Position Statment

Now that I'm coming towards the end of my degree, naturally it feel as if I have to tie up all of my loose ends and present myself as a 'brand new shiny illustrator' who knows everything and anything about the industry and is prepared for the outside world. 

However, I still feel like there is so much I want to learn, so much more experimenting and playing to do, it seems weird that I'm having to pitch myself as if I'm ready for any challenge that is thrown at me. So for me, I don't see this as the end of being a student. It's not that I'm in denial of the fact that I now have to start making a living from being an illustrator, but I am going to keep learning and developing as a creative for the rest of my life, and I think that that is one of the most important things I have come to realise.

I feel confident in the decision I have made to create two sides to my practice. The first being the obvious, continuing to develop my illustrative practice on a more personal and professional level, and the second continuing to engage in social and community based projects and work involving the arts. 
Personally, I believe I have flourished more with the latter, and through PPP I have pushed myself to get involved with as many opportunities as I can both inside and outside of college to gain as much experience and knowledge as possible. This includes working for the Progressions and Young Creatives departments as a student ambassador, becoming a volunteer for arts and minds, taking part in the illustration for learning day which lead to helping to run a self initiated drawing club for illustration students. All of this has been extremely valuable experience, and I can carry my skills forward into my Art Practitioner role for NCS in June. As for the rest of 2017/18, I plan to continue partaking in similar creative teaching roles until I feel ready to go back into education and complete a PGCE/PGDipE at the University of Huddersfield.

In terms of my creative practice, I have definitely seen myself grow and develop as an illustrator since the start of my degree where I had the tendency to spend too much time making my blog perfect instead of investing time into experimenting with materials and process. This year I have placed a heavier emphasis on creating work using analogue processes where I believe the outcomes have greater value with a lot more personality and delicacy being intertwined into the image making process. This has also helped me to gain more of a sense of ownership in my work and a more defined illustrative voice. I've never wanted to channel my creativity into just ONE area of illustration, as I've always hoped to adopt an element on versatility within my practice. Subsequently, this year within my practice I have explored a variety of subject matters such as self perception and identity, urban history and the development of cities as well as taking part in competitions including the Penguin Student Design Award, the LCA sustainability award and the ibis Styles hotel mural brief in which I was awarded 1st place. 

I still have a great interest in exploring different ways of image making through experimentation with media, but in the last year my strongest work has been produced working in watercolour and fineliner, particularly within my studies of buildings and their usages. This has enabled me to gain personal commissions through Etsy to produce bespoke house portraits for clients and also given me the opportunity to showcase my work in the Independent Leeds magazine, giving me the boost to contact more magazines and publishers. 

In terms of future aspirations for my illustrative career, I am aware that the first year in particular will be extremely challenging and turbulent. Nevertheless, I have identified the areas of editorial illustration that I believe my work would be suitable for and sent out a mini e-portfolio of work to the art directors in question. I have found this process extremely difficult due to lack of confidence, but I am aware that as my portfolio and practice simultaneously develop, I will have a stronger drive to create a larger and broader network of clients to work with. In the mean time, I am determined to set aside the time to delve into my own projects and areas of interest, which I hope will be beneficial in acquiring work as well as valuable creative experience.

Summative Evaluation

End of Module Student Evaluation BA(hons) Illustration

Module Code: PPP3 OUIL602 Name: Eleanor Chappell
Student ID: 255556

Learning Outcome	Evidenced where? Blog, Sketchbook, Roughs Final Illustrations, development sheets etc. (No more than 75 words)	Your grade Using words: > poor, satisfactory, good, very good, excellent
6A3 Demonstrate specific knowledge and specialist understanding of the professional and contextual location of their practice. Knowledge and Understanding - RESEARCH	Blog, working alongside creative practitioners/ teachers with Young Creatives, participating in group exhibitions, gallery visits and events, leading and assisting creative workshops, attending information days and open days about future study (teaching/art therapy)	Very Good
6B2 Undertake research to identify and evaluate their personal and professional skills and the career or progression opportunities available to them. (Cognitive Skills - EVALUATION & REFLECTION	Attending career track Tuesday/Start up Wednesday sessions, one on one careers advice,online job searching, entering competitions, consistently reflecting and evaluating progress, job interviews, voluntary work	Excellent
6C2 Develop and implement a personal promotion strategy to communicate to relevant organisations. Practical & Professional Skills - VISUAL QUALITY)	Social media, website, linkedin, contacting organisations, getting involved in local events. I feel like my branding and presentation could be a lot stronger.	Good
6D2 Use a range of appropriate communication methods to present themselves as a professional practitioner to a relevant audience. Key Transferable Skills - PROFESSIONALISM & COMMUNICATION	Networking with other creatives at events such as the Love Arts festival and Sustainability Symposium etc, communicating through email and phone calls with clients, commissions through Etsy, online presence, final presentation	Very Good

Evaluation 

This year I have truly appreciated the importance of PPP in helping me develop both as a professional creative and as an individual. Since day one I’ve always been apprehensive about sending my work out to people and establishing myself and my practice with confidence. Although I can still find it a little nerve- wracking at times, I’ve pushed myself to get involved with as many jobs, events, and other creative opportunities that have enabled me to make valuable decisions about my future career and how to get to where I want to be.

PPP has been a huge, yet valuable learning curve where I have discovered a lot about myself and the way that I work, especially acknowledging my need for a balanced lifestyle as an extrovert in a career that can present itself as being predominantly solitary. This is where I made the decision to split my practice into two, having one half as my illustrative creative practice, and the other as a socially engaging/ teaching arts practitioner.

I’ve exhaustively used my blog as a reflective diary to record of trials and tribulations on the course as well as a platform to record milestones and set myself goals. Within this I’ve also learnt how to properly negotiate with clients on a professional basis, and gained a huge insight into my rights as an illustrator in terms of being treated and paid fairly and properly. Additionally I have learnt how to present myself both online and in person, having to distinguish the correct barrier between my personality and professional presence.

At the start of second year, I told myself to ‘say yes to everything’, in other words, get involved with as many opportunities that come my way as possible. I’ve kept my word to this day, within reason, and its really enabled me to step outside my comfort zone, experiencing and achieving things that three years ago I never thought would be possible. With this I’ve had many valuable experiences that have benefited my practice, such as partaking in live and competition briefs, learning about public and large scale art, having the opportunity to teach and assist creative workshops; all have which have informed and shaped my ambitions and plans for the future.

One thing that I have struggled with year on year is planning and time management. Although by nature I have been described as quite an organised person, my mental health has massively interfered with this since starting college and has hindered my progress in numerous ways. I wish I’d have been more accepting of the things that I genuinely struggle with and not been afraid to ask for additional academic support in those areas. This way such tasks could have felt more manageable and achievable instead of completely overwhelming, resulting in rushing them at the last minute. I also wish that I’d have planned out what I wanted to include in my portfolio at an earlier stage so that I could have been more well prepared and confident when sending my work out to future employers and clients.

In summary, PPP has provided me with the knowledge, ambition and personal toolkit to embark on the next stage of my life, however scary yet exciting this may be. I’ve learnt so much about myself, how I work best and what I actually want to get out of my creative career as an illustrator. I’ve learnt how to communicate on a professional level with clients, including negotiating tricky topics such as unpaid work, presenting my work efficiently and how to maintain resilience in disappointing situations. The whole module has increased my awareness of my strengths and weaknesses, both as an individual and a creative, and how I can capitalise and address these elements in the working world outside of the art school bubble. 

Creative Presence

Final Presentation

Professional Portfolio

Realisations/Plan of Action

From the start of third year, I have felt completely burnt out, exhausted and as if I've been tackling a year-long creative block. A part of me wishes I'd have taken a year out of studying to get back on my feet properly and feel more stable mentally to take on such a challenging and important year. As a result, I don't feel ready to do a lot of things that PPP has asked of me.

Gemma Correll knows how I feel

If I'm not completely confident of the contents of my portfolio, why would I send it out to professional clients just to receive potentially negative feedback, or no response at all, knocking my confidence even further?

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT A BLOG POST OF SURRENDER.

I am absolutely NOT giving up, I refuse to. I've just got myself in an un-ideal complicated relationship with illustration and I need some time to myself to allow my creativity to blossom in a healthy, non-stressful, non judgemental way.

So this is the main reason why I haven't made the contacts as of yet that I hoped I would have by now. 

SO WHAT NOW?!?!

My main priority is feeling better mentally. When I'm in a better place I will be able to make work that I enjoy and have confidence in, and is JUST FOR ME! This way, I hope that things will start to come together again and I can begin contacting professionals, agencies and publishers WITH CONFIDENCE, ENTHUSIASM AND JOY.

So here's the plan:

April/May:

-Finish FMP to the best of my ability

June:

-Final show

July/Summer:

-D&AD in London
-Summer job- NCS Art Practitioner, Possibly Breeze Festival? (waiting to hear back)
-Go exploring cities, draw some local buildings and suss out some independent shops that could buy some prints from me
-REST AND RECOVER
-Get back into a routine, i.e. get a 9-5 job for financial stability and draw for pleasure until I feel ready

Who am I going to work towards contacting?

Editorial

-Oh Comely (follow up)
-Eye Magazine
-The Skinny
-Flow Magazine
-Buzz Feed
-The Lancet
-They Draw and Cook

Publishing

-Penguin random house
-Walker books
-Nobrow press

Experience

-Apply for a placement at hallmark to get experience working in house, and developing my knowledge and skills within greetings cards and pattern
-Contact Artfelt Sheffield to get some more information and insight into art therapy and creative healing

Public Art

-Keep my eyes open on CURATOR SPACE for mural opportunities in Leeds/surrounding area (helps that I've got the ibis mural out in the open!)
-Get back in touch with Pete Barber to see if he knows of any opportunities

So please bear with me, good things always take time! 

Mini ePortfolio

In order to feel more prepared and confident about contacting agencies, I've put together a mini portfolio to attach in emails as a sort of 'sample of my work' kind of thing.

I don't really have a set logo yet, so I've just chopped my name up a little and added one of my dandelion doodles from last year to add at the end of emails.

So now, there is NO EXCUSE not to contact people!