finding what is unique to them, what they want to say. Their ideas should be as personalized as their visualizations, and both should be so intermeshed as to be inseparable. They should know how to communicate clearly, but know when not to stoop low to explain to the lowest common denominator. Our job as illustrators is to intrigue, not merely explain.'
(pg 154, The Education of an Illustrator. Heller. S & Arisman. M)
I wanted to look at the use of characters, wit and humour, typography and aesthetics, to understand how artists use semiotics to put together an image for print and how the viewers interpret the illustrations. These were my main aims within the essay and the Negotiated Practice project. After completing seven finalised illustrations for an imaginary brief; I evaluated my work, and found that whilst I had been concentrating on the processes of finding my own personal visual language I had neglected the boundaries of the practice. With this I mean I had kept to the parameters of the page and hadn't pushed the genre to another level.
With the comments received from my critique I then decided that the next project needed to be as open as possible. I felt I wasn't completely betraying my working preferences, I do enjoy the tight deadlines as these focus me, but the Extended Final Major project gave me the opportunity to use the last of my time at AUCB to experiment as much as possible. The best way to go about this was to just have a theme and try and illustrate that theme in the most original and thought provoking way. This could be an example of how I would tackle an open brief given in the future for a client, or possibly a personal self initiated project. Open projects can have more of the emphasis on great conceptual ideas and illustrations.
“Conceptual Illustration: A new form of illustration that looked beyond the literal interpretation which emerged during the 1950's and 1960's. Concept was the key and illustrators incorporated puns, metaphors, wit, humour, symbolism and abstract and representational imagery into their visual commentaries. Illustration embodied the complex dilemmas and concerns that affected this time of social and political upheaval and rapid technological change.”
(Pg, 72. The Visual Dictionary of Illustration. Wigan, M. AVA Publishing. S.A. 2009)
I initially thought of themes that I find intriguing. Moving away from the political to a more social aspect. I started looking at the social issues families have; alcoholism, separation, money problems and youth crime. These were all very depressing and serious, so I changed tack and focused on the good things about family. Childhood, Christmas, the support, the memories. How do we re-live those childish moments? Is it through images we have kept; the physical photos that trigger subconscious connotations and stories and internal photos (memories) that we conjure when an action or object reminds us of that image?
“It set me to thinking about the importance of childhood experience, the freedom to dream, and the freedom to recreate those dreams for others. These things lie at the heart of picture making.”
(Pg. 6, The Picture Book. Hyland, A. Lawrence King Publishing LTD. 2006)
The obvious starting point was to look back into my own past, to imagine all the secret games my brother, sister and I would play. I had already covered this 'memories' idea in level 5 with the narrative project, so I decided instead to focus on the use of imagination in play.
The learning outcomes for this project were:
To make a return to drawing, using observational references and experimental techniques. To progress my practice.
Also to explore the boundaries of the page, think outside the box when problem solving.
To manage the brief and time constraints with a professional manner.
To think in a creative way throughout production and demonstrate an understanding of the issues surrounding the theme and realising my audience.
One way of imagination in the realm of play is to become a different character, thus I made and designed two paper-mache masks. Then with the help of my willing house mates, I painted their faces in animal characters and I planned an impromptu photo-shoot in the park at night. The photos which emerged from this shoot did turn out slightly odd. Odd in the sense that the dark, almost disturbing nature of them was intriguing but also fascinating. This wasn't the image and connotations which I had in mind when I set myself the brief, but the idea of the masks did pull up opportunities to explore theatre and scene shooting.
I decided more first hand information gathering was in order, this is an important part of research as it enables you immerse yourself in the image making; so went to stay with my little brother. What I found was quite different from what I was expecting. He talked about aliens and 'squishy bananas' and all things boys, but his attention span was extremely short, and also when we were drawing images from our imagination he always wanted to copy mine instead of making up his own. This could just be a trait of wanting to emulate your older sibling.
I think the surroundings had a profound effect on his ideas aswel. For instance whilst we had made a den in the living room, he decided that it was a jungle with a garden out the back????? Capturing this vivid imagination was now going to be the next big challenge. The project evolved to spaces, children construct purely for them i.e. dens and hidey holes. I started thinking about the psychology and associations behind the need to build dens,
“Through dreams, the various dwelling-places in our lives co-penetrate and retain the treasures of former days. And after we are in the new house, when memories of other places we have live in come back to us, we travel to the land of motionless childhood, motionless the way all Im-memorable things are. We live fixations, fixations of happiness. We comfort ourselves by reliving memories of protection.”
(Pg, 5 & 6, The Poetics of Space. Gaston Bachelard, translated by Maria Jolas. The Orion Press, Inc. 1964)
These dens give the user a feeling that can be associated with the feeling we get of home. I wanted to see if my art could carry these connotations as well.
The next step was trying to get the ideas to meld. I wanted to include imagery from my time with my little brother, but all sequential narrative ideas seemed a little blasé and I had artistic block. After a tutorial I took the advice to try a new direction, to look at the games and toys kids play with. How they use their imaginations whilst playing and how these objects can be turned into communicative art forms of their own. I looked at the significance between adults acting like children and the innocence of children, roughly translated to maturity and immaturity. One response to this was to take everyday adult objects and turn them into children's toys or objects. i.e. taking receipts and stapling them together to form sheets, and then into larger sheets to cover a frame to make a den/ tent.
This led to a photo shoot and other objects being made. A laptop and a mobile phone made from old shoe boxes and egg cartons. Also applying paper mache to a kids slide, to create a kids object out of an adults newspaper. The finished slide had connotations of fun, play and frailty but also a more subtle message, trying to communicate the relationship between the adult and the child's world. These finished pieces worked reasonably well but still lacked a definite understanding and ability to communicate completely the ideas I was exploring. After a tutorial and brainstorming session, the plan of action was to create objects that had a stronger idea of detail, reference to the material used to create them and symbolism to the theme. The laptop and phone idea seemed fun, and the low-fi aesthetic brought back memories of childhood. But the context of the object could be pushed into the realm of the odd again.
To describe the final outcome: A life size desktop computer, printer/fax/scanner, mobile phone and plugs from cereal boxes and coloured card, with drawn elements. The final pieces were a success in certain ways, they communicate themes of adolescence and of humour, but as the artist you always feel that things can be done to improve your work. After a lecture with Anna Steinburg we were told that this is necessarily a bad thing because it showed you had the motivation to keep improving your own practice, to make better illustration in the future.
Things I could have changed or made better where the environment I chose to install the piece. I was intending to have it outside, somewhere magical. Possibly the Lower gardens in Bournemouth. Also adding pieces to the work. e.g. making more pens and other small items. These things can be addressed for Free Range in July.
I'm not quite sure if I can call myself strictly a illustrator after this final major project. I have pushed the subject more into the realms of fine art more than any of my previous projects. The 3D outcomes could be classed as installation art, made as a reaction to a theme. The issues that this kind of illustration brings up is the age old argument of what is the difference between fine art and illustration. Does it even matter? Surely both types of artists are trying to communicate a point or topic across to an audience.
“Nicolas Bourriaud. 'He proposed an art in which objects are catalysts generating communicative processes.'”
(Pg, 106. Exchange and Interaction. Installation Art in the New Millennium. Thames and Hudson. London. 2003)
Have I achieved the learning outcomes? I have explored a myriad of ideas, steadily searching new possibilities till it led me to the installation, pushing my conceptual realisation. I do believe my art communicates an idea, a thought. It sparks imagination within the viewer, it make them question the point of the piece. Perhaps even causing them to remember their childhood. The play they experienced. I worked quite well to my time plan and completed all the objects I intended to produce. The decision to make an installation wasn't planned, but a happy progression of a healthy project. Each object has been made with precision and detail to give the audience an interesting conceptual object to view. In a lecture by Matthew Richardson (2010) he spoke of, 'the best illustration being the type where the more you look the more you see.' I believe this to be true and I tried to achieve this through thorough research of the subject and visual language tools.
I have been looking at fellow student Amy Harris' work; analysing her working style and the thinking behind the image making. Her EMP project was about family, the feeling of home and her final piece was an interactive installation.
Amy Harris =website
The work has resemblance to naive art, nostalgia and there is also a relation to the craft movement. I did a small interview style question and answer session with her and it threw up some interesting thinking behind the way she works. (view the printed interview sheet in hand in folder.)
In comparison to my work, Amy has a different way of expressing ideas and thoughts, through pattern and shape aswel as figuratively. She has refined her practice to a very clear style and way of drawing and creating.
Similarities though are the way we both try and connect to the audience, to give them a sense of what is trying to be said, symbolically and sometimes cryptically. Also I think we share the same preferences for a controlled deadline and setting up our own time management programmes.
After graduation and the Free Range show, the next steps in my career in Illustration are:
To start my self promotion.
This would be producing hand outs, business cards or posters. These would have to be updated every so often, so I'm not sending the same things twice to the same company. Many Illustrators now make their own self published books,
“Communication technology has changed things such a lot. There is no obstacle to anyone publishing their ideas, their writing, their music. Self-authored works output as animations, films or 'zines have become really exciting, culturally influential forms.: Peter Nencini.”
(Text and Image. Installation and interventions. Wigan, M. AVA Publishing SA. 2008)
Books or zines are very popular and are nice to keep and to have in an Illustrators arsenal. Something that could easily be reproduced is my narrative story from level 5, I may need to think about tweeking it though. After a few years illustrations can look dated.
To keep in touch with other Illustrators:
This can be really important for finding or creating collectives to be apart of, for socialising and networking. i.e. YCN and The Peepshow Collective.
To find commissions:
This could include phoning or emailing art directors. I have a lot of useful information from the AOI about how to get started, agents lists, portfolio guides etc. (see folder) I want to contact smaller magazines like 'Stranger Mag' which operates from Falmouth, Cornwall. Also 'Vice' magazine (the free mag), has the same ethos and cultural identity that I find interesting. Now you get a lot of online magazines aswel, so scanning the web could bring a few to light.
Sending out promotional flyers or postcards has been an idea, to make them engaging and something an art director would like to keep.
Volunteering and Work Experience:
I have a few work experience posts set up already within different secondary, college and primary schools, which will take place within the next academic year. I have looked into the SAS scheme which will help financially. My thinking was to get a taste for teaching, to see if I wanted to go on and do a teacher training course. I also am going to do a week with the Eden Project in their design team, to see how it is working within a company. All volunteer work (as long as it relevant to job you aim to have) is good for the prospective employer to see on your cv.
The main thing to remember is to keep on trying and never give up. Any job within teaching or the creative industry would be fantastic. If I find a job that I enjoy doing anything else is a bonus.
“Before I paint too bleak a picture of artistic drudgery; lets be realistic. You are, despite certain compromises and the odd difficult client, in a situation where you are being paid for something you enjoy, so a healthy degree of self- motivation ought to remain.”
(Pg, 121. How to be and Illustrator. Rees, D. Lawrence King publishing Ltd. London. 2008)
