My negotiated brief 2nd year.

As I have previously said in my last blog post I am uploading some more work from last year (academic). This project was really quite special to me because I had set myself really high goals and I was determined to produce this final and manage my time well. 

This was the first time I had been strict with myself and confident in my own idea. This was towards the end of the year as was the lie project and I had come leaps and bounds in the space of a few months with my confidence in my self. I have always struggled with it but I was proud of this project. (I still to this day hate showcasing my artwork but the joys of being behind a screen)

It's not perfect but it never is the day after let alone a few months! 

The basis of this project was to do create my own brief and execute it. I chose to do a recipe for children. As I want to become a teacher, I wanted to experiment with learning materials and instruction. I thought the recipe would be a really easy place to start and I could choose whatever is best visually as well. I wanted it to be colourful and bright so I chose the rainbow cupcakes which are simple enough. The final format was to be double sided A3 and then laminated for a wipe clean surface. 

I was also determined to hand draw absolutely everything in this project and I am pleased I did. The only thing that wasn't was the type for the instructions and the arrows for direction. I went all out and spend a lot of time making sure everything made sense. The only thing I completely forgot to take into consideration when placing on photoshop was to leave a few millimetres for bleed and the final print had taken a little bit off of the side to right. The biggest rookie mistake and I made it after all these years. I am glad I did though because next time I will give myself even more extra time towards print to make sure it is correct so if there is a problem I can tweak it. 

During the interim crit quite a few people commented on how they liked the drawing of the Vanilla extract I did and to be honest it was my favourite one to draw. 

We make mistakes to learn from them and for this project I had made plenty before during and after. 

Tell a lie collaborative project.

I haven't uploaded a lot of my work from last year as I felt really overwhelmed. I was pushed so far out of my comfort zone i wasn't sure at all how to feel about the work i produced and whether or not it was good enough or not. 

I have been sitting here tapping away looking through a lot of my artwork, old and new,  I have seen the good the bad and the ugly and to be honest last year had helped me evolve into the artist I want to be and that is free and confident in my own work. 

I had to collaborate with a few of my fellow illustrators in class and we decided to do a project on telling lies. We wanted to see whether or not the general public would expose their dirty little secrets to us and then we could present a visual representation of their lie. The project was based on national tell a lie day and we jump straight in and got to work, bouncing ideas off of each other and working as a team. 

We had some wonderful lies and I think in total we ended up collecting over 100 lies in a lie box we had left in a small boutique tea room in a small town called Puckeridge just west of Bishops Stortford. The incentive to submit a lie was a free piece of home made tiffin. 

If you're interested in visiting this beautiful little Tea Room head over to their Facebook page and show some support to the lovely ladies. 

https://www.facebook.com/Somethinglovelytearoom?fref=ts

My chosen lies did make me laugh but that was what we were aiming for.

“I ran over my neighbours cat. I can’t tell them what happened, they would be devastated. I buried it in the garden under the lavender bush. I was called Whitney. I told my neighbours I hadn’t seen their cat”

“I gave birth to a unicorn”

“When I was little I would eat any chocolate in sight like most children would, but I got caught one day and said it wasn’t me only for my dad to point out that I had chocolate all over my face. Whoops :P”

A messy desk is a productive one!

I know I usually post about my artwork or teaching but I thought I'd share an insight into my bedroom made studio. Whenever anyone comes in in the middle of me working on a project or anything creative it is like a minefield. My Bedroom/Studio starts off beautifully tidy and clean but then I get into it and the whole desk is overtaken with bits, materials and paper which then overflows onto the bed.

This is my passion and if I don't create chaos I'm not having a good time. Don't let anybody tell you how you should be working, it comes naturally to me to work in madness and I've tried for years to curb it but it's my most comfortable. 

Also it does help to have a study buddy. Sadly mine isn't as motivating as most. 

Shark Culling FINISHED!

I know I posted about this originally ages ago I stumbled on the finished item and realised I hadn't uploaded! Just watched the full thing and it's quite funny to see my silly little doodles floating about in a video :)

http://www.joestanden.com/portfolio/shark-culling/

Please visit the page and support my fellow creative, Joe Standen.

The journey of being on crutches.. sketchbook bits

I hurt my knee over the holidays and I have been on crutches for two months. The latest project at uni is "do something you've never done before" I played about with a few things but they were more interested in my journey and how I can illustrate the everyday irritants of being on crutches. So here are just a few doodles. watch this space for some finals. :)

Workshops

This summer I worked with a lot of young artists at my university. I was getting quite stuck with my own artwork and I found myself in a bit of a rut and scratching to get out. Working with these guys and girls was a breath of fresh air. They are so inspiring but frustrating at the same time. It is a blast! They lack confidence in what they produce and restrict themselves so tightly because they may be trying to impress their peers or even myself and the other teacher.

The truth in it all is they all have their own visual identity and a way of working. Not one piece was the same. Some people needed more encouragement than others to just go for it but in the end they all produced some awesome artwork. The task at hand was grid painting, I hadn't done this for years because I guess being a creative we are expected to free hand everything. The group were given photographic reference of famous people and had to draw and then use whatever medium of their choice to colour their drawings. The age range was between 11 and 16 and just looking at the pieces you cannot tell the difference in ages.

They were a very inquisitive bunch and asked a lot about what I do and what my work is. I decided to sit and draw with them as I felt we would both benefit from the experience. I was so inspired, I just wanted to get stuck in and get going with it. This encouraged them to try different things swell because they are so used to just pencils and paint. I introduced Ink into the equation and they went nuts. They used every possible material and gave it a go. I was so pleased because I know personally I grew as a creative by trying new mediums with a teacher and my peers so why shouldn't I sit there and level with them?

This was what I produced. I have since worked into it and it is still a work in progress, I noticed I became precious over it and I want to come back to it with fresh eyes in the near future and just let loose so watch this space and we shall see how it develops.

Bobby Kennedy.

Messiness isn't exactly a bad thing :)

You know you've had a good day when your hands look like this. :)

St Francis Work experience.

I spend the week with St Francis school for girls and it was incredible. The girls were great and at the time of my visit it wasn't far off of the end of GCSE and A level exams so the exhibition was still up of their work.

The exhibition blew me away the girls were all incredibly talented and not one student seemed to be under performing, all the artists (because thats what they are!) were different and had already found what had interested them by such a young age of 15/16. 

One of their amazing projects (which i wish we had been tasked to do at college or uni) was to create a dress inspired by the harry potter films. 

The outcome was just amazing. Sadly I couldn't take any photos and I wish I had because they were all just incredible. 

While i was at St Francis they had 2 days which were art days that they have every year and the girls are off time table and choose the activities they want to do. Due to the school being very eco friendly one of the tasks at hand was to create a sea like weaving into the tennis courts railings using only recycled materials. It was good fun and the girls all got stuck in and the outcome was lovely. 

One of the other activities took me to the Biology room where we were making dyes out of food. Yes we created dyes out of the berries and fruits the girls brought in and we had to experiment with tie dying and batik methods. It did take me back to being a teenager when most of the girls used the batik method to write "I love Harry Styles" and "1D's biggest fan!" (although I did have better taste as Busted was around when i was their age!)

I made a little friend in the Biology lab :) it is a lime green giant stick insect

I didn't hold it :(

Merchant Taylors Mural painting

So I previously spoke about my time working with the students at merchant tailors and we had a fantastic time. The sun was shinning, the boys were ready and raring to go and we had such a great space to work on.

The school arrange to help in the community and their final task was to paint murals in and around the local primary schools.

It was fantastic the boys had selected their photographic reference and the task at hand was to paint in the style of Monet, not all of the students were creatives but they all worked as a team collectively and used their skills accordingly.

We had three days to do the project and it was split into two groups the first group only had 1 day to complete their task on the storage box. They were great, they got stuck in they asked questions they were beaming with ideas and pushed to get it finished in time. The outcome was incredible.

The final outcome has completely brightened up the area this box was situated they did a fantastic job. 

The second group were just as good, they were fun and had a little bit more time as this one was where the younger children from the primary school interacted and helped to push it along. over all i had an absolutely fantastic experience and they were a pleasure to work with. Nothing makes a day worthwhile when you come home absolutely shattered and up to your elbows in acrylic. 

Well Done Boys!

What a crazy summer!!!!!

Jeez guys i've been away a while, I am awful at keeping up to date with my social media SO! exciting stuff happened this summer. :) I secured myself some work experience with uni as well as doing a bit of searching myself with other schools and I had a fantastic time. I am getting one step closer to my dream.

I spent some time with Merchant Taylors school painting a mural at my old primary school, did a weeks work experience at St Francis school for girls which I managed to sort out through doing the animation work through uni with the students.

It has been fantastic I have never felt so inspired these young minds who are doing the things they love and excelling like you wouldn't believe. I will post up some photos of my time with the schools soon.

:)

Shark Culling live project.

Well exciting stuff everyone. While speaking with a good friend who is a motion graphic designer I have been asked to produce some artwork for his latest animation about shark culling in Australia.

I'll be posting through when it's finished so watch this space! :)

Check him out as I said he is a really good friend and his work is pretty awesome.
www.joestanden.com

If I Were… A location. [Week 2]

This week I had to create an image of a location. I looked at the sort of style I like which is quite dark and heavy use of black. Since last week I have found a new love for silhouettes so I thought I would carry it through and give something a try using my new found interest.

I also stepped out of my comfort zone and relied on photoshop to give the effect of the different colour swirls created in space. I am really pleased with the outcome. although still basic i will definitely be experimenting more with this.

If I Were… a Film. Week 1

I was set a one week project with the title "if I were a... Film" we had to make a front cover for a DVD without any type.

I really struggled with this as I couldn't come up with an image relative to what I like to draw and what genre it would be.  After pulling my hair out trying to force an idea I gave up for an hour and  took some time out. I find this to be extremely important  as it can be disastrous mentally and you end up burning out scraping for an idea.

I managed to  come up with the silhouette of a woman in the 60's. I like old fashions and styles in all the decades but this was new for me as I usually go for the 40's or 50's. I think a lot of my work can also be quite dark so I wanted more of a thriller/ horror symbol.

I finally came up with this image.

*UPDATE* Palindrome crit.

The crit went really well the other day and i got some really good advice. After hanging the drawing up on the wall and looking at it from afar I noticed what everyone else had said about the dentist being too far to the left and the white space being too much behind it.

I lightboxed the drawing and moved it over this time stepping right out of the comfort zone and leaving black behind for the first time, I really struggled with it but I stuck it through and I am overwhelmed by the final outcome. I never realised how much I relied on black outline and how it didn't always need to be used.

But... As per usual I had to add something black :) 

I changed the filter on  Instagram to black and white and it changes the entire visual language.  

Crit - Palindrome.

I am quite nervous about class crit. Not because of the criticism I will receive but I generally am quite private. I enjoy them but I just feel sometimes it can go too deep into what I'm showing you to what it really is. 

Business Card

This was for a self promotional project in my foundation degree, I based it soley on my favourite medium. :) I will be going back to the drawing board with this as it's been nearly a year since I originally did this and I need to add more of my social media information. 

Foundation Degree Exhibition 2013

A few photos of my exhibition for my end of year show. This was the end of an era for me really, I'd spent nearly 5 years of my life at West Herts College from the age of 16 to 20. I look back at the start from my first course in art and design and i have seen a vast improvement confidence wise in my materials and personality. 

So this for me wasn't just about putting myself out there as a young illustrator but my journey of following my dream. My parents are so supportive of my education and pathway I have chosen even though the art industry is a difficult career to engage in. My mother wouldn't stop going on about graduating an "the funny hat" I'd have to wear. She was more excited than me. 

So this isn't just a thank you to my parents, it's a thank you to all my tutors who have taught me so much over the years through all the tantrums and tears I managed to get there in the end. I cannot wait to finish my degree and hopefully if I carry on posting my journey all of you can walk it with me.

Thank you again I owe you all a cup of tea :)