Bigheads: Owen Davey

• Owen Davey is a practicing illustrator based in Leicester.
• He had a home studio for five years, then decided to get one in town due to feeling lonely!
• From A-levels to Foundation he went on to study Illustration at Falmouth and has been working really hard as a freelancer for six years.
• It takes a couple of years to build clients so you really have to hang in there.
• He has an agent which has been very helpful.

Working Life

• 'Mad about monkeys' is his latest work which he says is firmly grounded; not completely realistic though.
• When asked how he makes work he emphasised the importance of thumbnails, concepts and composition which he then transports straight into photoshop.
• Spends more time planning than finishing!
• It is important to do LOADS of research.
• It doesn't matter what he is trying to achieve personally, he just makes work that excites him.

Attitudes to work and advice

• Work really hard and have a strong work aesthetic.
• Image making is only half of being an illustrator. The other half is more focused on being a business person and promoter.
• Great illustration is where someone is really pushing themselves in their practice and enslaving themselves in things that scare them.

Second year exhibition at Colours May Vary

Yesterday evening we had the opportunity to attend the opening night of a screen-print exhibition that the second years had arranged and set up themselves at Colours May Vary.

The whole event opened up our eyes as to how much could be expected of us this time next year, and the skills and personal development the second years have gained since they were at the same point in time as us.

The brief they were given was to read a book over summer and create a series of screen prints in response to the specific author or novel. It was interesting to see individual interpretations and responses to the given stimuli and also the organisational and professional skills of organising and dressing an exhibition space open to the public.

Superhero Task

Working from our mind maps, we were put into pairs and given the task to create a poster of a superhero as a visual metaphor of who they are and how they are progressing on the course so far.

I was paired up with Amy, from talking to her and looking at her mind map I made some notes. We also had to take into consideration the qualities of the superhero; what they would wear, what powers they had, did they have a sidekick, did they have a kryptonite? 

From everything that I had learnt about Amy, I decided that she would be 'Cute Nature Girl'. Her costume and accessories were made from pretty foliage, her weakness is tiredness(shown by the angry stars), her main power is that she magnetically attracts interesting books for her to read and her weapons consist of powerful dessert-bombs attached to her belt.

And here is Amy's interpretation of me!

I think this is a great portrayal. She has included my main issue- balancing everything equally which is shown by juggling important people in my life with my art equipment, I also have a really cute owl as a novelty sidekick. 

Evaluation of this task:

Having a visual representation of who we are and what we are about in the form of a superhero has been a great opportunity to accentuate our strengths, weaknesses and interests, especially from an external point of view. The map communicates clearly our thinking process and how our brains work, which is only necessarily visible to ourselves. The superhero acts as an emphasised alter-ego of our personalities; who we are with our main points of character being made clearer to those who surround us, in a fun and interesting way.

Part two:

The second part of this task was to create a personal ad restricted to 20 words, here was mine:

ELLIE CHAPPELL is a small ILLUSTRATION STUDENT  with a BIG imagination. Employ her and she will work and smile lots.

I think I could have done something more to emphasise my interests in illustration and the level of success I will potentially bring when working with clients in the future, as apposed to having a novelty feel.

Where am I now? What have I learnt?

This session focused on our progress so far in the course and where we feel we are at in our journeys as illustrators.

Making a series of lists on how we have developed:

Personal Development

• Learnt to live by myself and be completely independent
• Prioritising on a more serious level
• Living off a really tight budget
• Perspective on the value of money has further increased
• Soap, sponges and toilet roll don't magically appear! 
• Adapted to living with four other people my age
• Managing long distance relationships
• Self-discipline when tackling four modules at once
• The importance of blogging near enough everything
• Realising that everything is so expensive!

Professional Practice- What have I learnt?

• Learnt more about the creative industry, how it can be based upon trends and popularity and how this fluctuates individuals demand and workload
• No matter what, people out there (most of the time the minority-hopefully) will dislike your work in some way
• How the world around us revolves and relates to illustration
• This industry is very self-driven, the pros and cons of being self-employed
• Keep a sketchbook and draw regularly. Drawing is like a sport, keep it up or you'll become bad at it
• It is important to experiment as a first year and not constrict yourself to a style just yet

Working in groups, devising lists of different skills in categories:

Personal Management Skills:

• Find value in free time
• Not to waste time, plan thoroughly
• Use pinterest!
• Don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone
• Look after your health
• Eat well and try and find time to exercise
• Spend money wisely
• Learning how to accept your own limitations, capabilities and strengths

Practical Skills:

• Learning digital methods
• Roughs and Scamps
• Variety of media
• Going to BigHeads sessions creates goals and aspirations
• Experimenting with different media in sketchbooks
• Exhaustive research is good
• Professionalism

Study Skills:

• Daily 'to-do lists' or goals
• Mental notes
• Where to find illustration specifically
• Talking to people
• Blogging and reflection of progress
• Reading/watching documentaries
• Use the library!
• To be inspired, what inspires me and what I need to be aware of in terms of being inspired
• Be critical of other peoples work and form opinions
• Analyse everything from a creative perspective

Other Skills:

• Looking at the world visually
• Human contact is good, but being alone is good too
• How to cook
• How to balance social life/uni life
• Freezing bread makes it last longer

Refreshing our minds on types, purposes and contexts of illustration:

Type:(what)

• Graphic novel
• Zine
• Advertising
• Children's books
• Roughs/scamps
• Instruction manuals 
• Editorial
• Print

Context:(where)

• Album covers
• Billboards
• Children's books
• Newspapers
• Manuals
• Magazines
• Books
• Zines
• Clothes
• Posters
• Adverts
• Exhibitions

Purpose:(do)

• To inform
• Persuade
• Communicate message
• Humour/entertain
• Advertise
• Propaganda
• Understand

Task: Create a visual representation summarising where you're at currently within terms of this module.

Planning- categorising different things I have learnt so far, and actions that have followed/are following.

Thinking about relating the aesthetic to a map of Leeds, however I thought that this may be more difficult to follow.

INSPIRATION: Searching 'Maps', 'Mind Maps' into Pinterest:

I thought that the idea of a tube map was clever, and easy to read; it also related to the analogy of 'boarding the illustration train' and embarking on a creative journey.

Some further developments- shapes and colour co-ordination.

The final idea

I mapped out a chronological journey of my time and development on the course so far, and linked the different elements together appropriately. Each colour represents a different 'line' which can be decoded on the map making the message clearer to the viewer.

The final map

Rights of Nature Exhibition

This weekend whilst I was home I went to check out a local exhibition at the contemporary. 

I went in with open eyes because I normally find these kind of  exhibitions really hard to relate to due them being so open to interpretation with the subject matter being fine art.

I was interested in this piece named 'De Re Metallica' in terms of the line quality and abstract sort of frame layout. De Re Metallica was actually used for 180 years as a practical guide for miners and metal workers until a more modern publication was produced in 1738.

This is a more modern piece that I found interesting entitled 'Las plantas cultivadas por la gente de centro en la Amazonia Colombiana'  (The plants cultivated by the people from the centre of the colombian amazon)
The paintings are a series of observational images that catalogue peoples holistically environmental knowledge within the area. The artists work is recognised by both art an scientific circles for their unique qualities.


I found this exhibition really informative about the ecology of the Americas, but at the same time very hard to relate to due to the lack of illustrative principles and products. Fine art and instillations to me can often be really overwhelming and difficult to understand, especially when being already unclear on the theme of the exhibition. Nevertheless it was a good experience and I shall challenge my interpretive thoughts further in the future.

Visual Narratives End of Module Evaluation

1. Which practical skills and methodologies have you developed within this module and how effectively do you think you are employing them within your own practice?

In the early stages of this module I learnt the process of screen printing, which allowed me to produce an 8 page hotdog book, both of which are valuable skills I can apply in the future. I have also learned how to use Indesign, which was informative in understanding the layout and set up of professional documents. Although I made a few errors during this process, I learnt the importance of using and considering margins and bleed/slug options to gain the best visual quality of the image within the page.

2. Which approaches to research have you found most valuable during this module. How have you interrogated your research to identify appropriate ideas?

I have learned a lot during the research process of this module. Being limited on the research we could carry out during Studio Brief One in the Merrion Centre, we collectively decided to make a picture book implying sarcasm and light humour about the unsuccessful day we had attempting to gather research about the centre itself. Prior to my trip to Whitby I had so many pre-assumptions of picture books I could develop from potential research, however I wasn’t able to explore as many areas as I had desired due to seasonal restrictions, and I found it really difficult to pinpoint a particular area of research from the broad/vague range I had gathered during the day. This made me feel like my day had been a waste of valuable time. However I reviewed my research and identified something I found interesting- antique shops, which fuelled my decision to explore this are further, which lead to my discovery of Chinese blue and white pottery, and my research and finding of the Willow Pattern Story.

3. What strengths can you identify within your submission and how have you capitalised on these?

My main strength, I believe, is that I answered the brief accurately by ‘telling an untold story’, and informing my audience of the untold story of the ancient Chinese lovers, within the widely recognisable plate. From my feedback I was pleasantly surprised to know that the story had an emotional impact on the viewers, which is something that I didn’t expect at all. This was partly due to the minimalistic tone of voice which I used to portray the story by using one variation of colour using one tool- brush and ink, which allowed the audience to focus more on the narrative itself rather than being distracted by the level of detail. I also think my presentational skills had some level of strength. I’m glad that I made my book in small dimensions of A6, further implying measures of delicacy and intricacy which wouldn't have been as effective if the book were any bigger.

4. What areas for further development can you identify within your submission and how will you address these in the future?

My major flaw Studio Brief 2 consisted of over-thinking my starting point which negatively impacted the time I had gathering more precise and accurate research. In the future I will take a step back and look at the bigger picture before rushing into something that I automatically presume will produce good results. I think it will also be valuable for me to explore something I am totally unfamiliar with, and challenge myself to research into something that isn’t within my comfort zone, or more simplistic because these sometimes produce a larger set of results to elaborate on.

I will also consider the importance of layout with greater detail, due to my mistakes in forgetting to consider margins when developing my final images. If i consider the marginal dimensions in the future this will prevent my images from being cropped or warped.

5. How effectively are you making decisions about the development of your work? What informs these decisions? What problems have you identified and how have you solved them?

In this module I don’t think I have taken the most time and care when making decisions. Due to being indecisive about which area of research to focus on, time was running out quickly and I was forced to make quick decisions in order to continue the production process. When deciding which theme to focus on in terms of the narrative of my book, I had to choose between putting my own spin on the book from using the research I had gathered over Christmas- looking at similar elements in different places in the world- or sticking to the original oriental theme of the plate. Relatively speaking it may have been more interesting and more of a challenge for me to adapt the basis of the book to an alternative theme, but I made the decision to keep things simplistic and keep to the original theme. In the end this worked out to be successful however I didn’t have much first hand research on the oriental theme, which jeopardised the ability of developing a more varied visual response.

6. How effectively have you managed this project and organised yourself during this module? 

In all honestly I think my organisational and management skills have lacked during this module. The briefs have really excited me, but also intimidated me slightly in thinking I may not be able to produce something to the best of my ability- this is something that I definitely need to learn to overcome. I found it difficult to keep motivated on the project during the Christmas break, mostly due to keeping up with my other modules, my work life, family life and social life. I have done well to finish the each brief to a good standard that I am happy with on time, but I feel like I may have produced higher quality results if I had planned my time out more equally. To do this, in the future I will consider devising a time schedule as something to work towards in achieving things steps at a time, as opposed to feeling panicked about not being able to finish things all at once.

7. How would you grade yourself on the following areas:

5= Excellent 4= Very Good 3= Good 2= Average 1= Poor

Attendance- 3 (I missed a week due to holiday, would have been better otherwise)

Punctuality- 4

Motivation- 3

Commitment- 4 

Quantity of Work Produced- 4

Quality of Work Produced- 4

Contribution to the Group- 3

Bigheads: Matt Taylor

• Matthew Taylor studied at Bucks New University and has been practicing as an illustrator for 12 years.
• He originally studied creative advertising, but didn't like his degree. He would always visualise the ideas that he was coming up with.
• Matt works at his home in Chichester in his spare-room studio; his wife is also an illustrator.
• Makes lots of posters and book covers alongside some editorial.
• USP? Colour choice and composition.

• When being asked where he would like his work to exist, he stated that he was happy at the moment, and is enjoying his practice as well as the direction of his work.
• It is important to be aware of brand identity. You get asked to do more of what people can see. If you show that you can already do something it makes you more employable. Set yourself projects to prove this.

How he makes work

• RE: The Great Salt Lake-all done without reference (as opposed to usually doing that) and the work was created using only photoshop and a wacom cintiq.
• Key tools were using layers and opacity as well as KYLE WEBSTER's set of custom brushes.
• Images come together by using shutter stock and drawing over them; working in colour at the early stages with the aim of balancing the image.

Attitude to work and Illustration

• When it comes to drawing in general, he doesn't draw for himself because there is no time. 
• How does he keep himself going? 'Its my job' he says. It is easy to fall into fine art habits like 'artists block' which makes clients angry and then you get no money.
• It's a serious thing, if you take it seriously people will treat you seriously.
• He works 9-6.30 days; when a brief comes in he starts straight away.
• Is his work still evolving? Yes. You can be limited with tools. Since working with the wacom intuous cintiq his work is so much better and allows a more hand drawn feel.

Conclusion

• What would you have said to yourself as a student? NEVER WORK FOR FREE. 
• Never be attempted to do work for free just to get exposure because this devalues what you do and make illustration seem like a hobby. NOT GOOD.
• Find your own voice and be good at the thing you do instead of trying to copy.