Collage & Ephemera

Working with collage up until this point has been the main process in which I make pictures - analog method adds a certain authenticity to the ideas or themes communicated - below I am trying to show birds and tortoises being taken and killed once discovered by people on the Galapagos Islands - areas of cut paper over bird aim to show chaos - cut pieces of paper slicing through an image - working with different papers is a quick way to fill and area with colour and texture

A lot of the plant life and animals on the Galapagos Islands originated elsewhere and arrived by wind (seeds blowing), sea and air. Using a combination of different surfaces and materials to show the coming together of these elements - being drawn to Island - rough hand made aesthetic lends itself well to this idea of a biological melting pot - nature - less sterile and formed

Sand paper - traction - friction - oil pastel and water colour pencil show up well

Shape - Monoprinting

I really like the quality of texture and line that monoprinting gives my work - mixing ink and combining shapes allows for grainy imperfect surfaces cut up by harsh lines and areas of contrast

Blurring edges - softer tones - different marks created by ink roller make new areas of shape

Using monoprinted surface to work on top of in Photoshop - using lasso tool to pick out basic shapes of the animals that migrated to the Galapagos Islands by sea, traveling with debris and plant material washed away by the tide - adjusting value and tone - overlap and resulting colour changes - dynamic overcrowding

Shape Continued - Digital Collage & Ephemera

Looking into the animals that existed on the Galapagos Islands upon Darwin's discovery - giant tortoises and turtles - iguanas - big 'stupid' birds that  could be caught by hand - dodo. Scanning objects into Photoshop and cutting/cropping/stitching together different pieces to create predominantly shape based imagery - breaking down images of iguanas and sea creatures on the rocks into their simplest forms - how simple can it get before it becomes unrecognisable? Hard lines and edges combined with subtle patterns and bright colours from old photographs and objects - creates a sense of dynamism and movement

Final Digital Collage

Digitally collaging old photos - iguana - rocks - carpet - blue wall - sea - photoshop lasso tool - shapes influenced by animals and the rocks

End of Module Self Evaluation

Throughout this entire module I have developed my general image making skills by looking closely at the composition and format of my work, which in turn has allowed me to become a much more dynamic and confident illustrator. For example I have made imagery that is directly affected by the dimensions in which it exists for Studio Brief 3, which has made me more creative in the way I use line and colour to create something visually striking. I have been able to develop my analog drawing skills further and have been reintroduced to working digitally through Photoshop. This has been the most important new skill I have learnt, I am now able to compose pieces of work quickly and without the limitations of working on paper. I have learnt to translate my traditional way of working onto the screen to create more refined and resolved illustrations. I think I have used my skills effectively when needed but I probably could have taken some more time to develop final pieces in this way, rather than resorting to analog.

Generating ideas and concepts for a brief using thumbnails has been an interesting exercise in translating my thoughts onto paper. I don't usually work in this way but forcing myself to explore all of my own thoughts about a topic has resulted in better work with a sense of direction and purpose. Focusing on each element of an image, for example shape and format, has allowed the ideas for each brief to develop into much more interesting and unusual concepts. Working with collage and improving my skills has allowed me to become more creative in developing my concepts, which have been taken further through the freedom to use various types of papers, wet and dry media. Working in this way has allowed me to move away from drawing on a blank piece of paper with a pen, I am now able to create anything I want to visualise by recycling and adjusting found media and combining it with drawing to push my concepts as much as I can. The freedom that comes from combining lots of different media translates into a sense of freedom within the concepts I come up with.

My sense of colour and texture in image making have become much stronger over the course of this module, I have been able to continuously experiment with combinations of materials. I will make sure to keep exploring new combinations and ways of working and will need to try new types of media and tools to allow for further development. Studio Brief  1 allowed me to work with tone and contrasting areas of light to show form and shape, the final piece for this brief is one of my strongest visually and technically.

Although my compositional skills have gotten better I feel as though there is a lot of room for improvement. I feel as if I need to spend longer developing initial ideas and thinking about the consequences of the format I choose to use. My generation of ideas has been lacking in some briefs due to my focus on the few that I do come up with, this is something I will need to address in future. I need to work quicker and become less precious about the ideas I come up with and the decisions I make. I think I am still trying to find my own process of working and how to find a balance between quantity and quality. I have also come to realise that a lot of my concepts are lost in translation within my final pieces, this is due to my focus on aesthetic which can sometimes overshadow the message behind it, for example not many people knew what my Brief 4 final illustrations were about.

Throughout the next module I will aim to become better at generating more ideas which will enable me to come up with more direct and unique concepts that are of interest to me and the audience. I will focus on communicating my concepts through my illustrations much more clearly so that the message is not misread or misunderstood, this is an essential part of being an illustrator and is still something I have not got to grips with. Composition and format will be a heavy focus of mine and this will hopefully take my work to the next level in terms of dynamism and visual aesthetic. I will aim to make use of Photoshop a lot more in the coming briefs, which will allow me to refine my practice and generate new ideas quickly. I now look at working in this way as transferring directly from paper to screen through things like scanning etc, rather than viewing the two methods as complete separate practices. I definitely need to dedicate more of my time to my final illustrations if I want to improve upon them and properly realise my visions, I feel as if the pieces I have produced so far never quite live up to my expectations, and this could be helped with better time management.

Studio Brief 4 - A Matter of Opinion

Final Outcome

My final three illustrations have almost become illegible with the amount of layering and cropping I have used. I found that the process is still ongoing and these pieces could still be worked over and improved upon. I have tried to make use of transparency and communicating through imagery in the form of  religious references and reinterpretations of The Chariot Analogy. I have also written about cell replacement and how our bodies cope with aging, which has led me on to look at topics involving our mortality. Nearly all of our cells are renewed after 7 years, and others just die and don't regenerate, so in one we way we are entirely new people at certain points in our lives. If I am ever changing does that mean there is no 'me' to even be replaced?

Working on this brief has taught me a lot about decision making and selecting successful elements to carry forward. I have challenged the way in which I think of illustration, and after seeing the rest of the groups work I know that there is no clear definition or set of rules as to what it is. In future I would research more into my chosen topic to give me an increased knowledge of what I draw which can only improve the illustrations I produce. I would like to carry on this project but in my own time, as I find working with type and image to be a very effective way of communicating when done right, and my work needs improving. 

Group Crit

The feedback has been insightful this week, I have received a lot more constructive criticism and I agree with all of it. It was pointed out a few times that my final three images don't really communicate the quote very well, or are not very obvious. I understand this and probably went a bit too over the top with layering up information to the point where it has become nonsense. In future I would like to work on a much larger scale and would have definitely scaled my three pieces up if I had more time. Someone noted that my work would be a lot more emmersive if it were on a larger scale but retained the same level of information.

Despite it's shortcomings I am overall pleased with my final piece, I think the colours and texture really make it stand out when combined with lots of writing. The viewer is almost made to seek stuff out, which in turn raises more questions about the topic. I do think that in future I should try to reinterpret my work digitally in this style, I am hoping to try move away from completely relying on analog methods.

Studio Brief 4 - A Matter of Opinion

50 Cent - Jean Michel Basquiat

Jean Michel Basquiat's '50 Cent' has really inspired my own practice and has shown me that there can be a complete crossover between writing and drawing within illustration. The energy and busy aesthetic really help suck you in and examine the detail. I think it is interesting how people generally use note taking as just a means to get by and look at it purely as information, rather than making note of the way in which everything sits together to actually create something beautiful. Writing is just line making in the same way drawing is, there is just an order and repetition to it. When combined with supporting imagery the writing is transformed into something halfway between handmade info graphics and pure drawing, I think the combination of text and image in this way communicates so much more than anything else.

• Layering combination of text and image
• Cutting old notes - combining - becomes almost illegible
• Areas of built up text work in the same way line does to create texture
• Not sure I like digital reinterpretation - lacks tactile organic feel of original
• Layering digitally in Photoshop almost flattens the collage

I have decided that my final piece will be very much like an extension of my sketchbook, in the sense that it will serve as a documentary piece of writing that in itself becomes an illustration. The three pieces I need to create will just be cropped versions of one original page of drawings combined with notes, the notes will be overlapped and repeated onto various types of paper using various media. Since we are allowed to use any shape/media etc I will look into cropping my imagery into long and thin strips to emphasize the scrawling pieces of writing - as if they stretch out and have no space. I will write about my own ideas about where we end up after death, and looking at what other people have experienced/believe in.

Studio Brief 4 - A Matter of Opinion

So far with this brief I have been drafting ideas mainly through writing with imagery following it, but I think it is important for me to look into bringing drawing to the forefront. I have tried to focus on the shapes and line work I could use to represent life and it's continuity. The quote "When I die there is nobody to take my place" makes me think about us carrying on after death, just in another form of existence, so there is still a continuous circle of life that is completely our own and individual. The Hindu cycle of Samsara likens our body to a chariot which is owned by the soul and driven by the intellect, pulled along by five steeds that represent the senses, who are connected to the chariot via reigns which are the mind. You travel down the path of life and through resisting things like temptation you aim to reach enlightenment. They believe that we continue to exist even after death, and therefore you cannot be replaced - you just progress.

Scribbling all over a page in these bright colours kind of represents a continuous 'life force' - kind of how I'd imagine a bolt of electricity to look, I want my pieces of illustration to include lots of these simple shapes that come together to create something complex. I definitely want to include writing in my work though, and still feel as if I should push that in order to challenge myself and others as to what illustration can be. 

I think I get carried away and sometimes (like in this case) I completely lose sight of what I was even trying to communicate to begin with. I initially wanted to look at where our souls end up, which has resulted in this piece of work about the devil sucking in the world. I know this has become less about the topic and more about aesthetics for me, which is bad in that it doesn't necessarily communicate anything. The message becomes loose and indirect and I feel no real connection to this drawing. The only thing I can take forward is the intricate line work, I suppose it's good I practiced.

Another possible idea is to communicate someone's past and everything they do or have enjoyed. Simple things like crosswords and cats make quite nice patterns. The of layering imagery could be used to show the continuous growth of a person, I found out that out bodies renew nearly all of our cells every seven years. It made me think about what makes us 'us' and whether there is even anything to replace - how is something we can't define 'replaced'.

Studio Brief 4 - A Matter of Opinion

I have been looking at the quote "When I die, there is nobody to take my place" by Keith Harring, and it's relation to my own ideas about existence. I am looking into the concept of reincarnation and the possible continuous cycle of life, wondering if what Harring said could be argued against. I don't feel like I want to make highly visual pieces of work in order to develop my ideas, and am preferring to write out my own thoughts at this point in time.

I really like the aesthetics of note taking and test beds that grow into finished pieces of illustration in their own right. I feel like my work doesn't need to be a page full of thumbnails, and am enjoying just being able to play with the format of my sketchbook. I have begun looking into Samsara, the Hindu cycle of life and death. At the moment I would say my work is moving towards type as image, or possible type and image, although I feel like the imagery comes second to the writing and note taking.

• One in the same - is there another one like us out there? Why are certain people so similar?
• Circles - continuous life cycle - can't stop drawing them
• Oil pastels go over anything - fine liners don't
• I really like this format - not sure if I want to change it? Narrower - letterbox?

Concept Crit - Peer Feedback

My group suggested I look into drawing within a circle, since this brief has no real restrictions. I like the idea and how it would fit well into my concept, however I don't feel as if it is the best  way for me to communicate everything I want to say. I'm not sure how to properly explain what I can visualise but I just know this is not the way in which I want to go. I want my final three illustrations to fit together to make up one image in some way, and this will be much easier with straight edges. I have realised my initial ideas are lacking in quantity and I may have spent too long trying to visualise shapes, layout and colours etc. I think this is just the way I work, although outside of a brief I would have much more time to spend on developing my ideas in this way. The group suggested I try out some thumbnail pencil sketches, I definitely want to use text in my illustrations and I am still thinking about how to transfer this into thumbnails and being able to visualise each idea clearly.