Thursday 31 March 2011

Foxy !!!!.....



F is for Foxy & Flea


Really enjoyed working with the letter F.I had a vision of a fox in my mind and the rather cute flea that lives in Mr Foxy,s tail.The background print worked along side the imagery really well and I love the colours. Really pleased with this one. I want to frame this collage for my exhibition.Makes me also think of cider mmmm! nom nom..Now thats an idea??? !

Arggg!

'
'WANTED'
So today we all had our mugshot taken for the catalogue for the final degree show exhibition. This pic above is not the one by the way, Im not sure what I do look like in the final image taken by Rosie our tutor on the photography course... I did ask if she could make me look like I had'nt been awake for 48 hours whilst caring for my son Oscar haha!....We shall see.

Tuesday 29 March 2011

Recent collage pieces....

D is for Dating, Dancing Dinosaur
  
E is for Eyes On You....

So here I am ! thoroughly enjoying what Im doing. It's somewhat unerving starting every new collage but exciting too as it never quite turns out the way way I initially planned. Thats ok though, Im enjoying the spontaneity that comes with that. It's what keeps every piece individual.
Above are photos of work in progress.As I go through the blog I think thats what I will do and at the end display my finished pieces.That's because Icould possibly go back and change areas here and there.
Today im taking a step back and will be working on my sign language ready to put on a screen tommorrow hopefully.

Hello birdie !!



'whoot whoot'

Hello I've become rather accostomed to feeding the ever growing community of birds in front of my house! Im rather taken with the tiny Blue Tits that and Robin's that hang around but I think my favourite is the good old Wood Pigeon.He's rather fine and always takes a glance at me when Im doing the lonely job of washing the dishes and peering out of the kitchen window.....He's rather partial to Hovis seeded granary!

Thursday 24 March 2011

Recent finds......





Influences

Hello busy , busy as usual ! Presently working on F and G of my collaged prints. Can't actually tell if im on cue or behind at the moment as its ticking along quite nicely and im enjoying my work so much but there's always that little voice saying PANIC !!!
Well anyway,there's always time for finding new things to influence you and above are some pics of my recent finds whilst out and about.

Sunday 20 March 2011

Back to printroom.....





 screenprints of alphabet

Last week I spent more time back in the printroom finalising my finished alphabet letters for my end product. I chose the font and developed the screens ready to print Thursday and Friday .Was a tight squeeze in the printroom unfortunately as there was an induction wth some classes in the other years but I did a little ducking and diving around the old printroom inbetween to get what I wanted.
I produced loads of letters in various colours and Im so pleased with the end result. Above are just a couple of examples of some colour co-ordinations. Now its the exciting bit ....when i get to choose which letter goes with with final image!
I printed a little extra to make alphabet cards to sell in the shop.Im also going to make some alphabet posters and scan them in to produce some promotional material towards the end.




Graham Rawle Lecture

On Friday we had a visiting lecturer, the wonderful Graham Rawle, who talked about some of his work. Famous for the The Lost Consant series, which was published in the weekend Guardian, he has also had several novels put into print, some of which are below.





Above is how Graham lays out his text.

 
Graham, who is a lecturer on the MA Illustration course at University of Brighton as well as a successful illustrator, proved to be extremely witty, funny and hugely motivational. One of his most successful recent works is a recreation of the Wizard of Oz, a clip of which is below.



I really enjoyed the lecture and Grahams work. I think what draws me to him is the understanding and use of collage which of course I am also passionate about. It was interesting to know Im not the only one who collects hundreds of pieces of papers of various sizes in order to use someday soon !! Out of all the lectures so far I can truly say this has been my favourite.

Wednesday 16 March 2011

work in progress





A is for?........

So I have begun my final pieces. Appropriately starting with the letter A, more through choice than need! I'm sure I will get stuck on some letters and may need to return to them , so at the moment just going with the flow.
As you can see in my photograph I've also chosen my font for printing out my letters. I have chosen my favourite being Bullion Roman text. I find it simple but quirky just like my work. I'm going in the printroom tommorow to screen print , very exciting !
Hopefully you can now see my work coming together how I initially explained? By working collage on my printed bases that I did the other week. I feel my work is already starting to change from previous projects, in a very positive way . I'ts almost becoming more sophisticated and more structured. Im really loving it!



Tuesday 15 March 2011

Sketchbook



collage in sketchbook

Hi all, just posting a little part of my sketchbook for ABC.....Really love the simple images I've created. Today I went back into the printroom to develop my screens with my letters, will post some pics tomorrow as i have my young man Oscar here tonight and he's keeping me awfully busy so best crack on with caring duties!....

Monday 14 March 2011

Badges galore.....




Hello I've been so busy this last week, so much so that im honestly feeling a little stressful trying to fit everything in ! I simply love doing my work but it takes its toll on family and vice versa ! There just does'nt seem to be enough hours in the week to fit it all in .
To take my mind off trying to be a successful mature student and a full time carer to my disable son I've been making badges to wind down at the end of the long day!I've posted a few above.
Im really starting to see a few bright sparks shining through with my FMP too and I will post some images tomorrow as its been a long day with poorly children and balmy pets keeping me on my toes as Itry to illustrate.

Bin It


Colin McHenry crit

Last week we had a lecture from a visiting publisher, Colin McHenry, who works on behalf of many of the UK's magazines. He gave us all an insight into how to get a foot in the door with various publishing houses and how to then follow it up with a presentation. His style was fun, relaxed and witty, yet he was extremely informative.
In the afternoon he introduced us to the "bin it" scenario. Firstly, there was the fun and exciting yellow bin for those who produced work that was of an acceptable standard and then there was the bin bin, you know, the type that sits outside your house. This was for the work that was perhaps a little under par. My envelope ended in the bin bin but thankfully my main work flew into the yello bin. Hurrah!!!!!
I gave Colin one of my pieces to take away with him, networking, got to get it in, and I've emailed six images that he asked for. So, fingers crossed, watch this space. Hopefully.

Wednesday 2 March 2011

B FREE...collaged poster print

Promotion illustration

This is the piece of work that I have chosen from my portfolio to use as a promotional piece. I'ts one of my favourites!  I have scanned it in at Uni and will be folding it to make a kind of concertina booklet to send out to possible clients. I do a variety of work , some editorial but these one off piecesI think best describe myself and the way I love to play around with fun childlike imagery.

Final promotional work





Handmade badges and poster

Here are my finished hand made promotional pieces that I sent into my tutors today. The brief was to come up with something as an illustrator I can produce a number of and cheaply .Im really pleased with my finished pieces. I made everything myself and handprinted my name on the packaging . These were made from screen prints that I cut up on sheets of A1.
It was tremendous fun ! A little time consuming at first but as I got the hang of my little production line it became easier.For the plastic wrapping I picked up some cheap cards from the pound shop and inserted my work that fitted perfectly .In future I will work to a size of packaging that I can buy in larger quantities

Promote me !!



Enterprise badge machine

Really thrilled with the delivery of my new badge making machine . It arrived the other dayand im quite excited to get cracking and start producing some little works of art. Something I have noticed immediately however, i'ts not as easy as it looks to come up with those special little designs.
I do believe you have to be in the mood for industry if you want to achieve loads. Then on the other hand if you do have time to spare just coming up with random one off pieces is greatly rewarding.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Sleep head yawn......

( see you Tomorrow )

Letters....





Letterpress

I've been busy collecting letters for printing. I really love text and I love adding it to my work . These are various and im always on the look out for more.I would like some big ones , although they can be quite expensive.
I will be using these in my final pieces but not as a finished alphabet. I would like to draw and handprint the alphabet letters for my illustrations . Not sure what text I will use yet although I would like them to be uniform but in various colours.


Crumbs ! it's the 1st March .....

Must crack on !......

The perfect frame ?

Ikea frames

Hey There !....So I've been looking at frames for my finished pieces. Yes it's rather premature you probably think ? The reason for me choosing now is to work to the size of the frame itself.
This gives me a clearer understanding of where to place my images on my finished prints.Im really chuffed to have found this particular frame. I was always origionally going to go for a square frame and have a grid type cllection of finished wall mounts but these are even better. Notice the bevelled corners? I think they add an extra edge! heheh... excuse the pun!
I think they will really suit my ABC... and im really pleased.