DUCKS ARE TAKING OVER!

I've been a little quiet recently as I have been squirrelled away completing a project at uni that I became very attached to. I had to produce a newspaper based on a news article or story that I found and stumbled upon this quirky little story. 

Bizarrely this happened 8 months before I was born and pushed forward oceanography for a further 15 years. Initially when the crate went overboard there was uproar as it would pollute the ocean but it became apparent that this unfortunate but rather amusing event unearthed the movement of the seas and lead oceanographers to the trash gyres. Curtis Ebbesmeyer tracked their journey and estimated where these ducks would appear. The durability of these friendly floatees were put to the test and they circulated the seas. The last article I could find was in 2012 stating Ebbesmeyer is now following Nike trainers and Lego that have been lost at sea and it became apparent that the Ducks had run their course. 

These ducks are still turning up in places and I wanted to narrate their journey. 

The final product I received from Newspaper club and I couldn't be happier with it! The quality of  print is fantastic. I had a good idea of the size and colours that the newspaper would be as you can order a free sample which has pretty much everything you will need to know before sending to print. 

     

   

Save the Children Animation

I am so pleased to finally be able to put this out there. I spent the better part of my christmas holiday  squirrelled up in my bedroom working away at this project. The project was for Save the Children I knew this was the right brief for me as for anyone who knows me personally I am absolutely mad about books. A project about encouraging fathers to read to their children?! YES!

As I started to dig in to the brief and read Save the Children's statistics it was quite upsetting to see a lot of children aren't reading well by the age of 11 and struggle. Save the Children's campaign is to get children comfortable with reading so it helps them during primary school where the key developmental stages for basic reading and writing start. Their mission is for every child by 2025 to be leaving primary school as confident readers. the statistics shown were children from poorer income families were the ones that struggled.

We see so much on the news about horrid things happening all over the world which are important, but we are forgetting what is happening at home with all of our children? By just giving 10 minutes of your time per day to sit and read with your child and help them along you can help them become comfortable and confident with reading and also show it can be fun. I made it my mission to show how beautiful reading can be.

Save the Children had already made a video about their campaign but I found it far too over the top and exaggerated. The shock factor was far too heavy.


I wanted show the positive aspect of reading and how it can light up the imagination to not guilt trip fathers but shed some light on such an important subject. As creatives we need our imagination and reading has been a large part of my development creatively.

I worked along side Joseph Standen again who is a wonderful Motion graphic designer but this time I was the creator and in control of the story. It was a huge step for me to try something totally out of my comfort zone but this project couldn't have been better suited for an animation. I don't think a poster or a zine would have had the same effect. What a fantastic experience it has been and I have learn a lot from Joseph about how to draw for an animation.

Please do leave a comment as I would love to know what you thought be it good or any criticisms you might have.

SELF PUBLISHED!!!!

I am so excited to announce my first self published book!

I did a project on the struggles I faced when I injured my knee (I've torn my meniscus and require an operation). I have been on crutches since early September and during the running of this project I have struggled a lot giving up my independence and asking for help. Channelling my emotion into these drawings, which I don't usually do, has really helped and made me look at the positive of the situation.

So here is my book and a few of the illustrations please do go and have a look. This is also a huge thank you to everyone who has kept reading my blog and seeing what I am up to. I love signing in and seeing people have dropped by if I could offer you tea and cookies for visiting I would!

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”

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. :)

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.

:)

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.  

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 :)  

Wood letter press experiment!

I spent half a day in the print room working with a graphic designer who is passionate about type, I had an amazing day and learnt so much by just talking and asking questions. I produced this print as an experiment but I may use my name cut out for other things as I really like the font I picked it to create this.

It is wonky but I kind of like it that way as it looks more hand made instead of printed from a computer. :) really good day.  

Moby Dick Project.

This was one of my first year projects. This has to be my favorite project yet due to the ammount of work I produced and how pleased I was with the final outcome.

I used photoshop just to position everything and layer my drawings/paintings.

Drawing faces is my favorite thing to do anyway so I used this to my advantage and produded this. :)

Guardian

First year guardian project. Final design for a brief set to us about inflation and debts. I chose to draw this man in worry and dispair.  

First client drawing!

This is my first client drawing :) I was asked by a media student to do a poster and a book cover for his film. He kindly offered me the job and this is what I produced :)