Final Presentation & Script

Slide 1
Hello everyone!

Slide 2
My main interests relating to illustration are in picture books, historical and/or theatrical subject matter, and by hidden visual narratives I mean imagery that you can look further into and notice things that may be going on in the background of a story - in the detail.

Slide 3
My aims before starting University were to utilise my creative skills so that I could work on professional projects and earn money from doing something I love. Working with like-minded people was something I was very excited about which is why I chose an Art specific Uni. 

Slide 4
Wordless narrative is a big aspect of my practice and what I based my COP project on. I'm really interested in the link between words and images.

Slide 5
Example from my COP project. I showed people the image of a scene and asked them questions about what could have just happened, or what might happen next. From these answers I designed a character and wrote short stories. I wanted to demonstrate text coming from imagery, rather than imagery coming from a text. This is something I am really interested in and try to think about when creating imagery.

Slide 6
Scenes are a main aspect of my practice, which is something I realised during my COP project. It helped me a lot to define these aspects as I could then think about them individually, so within a scene I could think about how to create depth and make the best use of composition.

Slide 7
More from the Wizard of Oz.

Slide 8
I have realised that research is very important to me. I want to make sure that if I'm working with a particular subject matter that the details are correct. I also really enjoy research as this is when I start to get ideas. This is where a lot of my inspiration comes from.

Slide 9
I have always been a bit scared of character design because I didn't think I could do it. This year, because I have embraced the fact that I enjoy children's picture books, I can be a bit more playful and try out different ways of drawing people.

Slide 10
As you can see here - at the start of this year I tended to use just shapes and rarely experimented with features or expression. This is something I have been working on. They are both the same sort of idea and subject matter, but I definitely thought more about potential narrative and tone in the newer one.

Slide 11
Another project that allowed me to think about character was this one. I looked at women throughout history and developed each one into a singular image. I started to think about the historical setting in relation to modern technology, which is an idea I really like and one I might continue with - picture book?

Slide 12
Linking to what I said before, I am really enjoying the process of thinking about a whole world when designing a character or scene. I want them to feel as though they could exist outside of the image.

Slide 13 &14
Whilst making book proposals I noticed how useful roughing actually is. It has always been an important part of my process but this year I really thought about the book as a whole and how I could use more dynamic compositions to keep a reader's interest.

Slide 15
One of the most exciting things for me this year was having my work published after I won a competition for the Stratford Literary Festival. I really enjoyed the brief and it was slightly different to what I usually do - hand written type and more colourful.

Slide 16 & 17
Another competition I entered again this year was the Folio Society Book Illustration Competition. I found it a lot more difficult this time round as I had to consider a darker tone. This was the when I started to  think about lighting. Last year I think I was long-listed because my work was intricate and delicate which works well for Jane Austen. This year I was much more out of my comfort zone.

Slide 18
These are the binding designs for this year and last year's submission. As you can see I went for a similar design on both. I actually really like working with the graphic shapes, which is something I don't do often. Lighting has become something I use a lot now to describe atmosphere and I thought I could use this effectively with a bold cover too!

Slide 19
What I'm working on at the moment! My design was chosen for the Left Bank Opera Festival's promotional material. I was really excited to get this commission because I love theatre and performance and want to do more work in this area. I had a meeting with the art director who was very keen to help me! He wants to put a feature on me and my practice in the programme for the event, which is a great opportunity to get some publicity!

Slide 20
Different applications, seeing what a working relationship is like! Potential for more work.

Slide 21
I feel a lot more like an illustrator and less of a student now. Exciting to work wherever I want and on projects I enjoy! I will miss the comradery of Uni.

Slide 22
Thanks for listening! Good luck guys.