Where am I now? A visual evaluation.


Acclimatisation

Getting used to living in a new city and environment has been one of the major challenges I have overcome as part of starting higher education. Being from a small family living within a major city and having had a lot of independence thrust upon me from an early age the day to day tasks ( ie cooking, shopping, money management, general house keeping skills etc. ) have come easy to me however the more social aspects have been a lot more challenging. As I'm a fairly introverted person who lives with only two other people living I'm used to having my own space and being able to get on with most things, work, studies, pastimes etc. independently. However moving to a relatively large course as well as living with halls has forced me to come out of my comfort zone and socialise more with others both at university as well as within my personal time. At times this has been incredibly overwhelming however at this stage in the year I feel a lot more settled.

Drawing

These issues aren't just limited to my personal life but are often mirrored in my work and process. . This led to a major crisis of personality within my work at the beginning of the course that led me to completely re evaluate the way in which I create images. Heavily influenced by contemporary practitioners as such as Oliver Pritt as well as highly established artists/illustrators such Ben Shahn I moved from away from trying to create more realistic and accurate drawings to creating images that were my own unique translations of what I was seeing in front of me. This is because both the artists I have mentioned create work that is a highly human and in which the imperfections add real personality and emotive overtones to their subject matter which a lows there work to speak much higher volumes than if they were simply trying to recreate exactly what they are seeing.

Shape and Texture

With this has been a major a shift from more conventional drawing methods to a pursuit of image creation mainly based upon shape and texture.  This is because the I feel it results in images that are instantaneous in their impression yet have simultaneously have deeper qualities to them. For example the work of both Eleni Kalorkoti and Tamsyn Mystkowski is highly readable due to the seeming simpleness in which they construct their images yet the subtle details created through the use of various different textures gives them a certain level of intrigue which keeps the viewer's focus.

Roughs

Out of all the methodologies we've been taught I would say the importance of roughing out images has been the most important in that it has allowed me to effectively transition my images from initial ideas into final images. Although I had done it from time to time in the past, I hadn't as methodically and exaughstively used them in the same way in which I now do as I had never really given their importance much though. This is mainly that it allows you to effectively create, alter and redefine your ideas within a space so as to give you a more accurate idea of how the final image will look. In my mind I now see creating roughs as something fundamental to all illustrators which is shown by the fact that even highly technically skilled illustrators, both in terms of composition and draftmanship, such as Tomer Hanuka use them without fail when fleshing out their ideas.

Ambiguity

Although I realise simplicity is usually the most important factor in the communication of ideas after battling with the visual narratives module I also saw that ambiguity within your images can have just as much of an impact. This is especially true when dealing with more intangible subject matter, as I was, such as solitude and the impact that sound and environment have upon each other. After reading inter views with design duo Matt Pell and Dan Bartha who are responsible for the recent Divided Love posters as well as another interview with designer Jack Fetherstone I came to the conclusion that trying to create non literal interpretations which often leads to more ambiguous imagery can have  a highly engage effect upon the viewer as it allows them to make there own connections between what they are seeing, hearing feeling etc.

Research

Another key point of personal development to come out of the visual narratives module was the importance of research as a tool through which you can create more personal yet informed work that encompasses so much more than simply creating images off the top of your head. This is because it allows you to ground your work in the world around you whilst allowing own personal and emotional response to shine through. Illustrators such as John Mcnaught have been able to create utterly captivating bodies of work built almost entirely around the these principles.

Time Management

This is an ongoing challenge for me and something that, up until this point I feel I've been coping with all right. As previously mentioned the move to a new city/social environment coupled with starting a demanding HE course alone has been hard enough to manage however on top of this I have also been part of a group of event promoters in Sheffield which has only gone from strength to strength in the past 6 months. This has resulted in more time being demanded for image creation outside of university as well as more general organisational requirements which has made everything within my life at this point, both personally and professionally seem like a very fine balancing act which is incredibly exhausting at times yet worth persevering with.

Communication, Aesthetic, Versatile

The last three slides of my presentation relate to what I feel are essential traits of any illustrators in regards to how their work relates to the wider world. First and foremost in importance is letting ideas drive your image making process. This is because at a fundamental level illustration is a form of communication design and therefore being able to clearly transfer your ideas visually is key to creating a lasting impression upon viewers and creating a successful niche for yourself within the creative industry. Riika Laakso and Malika Favre are good examples of how a simple idea well executed with a degree of personal charm and or subtlety leads to highly memorable and engaging images.

Linking to this is the importance of your of development of a personal tone of voice within overall aesthetic of your work. This leads to the curation of a unique visual language or signature which is instantly recognisable as your own. Further more aesthetic factors, such as texture shape, line quality, colour etc are ultimately the tools by which you communicate and reinforce your ideas and there fore the two go hand in hand. However I realise, particularly with regards to more personal work, you can create images that are much more focussed with aesthetic and tone of voice than communication and thus can be seen more of graphic art/image making than illustration. Serafine Fey and Cleon Peterson are both artists who've in recent years become highly successful due to there highly recognisable images which are bold and often violent in their content. On the other hand the sombre character work of Aoki Tetsuo as well as the abstract work of Fabrice Le Nezet are good examples of how captivating purely aesthetic images can be.

Therefore it seems essential that illustrators should strive to be versatile in their practice, primarily in terms of their ideas but also how they construct images, both in terms of media as well as composition. Scott Bakal is someone I feel manages to achieve this incredibly well. This is due to his large body of work that incorporates so many techniques and process such as various forms of analogue printing, painting drawing etc. Furthermore he is able to successfully communicate ideas of varying  subtly complexity for commercial projects and whilst also regularly adding to a body of his own personal work. These are all aspects I hope to have within my own personal and professional practice.