NHS waiting Times

Rather then showing all my initial ideas separately, I thought it would be a better idea to show you  both the initial and finished illustration. Then you can see the process I go through and how my idea develops. 

This initial idea is based on the news articles about NHS waiting times and the effect government cut's are having. I tried to think of symbols or visual metaphors related to time and waiting. So I wanted some kind of clock or alarm clock that I could manipulate into a building, that people would then be queuing up to. I wanted to keep the image simple and reflect the nature of the story. I started out with a few rough sketches and played around with the composition and type of clock I wanted. 

I realize its not the best picture. 

This is the final image. You can see the process I've taken from my initial sketches. I am so happy with the final outcome. I think I've refined my style of work to include the detail in the figure, but use simple almost graphic imagery to complement that. I decided to add a chimney and a door to make it look more like a building rather than a clock and went with quite neutral colours that I thought work well. 

Abstract Front Cover

I wanted something for a front cover, but like the previous project I didn't want to use the an image I had already done, so I decided to try and create something abstract and different from the other images I had created. I enjoyed making this as I could really be creative with composition and use of colour. I think this has been a success.

A Soliders Story - flashlight

This story is quite a hard hitting serious one, so I wanted to reflect that In the imagery. I didn't want it to be too detailed and just show the core idea I was trying to get across. My initial idea was centered on the idea of the flashes of light. Solider's often after war struggle with light as it often reminds soldiers of a war zone and the bright flashes of light that they have to deal with. I thought of using a flash light as a metaphor for that and focusing the composition on the soldier on the floor. The hand again is such a powerful image to use so I wanted to use that. I was thinking about composition especially with this one. 

This is the final Image. I tried to incorporate a pastel texture into the image and a shadow on the person so it didn't look as if he was floating. Im happy with the colour scheme, however I may change that in the future. 

Contacting Art Directors/Artists

As part of my university course one of the tasks set out to us, is to contact art professionals. So art directors of editorial newspapers would be an example. After creating a client list with my preferred choices, I sent out a number of emails, briefly stating who I was and why I thought my work could be a good fit for their company. I attached a pdf containing a few of my images and a link to my website. I found this process incredibly frustrating, as I found that a lot of the art directors I was emailing weren't responding to me and often not opening their emails. Its disheartening and annoying, but I wasn't prepared to give up. 

So I emailed more art directors and sent samples of my work, deciding in the process that rather than narrowing where my work could fit in, I looked at publishers as well as editorial companies. I think my style of work is aimed more at adult style books, so I only contacted that kind of client. 

Luckily Ive had a reply !!. From an independent press publisher called 'Atlantic Press'. Its a publisher primarily run by illustrators. The main theme of their books is 'Authorial Illustration'. So its all about creating graphic literature, with the illustrations created around the artists words. Its all about letting the illustrator be the driving force behind whats in the book and the type of work they want. 

I hadn't really thought about this type of illustration before in terms of my own work, but the type of freedom and style of illustrations really interested me and this is definitely something I want to look into. 

http://atlanticpressbooks.com

The work is different from what I do, but I can see my work fitting into this kind of genre. These beautiful illustrations are by Elizabeth Blue and Charmian Hussey. 

I emailed the company and luckily someone who helps run Atlantic Press called Stephen Braund, replied back to me. He was really nice down to earth guy who also very kindly sent me a free copy of the book above with a nice note wishing me good luck for the future. In a phone conversation with him, I asked him what he thought of my work as I wanted his invaluable advice about my work. He said 'you have great potential and I can see the direction your work is going in' He compared my work and way of working to 1984 book illustrator Alex Williamson. 

He then recommend this authorial type of illustration and that my work could be a good fit for that style. It is nerve-wracking talking to someone like that, but it really helped and encouraged me to know the positives people see in my work. 

I didn't really know who Alex Williamson is, but I can see why he compared my work to his. especially his use of hands, which I often use within my work. I love the book 1984 swell. 

My own book !!

As part of my dissertation I had to design and illustrate my own book. My dissertation was based on 'visual dynamics', so aspects of picture making like line, shape and texture. I experimented with space and composition and I wanted a professional clean look, with hints of mark making and texture throughout to reflect my essay.

I am so happy and proud of what I have produced !!.

Artist Advice - Rohan Eason

I contacted illustrator Rohan Eason to see if he could give me any advice on my portfolio and wesbsite. Ive done an interview with him on the Q & A Blog section on here. Thank you Rohan :) 

Rohan 

Hi Jordan, 

Your website is looking great, a lot of strong images, with Nice use of block colour and line. 

You've said your style is editorial, 

I would be careful about using this word to describe your work, and also for you when creating your work. 

Editorial is the lowest paid area of illustration, and while it is a good staple if you can get a consistent monthly or weekly magazine, it will limit the scope of your work. 

Being a commercial illustrator is about having a distinct style which a client can see working with their project, no matter what area that project lies, so I would suggest beginning to explore other areas of interest for inspiration. 

You have a nice pen style, and I'm sure you could work in other types of publication and media outlets. 

I would also suggest adding some work with faces, specially for editorial, but in all areas of illustration, the base skills of rendering the expressions of a human face are really important. It's a good tool for connecting with your client, if the figures are always turned away, or hidden, that's how your work may seem. I think that's the main criticism I would have, I want to put a face to your work, 

Hope that helps, 

Best

Rohan

Me 

Some great advice from Rohan in my opinion. Its good to know a professional likes your work. There is some really good constructive criticism here as well. In particular about not putting all your eggs into one basket, in my regard, not just doing editorial, but all forms of illustration - book, advertising .... I need to work on doing a few illustrations in books and other areas and not label my work as editorial. I completely agree with him in terms of drawing faces, its not something Ive intentionally done, but I can now see my work does lack facial expression, so I will work at that side of work and incorporate faces. 

About Me - family history

I know my blog is more about my illustrations and my artwork, but I wanted to add a bit of personal information about myself. My family have been researching into my family history and we have found some really interesting things. 

Firstly I already knew this, but my name and my family have so many connections with Ireland, particularly southern Ireland. I have other connections with Wales as well where my granddad is from. 

My second name Rainey is an irish name and in Gaelic it is Ó Raighne. 

I have lots of connections in my family with world war two, with lots of my family acting as soldiers at that time, which I'm proud to say. The most interesting learning point was my dads side of the family. We discovered my that my Grandma's parents were both from Russia to our surprise and they were both jewish. They fled from Russia in world war one. It was so fascinating to learn about. Im proud of my now English, Irish and Russian ancestry.