Website

I have just finished publishing my new website and it can be found at:

(www.laurasharpeillustration.co.uk) - although please bare with me as it may take a few hours until it is live.

When I conducted my website research last semester I looked at various illustration websites and the sites I liked the most were minimal and had a good sense of style, they also included some hand rendered type which I really liked too.  I have kept my site simple and included around 9 images and some hand made type - the same as I used for my business cards.

At this stage I don't feel clear about how to define my style as I am still exploring and I feel that I am still discovering the work I want to make as I have worked in 3D for such a long time but I have chose not to include it on my site as I want to move away from this way of working for while.  I feel like the end of uni is just the beginning for me and the site is work in progress.

Josser - Secret life of a Circus Girl - Nell Stroud

I think I have become a bit obsessed with the Circus the last few months!, I finished this book by Nell Stroud about her life in the Circus and it really was fascinating how hard they work day in day out in rough conditions, yet they are driven by their lives in the circus ring, they mentioned how their life is their art.

''Perhaps the whole of my circus career has been this: a search for authenticity.  But it occurs to me that this might be a characteristic of human experience known to all: a search for a place where we can stay and know that we belong''

I loved this quote, reminded me of myself! It's also what the theme in my project is about... letting go, and being who you want to be in a place where nothing matters.

Polish Circus Posters

I have been looking at polish circus posters as I love the bright colours, quirky look, use of type and the characters that appear in them, I would like to attempt making a circus poster of my own for my final show, the posters have also influenced the way I make my characters. They are beautiful.

Mixed Media Influence & Art Journals

I have always loved the look and hand crafted feel to any mixed media art and can remember making art journals with my older sister when I was younger, and I don't think I ever grew out of it! I started applying a more mixed media approach to my work for the current project, this happened shortly after my Guru Sam, suggested adding texture/marks to my collage work.

Ever since then I have enjoyed making my characters and backgrounds by collage and adding acrylic paints/marks to them to create more of a mood and slightly enhance my style.  There are so many different techniques that I have yet to learn and pennies to invest on materials & tools, although a lot of the imagery and paper can be sourced from old books and magazines.  After graduation I want to unleash and go mad with making lots of mixed media journals and applying them to surfaces such as candles, canvassed and greeting cards and then seeing how they sell.

Art Journals are really fun and expressive as you can just let go and juxtapose anything and create images by chance, and I think this is what I really enjoyed when creating my Circus Art Journal book as my sense of place, it really gave me lots of ideas and I didn't feel scared or reserved as I normally do when carefully placing a collage on the page and holding back. 

Below are some inspiring images that are just beautiful.

Rimmel Advert (Colour Rush) 2014

My final outcomes for my MP will be a photographed shoe set and a short animation that will act as a mock-advert to tell the story of the colourful Circus world that these shoes live in.  I have looked at the wacky videos of Jeff Keen as it's the feel that I am aiming for in my animation.

Another video that caught my eye was the current make up advertisement for Rimmel Cosmetics featuring Rita Ora.  I love the bold use of colour and how the cosmetics are animated themselves, I also love how they have combined film and hand rendered illustrations with mark makings, it really has given me some inspiration.

I am still in the process of looking at a sequence and also need to talk to my tutor about the scale of the frames as I will be using I-Stop motion and then AE to edit afterwards and I need to ensure that I make the images the right size...it's all go - 2 weeks to go!.

Portfolio Update April 2014

Today I made a few amendments to my portfolio. I have included some images from my current project Circus that are a little more in context and show a scene rather than the character on it's own, also some of the images were a little pixelated and I have taken these out as they look poor quality.  I have re worked my horoscope images by placing them onto backgrounds.

I am still not happy with my portfolio as it now looks the same due to the work all being from my MP.  I plan to re amend my portfolio after university and start new projects, however I can see that it is a work in progress and I now this part of the learning curve.

Mad House Image

Fyshbol who have recently launched in London find, buy and sell creative works online directly from artists, designers and sellers.

One of my images 'Mad House' appears in their online gallery on their social media sites Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, It's just a nice little feeling to see it out there!.

Twitter

I have been using twitter for a few years and I find it useful to connect with other Illustrators and industry people.  I also have a page on Facebook and I will also be joining Tumblr, Etsy and any other relative site after graduation and working on some new work to use on them, I like to see other illustrators and artists work as it's great inspiration!.

Link to my Twitter page: https://twitter.com/laurasharpe_

Making Pictures

Finally after 3 years I am starting to rather enjoy making pictures and bringing elements together.  below are two images from my MP 'Circus' and another image of a Bird Collector.

Circus Shoe set photographs

Below is a final image of my Circus Shoe set, I used a filter to achieve dark shadows behind the characters and a dark blue colour filter to achieve the night like background to make it appear more atmospheric.

Circus

I have started to play around with composition to put my work into context as this lacks in my work and also the feedback I received in London reflected this.  My tutor showed me some vintage circus images from Barnum's Circus and it has really helped with thinking about scale, background and making pictures rather than characters on their own looking lonely!.

Portfolio Review 2 & 3 - Illustration Agency, Wednesday 26th March

We went to visit the Illustration Agency Office on the second day of the London Trip. Everyone was lovely and really encouraging, they offered some very valuable advice on joining the AOI, websites, competitions and how to promote yourself in the industry. I was very lucky to show my portfolio to two members of the team at the Illustration Agency.

Portfolio Review 2 - Alice @ Illustration Ltd Agency.

Thought my work was very character based and thought I had created collage work digitally, I advised I make my work by hand but may consider going more digital if it is quicker.  Alice mentioned it was very playful - I hope to have more work to show a variety in my portfolio as I don't like any of my previous work, a majority of the content in my portfolio is from my current Circus project so it all has the similar feel, I want to have more composed pieces that actually show a scene rather than one character on it's own as it looses so much atmosphere and content, Alice also explained that if I was showing an Art Director they would need to see it in context and she suggested illustrating a story for a book cover and making sure I present my work in context - this is something I really need to focus on.

Portfolio Review 3 - Ju & Victoria @ Illustration Ltd Agency.

Ju & Victoria asked where I source the material for my collage work from, I explained that a lot of it is from old books & vintage books from antique shops.  She explained that it worked but advised that if I had a set brief to work too and didn't have the right imagery, it may delay me as in a way the materials I use can dictate the images I make, which in some ways but may be a challenge.  Ju really liked my horoscope collages, she mentioned that they would look beautiful on post cards to either sell or as promo materials, she said the detail really drew her in.  She also mentioned that I should get the horoscope images over to Spirit & Destiny magazine, which is reassuring and a confidence boost, I will be working on making the rest of the horoscope images then I will send them over. The same thing was advised regarding context of my work, same feedback as the other visits which I know I need to address.

Portfolio Review (1) - Visit to DDB & Day Job Collective Tuesday 25th March.

The PDP trip to London was really helpful, inspiring and a confidence boost. On Tuesday we started the day with a visit to DDB to meet Daniel Moorey who is Head of Print. Daniel gave a talk on the industry and how he would go about selecting an illustrator from his perspective.  He advised that when he looks on an Illustrator's website, he wants to be able to navigate around the site easily, he wants to see medium sized thumbnails of images and wants to be able to access up to date contact details easily.  Daniel explained that the site needs to communicate your style clearly as he categorises illustrators by the style of their work, if you have more than one style you should separate them on your site clearly or have two sites.

The next visit was to Day Job Collective at their studio.  The collective expressed the importance of being around other illustrators and artists after graduation as it's a great way to share ideas, opportunities and develop ideas, they also mentioned that collaboration is a great thing to get involved with when you are starting out, and attending local meet ups is also important to meet other illustrators. 

After the talk I had a portfolio review with Grace who said my work was whimsical and colourful and very atmospheric which was nice to hear, she advised that it would be great to see my work in context which I totally agreed with as all my characters in my portfolio are placed on a white background, this is something I need to focus on when re working my portfolio.

Hopes, Fears and Opportunities (Part 2)

 

The three objectives I set last semester were to complete some industry related work experience, conduct portfolio visits and identify a theme for my major project.  Below is an update on the three objectives I set, how I achieved them and my thoughts on how they have enriched my learning to date.

1. I volunteered for 4 months at the Manchester based Prop House and I really enjoyed it but decided not to continue with the placement as I have been focusing on my Major Project and Journal writing.  It was a great experience but unfortunately I didn’t get an opportunity to gain some actual prop making experience.  Initially I thought it would be something I really wanted to do and it is still of interest but for the moment I want to focus more on creating Illustrations and working on developing my style.

2. I conducted to portfolio visits in December and the feedback was really helpful, my Guru suggested adding texture and more of a mixed media effect to my collage work which I did and I am really happy with how my work is developing, sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes to suggest something you never actually thought about!. I have since been on a PDP trip London and gained feedback from 3 practicing industry professionals which was very useful and will inform the decisions I make for improving my portfolio.

3. I finished writing my journal in January and it was stressful but also a wonderful opportunity to fine tune my influences, interests and gain a better understanding of me as an illustrator.  After thinking about how my work is very much about mood and atmosphere and worlds, identifying a theme of Circus for my Major Project felt like a natural choice, and I think writing the journal definitely helped me to get to the core of what drives my work and I am so glad I chose the journal as an option.

As I approach the end of my degree I hope to continue setting myself objectives as I feel it gives you focus, and it’s a great way to measure your progress and success.  I want to start seeing my illustration work as a business and not as a hobby (even though it still will be!) and investing in what I do by buying a mac and a printer/scanner etc. so that I can set myself up with the right tools to work from home, although I would also like to look into hiring a shared studio with some of my friends from the course.

Being active on social media is also important and I do use Blogger, Facebook and Twitter already and I am currently working on a website and plan to join other social media sites such as Tumblr, Instagram and Etsy.  In addition I hope to attend Draw Northwest, networking events and exhibitions to meet other like-minded creatives.  I would like to have an online shop selling prints, handmade gifts and cards as a way of getting myself out there and applying my work to other surfaces, this is something I plan to do after university. 

I feel that I have avoided competitions and set briefs through my course as I have struggled to bring my work together, I have no problem creating work and generating ideas but I seem to find it difficult to make images using more than one element, for the first time I have started created scenes and images for my MP and it’s a wonderful feeling seeing my work come to life and in context.  I know I need to become better at this and so I want to start entering competitions and Illustration Friday to become better at working to set briefs, I still enjoy having an authorstrator approach but I have realised that if I am going to get commissioned I will need to meet the brief.

When I met with Fig Taylor she advised that my work would suit Horoscope editorials and also fashion illustration, so I want to develop my portfolio further and begin contacting magazines with my work, I think the more and more I do it the better I can perfect my style and hopefully start getting work.

In terms of ‘fears’ I don’t really like to think about them, but I guess the thought of not having any work commissioned and not evolving as an illustrator or giving up are things that fear me.  The last three years have been challenging and rewarding in many ways and I am not prepared to give up, as long as I know that I am working hard and giving everything I have then that’s all I can do, I also expect there will be rejection but I know that’s all part of finding your way as an illustrator.  I know the next few years are going to be tough but I am ready for the challenge.

Updated business cards

Below are my updated business cards, I feel much more confident about them and the way they look.  My last version was very dark and I felt it gave it the completely wrong message about the work I make and the way I work.  This time I chose 5 different images to appear on the back of the business card as I like having a variety of images to choose from, I also made my own type to appear on the front of the business card to evoke the feel of my work as collaged, colourful and mixed media in it's appearance.  I have included my web link and a professional email address.

Portfolio update (Pre London) March 2014

Today I finished updating my print portfolio in time for my trip to London next week.  Last month I was very lucky to meet with Fig Taylor who offered some really helpful advice, Fig mentioned that I should focus more on the collage work and to take out the hand drawn stuff as this really isn't where my strengths lie and I never draw by hand to create images so it makes sense.

Some of the work in my portfolio is from my first and second year and does not reflect how I am working now for my Major Project which is mainly collage based and I also add texture with pastels, acrylic ink and a little pen.

I like how my work looks at the moment so I have included a few images of my MP work, I am aware that the context is playful and colourful and I also want to demonstrate that I can reflect different contexts and moods in my work, so I have made two horoscope images and a Zoltar image as they are different in colour and tone.

Below are a few images I have used, I will update my portfolio when I get back from London and I am really looking forward to the feedback I receive.

Magic Woman

Starting to face the scary Photoshop and realising it's a pretty fabulous tool!

Further images

Below are some more images I have been working on.  The Magic Woman and a scene with the Fire Lion.

Playing with type

I have been playing with type for my business card and MP - it's bursting with colour and has a mixed media effect as this is the style I am working in more and it also reflects  the theme of my MP which is Circus.

I plan to use the type on my re worked business cards and also on my imagery for MP.

Collage Characters

Today I have been experimenting with placing my characters onto backgrounds and thinking about how the colours in my work could work together in a composition.

Below are some of my images.