'AMBITION'

Myself and Catherine hosted today's discussion forum on 'AMBITION' and discussed with our group what it means to us and also talked about the things that are connected to it.  The theme 'Ambition' is something that all of us have started to think about, especially as in just 4 weeks we will be progressing to Level 6, our final year!, it's very daunting and we start think about our practice as illustrators and also consider where we fit in to the industry.

We talked about the amazing 'Lord Whitney' and how they got to where they are, these things stood out to us...

• Drive and passion, they never gave up!
• Undertook loads of voluntary work
• They know there strengths and where they lie in the market
• They are able to come up with a visual concept for clients on briefs
• They also have a unstoppable work ethic

We also discussed four areas such as...

• Our own practice - how we work, ability to work on collaborative projects as well as using self initiative, identifying own strengths and weakness, having self belief
• Technology - Up-skilling and being versatile, willing to try new things and take risks, apps and Ipads, how it alters illustration and the way we work
• Marketing - being pro-active, blogs, twitter, voluntary, networking and standing out from the crowd and getting yourself known
• Recession - Does it make the industry tougher or have we always had to work hard regardless?

The session was really enjoyable and the answers from others were informative and interesting.

Discussion Forum 25th January

We have started the Discussion Forums again and the other week the group talked about the differences in personal and commissioned Illustration work.

There was a mixed bag of opinions, for Example Matthew Richardson said he liked his personal work compared to his commissioned work.  Other Illustrators thought there was no difference between personal and commissioned work.  Other Illustrators advised that they prefer a wide open brief with no restrictions but that they tend to set them self personal targets so that they have something to work to by a certain deadline.

 The discussion was then focused on myself and other students about our own opinions.  I prefer much more open briefs as I am a generator with ideas and like to keep producing work, I also feel able to take risks and be more playful, also I am more of an authorstrator as I prefer to create my own narrative from the characters and worlds etc.  I also feel when the brief is really strict it pushes me into a corner almost, this happened in the Gay Straight Alliance brief, I compromised my style and tried to please, but by doing so I was working in a way I never work and producing work I wasn't happy with and didn't feel comfortable doing ! - Definite learning curve.

Where is the content, Where is the comment?

I recently participated in a group discussion forum with other students in my class where we reviewed the article 'Where is the content? Where is the comment?' from Creative Review by Lawrence Zeegen who is an artist, illustrator and author.

Lawrence Zeegen describes Illustration today as being highly decorative and pretty with no purpose in conveying any message or meaning in other words there's a 'nothingness' about it.  Zeegen said...

''illustration has become entrenched in navel-gazing and self-authorship...obsessed with it's own craft, it has withdrawn from society's big debates to focus on the chit-chat of inner sanctum nothingness.  It's time for the profession to stop pleasing itself and engage with the world outside''

Zeegen made it clear that he very much favoured David Shrigley's work.  David Shrigley who is a illustrator, cartoonist and animator combines his hand rendered type and own unique naive illustrative style to communicate controversial messages and meanings and also to pass comment on our society.  It is obvious that Shrigley's work is about the message and meaning not about the naive style drawings.  Zeegan thinks that Shrigley engages the public and has a meaning as his work is more about the content.

 

David Shrigley 'Fight the Nothingness' 

I didn't agree with what Lawrence Zeegan is saying for the following reasons.  Firstly all artwork in any medium has a value as it communicates with people in different ways in the same way as it is interpreted by the viewer.

Secondly all illustrations made for editorials/commissions must have a point as they are made in response to strict briefs and are generally restricted, not risky and led by the Art Director.

Thirdly Illustrators are getting out there and getting their illustrations on a range of products and working in a variety of mediums and having a versatile approach when commission are low, this shows a very driven passion in what they do.

In addition to the above I also feel that as Illustrators we consider the line, shape and texture and integrity of the materials and how we draw objects to ensure that we communicate the relevant message, feel and look of something.  Also Illustration is no longer the sole meaning of communicating with the world, radio, newspaper and Internet are all much used to communicate message and meaning.

I am enjoying the Discussion Forums that we attend on a weekly basis as it's a great opportunity to share ideas and engage with the creative world outside of the studio and become more involved in the ideas and debates that take place currently.

To read the full article on 'Creative Review' click here