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!.

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.

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!

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.

Henrik Drescher

Below are some images of the very talented Henrik Drescher.  I have been looking at his use of colour and composition within his images and the way in which he controls the use of colour and achieves a balance across the elements that feature in his work.

All images sourced direct from Henrik Drescher's website - Please visit http://www.hdrescher.com to see more of his work.

Sasha Helim - Fashion Illustrations

I came across some beautiful fashion illustrations by the very talented Sasha Helim on her Blog.   I found them really inspirational as fashion illustration is an area I would love to work in after graduation.  I love how strong the images are against the white background, they have character but are mysterious at the same time.  Sasha also animates her illustrations on her blog which is a great way to show your work and bring it to life.

Below are a few of my favourites…

Please visit Sasha's blog at: http://bee-bop-a-lula.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/this-is-recent-collage-i-have-made.html

Jeff Keen - Video Inspiration

This is 'Flick Flack' by artist Jeff Keen, I was really drawn to the mixed media effect of the video, the use of colour and the way in which lots of different imagery and objects are pulled together by random but work in harmony in a chaotic kind of way, which reminds me of my own work!.  I had intended to create a full blown stop motion narrative as my final piece, but after conversations with my tutors I have realised that my stop motion skills and strong enough and time restrictions would affect the quality of my final piece.

When my tutor showed me Keen's video 'Flick Flack' it really shed some light on how I can bring my own work to life using simple techniques that are really effective, I also really like how Keen's use of the 'uncanny' fir perfectly with the feel and mood of his work and I think it would work well with the colourful, uncertain and randomness of elements within my own work.

Magic Shoes..

I have been looking at Shoe adverts for ideas and inspiration and I am still keeping my options open in terms of age range as originally I wanted to photograph a pair of fashion heels that would be aimed at teenagers/young adults but I feel that my work appears childlike in context and so I may aim my final piece at 6-10 year olds. 

When I thought about how footwear is advertised to children Clarks 'Magic Steps Shoes' came into my mind!.  Being an 80's child myself I had these shoes and took pride in wearing them to school, everyone had them or wanted them as they came in a magical shoe box with a secret ket that you could insert into the heel of the shoe and and a picture would be revealed - They were amazing.

I also looked at the advert for the shoes and all the memories came flooding back to me, the advert is very fantasy based and it shows a girl who is trying to run away from the evil one but struggles - then the Magic Steps Shoes appear on her feet and she manages to escape.  I believed I would be that person as a child seeing as I had the shoes, the narrative in the advert became so real to me.

Below are some images of the shoes and the advert.

Pierre et Gilles

I have been looking at the work of Pierre et Gilles who are french artists.  Their work is mythical, colourful and fantasy-like and they combine various mediums to create a special feel to their work, they use photography and combine it with handmade sets and costumes, they then use acrylic to paint onto the photographs.

They way they combine real life photographs with small 3D sets and characters is really inspiring as it has got me thinking more about how my own work could be used in context.  I am making a Circus themed world and I will be photographing a pair of footwear that will be displayed with my characters/set.

Below are some of my favourite images of their work.

Collage work.

Below are some further images for my MP.  I have recently become fascinated with vintage Zoltar machines that are found in arcades.  Zoltar is a fortune teller who sits inside a glass cabinet and will tell you your future and fortune when you insert a coin into the machine - I have also made a 3D version of the Zoltar machine and will be using it in my stop motion animation.

Robert Stewart Designer

I came across a book on Robert Stewart who is both an artist and designer (1946-1995).  The use of colour, faces and characters in his work grabbed my attention.  His work reminds me of Salvador Dali and there is a strong theme of theatre, mystery and alchemy.  As I approach the end of university the emphasis of thinking about how your work will be applied in the industry is greater than ever, and I need to think about how my work could be used as in the context, what could it be applied to? Cushions, Fashion or Children's books. 

I problem I have struggled with is bringing my work together into context at the end of the project, I have no problem generating ideas and work but I seem to open up projects so much that I struggle to bring it together, and this is something I need to start focusing on and over come as I emerge into the industry.  Below are some images of Robert Stewart's beautiful work and some examples of how he applies his work in a design context.

See: http://www.classictextiles.com/pages/index.cfm/robert-stewart/

 

His work has also been applied to ceramics, tankard and his work has also featured in the Edinburgh Tapestry Company during the mid 1950's.