Kaatje Vemiere - artist research

http://www.kaatjevermeire.be

I have no idea why, but I think this piece really looks and has the same feel to some of my previous work. I really admire the use of mark making for this like the grass and the trees and I think the composition works really well with aspects further back than other. I want to use this method.

Green Keys

 My apologies I had completely forget to post this Image of my issues illustration I had created for the Parkinson's equip charity event aptly named 'The Future'. I was so happy over how this piece turned out I think I've really blended my detailed drawing skills with simplicity and I always thought about shape, line and texture. I think its worked really well.

However the biggest surprise I recieved was that someone wanted to buy this from me. I wasn't planning on selling it, but someone had seen it in the poems book the class had created. It made me think maybe people do actual like my work and actually want to buy it !!!.

1950s Polish Illustrations

I was looking at past illustration for fairy tale books and came across these Polish drawings from the 1950's. Both of them are gorgeous pieces and really like the drawing style especially the use ink to create really simple shapes like the dog or the fisherman. I like the colour shames as well with inly a few colors used effectively. Maybe a limited colour palette is something I will have to consider.

I also like the positioning of the images with thought given to space how the images looks when actually on the page. I definitely want to do my own in this style that has influenced me a lot. Even though its old it has more in common with the way I work than most modern pieces I have seen.

Research- Catherine Rayner

http://www.booktrust.org.uk

I want to have a constant look and feel to the book I will be producing. I think I'm going to carry on from where I left off on the last project with a focus on combining mark making with more detailed drawing. I think it worked really well last time and even though experimental I think I could really develop it to suit a children's book. Weakness wise its very hard to keep it consistent and is a bit of a gamble.

I was researching  into artists who use mark making and actually came across a previous Macmillan children's book winner Catherine Rayner. She's does exactly what I want to do with beautifully drawn ink work and clever mark making. I just love the intricate but simple designs she uses and I hope to create something similar within my own work.

Adam Graff

http://www.theaoi.com

Today I went to the tuesday club lecture where I had the pleasure of listening to Professional Illustrator Adam Graff. He was a very interesting and lively person to say the least, you could tell he was an illustrator. He talked about his career in illustration and the path he followed.

His work at the start seemed a very surreal kind of style with beautifully drawn figures a lot of the time. I could tell he was heavily influenced by his imagination when looking at his work as a lot of it was very creative.His stories of some of the strange objects and materials he collected like raffle tickets were very funny and interesting especially with how he combined that with his own work. 

One part of his talk that caught my attention was the point he made about himself being out of work after a break and exploring his style more. He tried his hand at painting and expression which I thought was his best work personally, as I really like the painted style. To regain work he had to combine what made him popular and gave him work with this new style. He adapted to get back into work. I feel like a share the same problem he had I'm not sure what style I have and what working method to use. My heart and my hands are saying painting and drawing, but I need to be adaptable and  have lots of working styles if i want to make any career from illustration.

What I particularly liked was some of the tips Adam SHARED :
- Mock up your work in context to encourage art directors to believe in you.
- Enter COMPETITIONS (emphasis made on literally any you can find)
-Draw what you love, explore the things that interest you. You will be commissioned on what is in your folio.
- Remember you have a voice.
- Make connections.

Macmillan Children's book

http://www.catherinerayner.co.uk

For my next brief, I had decided to go out of my comfort zone and pick a children's book to illustrate. I could either create my own short story or use an out of copyright story such as the Grimm's Fairy tales stories. It has to be 20 double pages, including a front cover. This is a lot of work and I need to really buckle down get on with it basically.

Issues

• I need to find the right story for me. One that I'm interested in and one I actually like. if I don't like it then I think an onlooker will be able to tell as the quality of my illustrations would suffer.
• What style do I want ?. I need it to be consistent throughout and look good and professional 
• I have to create work that suits a particular market, so I need to change my style and think  differently about the way I'm creating and want the work to look like. i.e unlike the work I had created before which was for a more adult audience. 
• This is a lot of work so I need to manage my time properly 

Parkinsons Charity Event

The other night myself and my university class, had organized a charity event for Parkinson's Equip. We sold our original images we created for the poems and issues book. It was an fantastic night, raising lots of money and awareness for Parkinson's Equip.

On a personal level I was very nervous about showcasing my work to random people I had never met before and I was stressed about whether my work would sell. I didn't have to worry though !! as someone bought it. This was the first piece of work I have ever sold and the person that bought it told me he was interested in it and loved my style of work. It was a great confident booster personally and it has encouraged me to try and get my work out there more. The most important thing though was that it raised so much money for such great charity.