EP: Summative Statement

Throughout my time on this course I have taken on projects from vastly different areas of illustration to varying degrees of success. Whilst I am very keen on creating editorial work, with one of my career goals being to get work in the Guardian, ultimately character and narrative are the driving force behind my practice. 

I feel that this love of character and narrative is most prevalent within my Tory Chums and Beyond La La Land, the former of which has been very well received. That is largely why I decided to focus on my Tory Chums work for my final project. Another aspect of my practice is that I want it to help and inform people. My Tory Chums work, whilst satirical and offensive in places is also quite informative as well. 

My character work has improved drastically over the past academic year as I become more comfortable with the process of illustration I use, however I will continually have to investigate this area of illustration to keep my practice improving. 

My goal as an illustrator is to become a self publisher, making enough money to support myself, whilst also working on projects that I enjoy and help people. I understand that there will be difficulties on the way and I may have to shelve the dream for a few years whilst my skills continue to improve, but I will make them happen with the knowledge I have gained over the past few years.

EP: Project Report

Here is my project report for OUIL603. Please note that the project report briefs are read in order of brief completion. For example Studio Brief 6 was the second brief I complete so is second in the report, whilst Studio Brief 4, my big project, is last as this was the last to be completed.

EP: Presentation Boards - Studio Brief 6 'The Guardian'

Presentation Boards for Studio Brief 6;

EP: Presentation Boards - Studio Brief 5 'Self Defence Guide'

Presentation Boards for Studio Brief 5;

EP: Presentation Boards - Studio Brief 4 'Tory Chums' (Big Project)

Presentation Boards for Studio Brief 4;

EP: Presentation Boards - Studio Brief 3 'Posters'

Presentation Boards for Studio Brief 3;

EP: Presentation Boards - Studio Brief 2 'Crispin Orthics'

Presentation Boards for Studio Brief 2;

 

EP: Presentation Boards - Studio Brief 1 'Thought Bubble'

Presentation Boards for Studio Brief 1;

EP: Statement of Intent

Here is my initial Statement of Intent (10/15);




Here is my revised Statement of Intent (01/16);




And here is my final Statement of Intent (03/16);

EP: Studio Brief 4 - Reflection

Studio Brief 4, initially just a continuation of my Tory Chums Context of Practice work, was sporadic strips responding to current political news stories. However as my process in Studio Brief 5 slowed I decided to take on my Tory Chums work as my final big project for the year. This meant taking on a different approach to simply responding to news articles.

I settled on creating a short narrative story based around David Cameron’s time in the Bullingdon Club, an all-male diners club at Oxford. This required me to begin a new line of research both visually and theoretically, as I had very little understanding of that Cameron’s life during that period and those he knew. I feel that my research for this brief is quite light, much lighter than that of some OUIL603 briefs. However, with my time frame laid out, I couldn’t allocate too much time towards in-depth research at that point, having to rely on my prior knowledge to inform my work.

Visually, I decided to work digitally for the final outcomes of this brief; this choice was made following my visual investigations in studio brief 3 and 5. I found that whilst not always the quickest process, the visual quality is far more superior than analogue produced work made in the same time frame.

After a tutorial with Fred I decided to not create a collected book edition as I had originally planned. This was due to two reasons. Firstly, the time needed to print and hand craft a unique book was quite high and wouldn’t be a good use of my time. Secondly Fred suggested that social media (where I have been posting my Tory Chums related work) is an excellent platform to get my work out into the world for free, saving time and money.

With such a limited amount of time to create this project I had to use my time extremely wisely and it is only due to continual time management that I have been able to produce a product of a quality I am happy with.

Here is the final outcome for the work;

EP: Print Session

Today I had my print session with James in Digital Print. I was initially unsure what paper stock to use in terms of size and quality. However after a black and white test print in the studio, I decided that A4 would be a more than large enough for the prints. This uncertainty stemmed from my worry that the dialogue within the narrative wouldn't be large enough to read on A4, but after printing those concerns were put to rest. That still left the issue of what type of paper stock to use, i.e.; matte, gloss etc. Joe S. recommended I use gloss as it lends itself better to digital illustration, and when I went to print James reinforced this statement.

EP: Tory Chums Application

With my Bullingdon Club work now completed I've been giving some thought to how the product could be distributed. Fred suggested keeping it digital, which I agree is correct for the time being. I see myself eventually building a large enough body of work to warrant a website. Beyond that I've also thought that an app for mobile devices would be pretty cool, allowing people to access the strips and stories wherever that are immediately.

EP: Bullingdon Pages Complete

With the deadline fast approaching and my work running behind schedule, I decided to cut out two of the pages of the Bullingdon story. These pages involved an introduction of the narrator - so that he did more than pop up on the last page, and a page of Boris teasing David about off shore accounts. I felt as though both of these pages had similar pages within the story already so their purpose was unnecessary. With my line work taking time to refine removing these two page has been a blessing and relieved some of the pressure.

Additionally, the problem I faced with Boris's appearance has been resolved. As expected, when he was coloured this was enough of a visual cue not to warrant any more attempts to understand his ungodly face.

Here are pages coloured inked and worded;



I have a print slot ready for tomorrow so will now be able to get my work printed and ready by tomorrow, allowing me time to focus on completing my Project Report and additional items left over by this module.

EP: Bullingdon Outline

Today I created the outlines for my Bullingdon Club story. I created the pages using the technique I have now become quite adapt at, by using myself and found imagery as the basis of my illustrations, drawing over them and refining the piece into a completely different image.



Here is the image afterwards;



I found Boris Johnson's face extremely difficult to get right. He has very unusual features, and I find that every time I draw him I get a very different outcome! I'm hoping that once these pieces are refined and coloured, there will be enough there to act as visual cues beyond his horrid face.

Here are the additional page outlines;

EP: Tory Chums Postcard - Revised

I had a quick meeting with Fred today to discuss my work for the final show and my postcard design. He approved of it for the most part, however felt there could be small changes made to it. Firstly I needed to enlarge my Zoom Illustration logo, then remove the additional text, leaving just the Tory Chums logo.

Whilst these were all small changes to make, it took a surprising amount of time to finalise. I had to get feedback from several of my peers including Hollie, Becky F and Rosie W before I felt it was perfect. Here are the small changes I made, with the final outcome below;

EP: Final Crit 12/05/16

Today we had our final crit of our degree. A big moment. I found this crit to be much more informative than the crit we had last week, with many key points being brought up concerning my blog, final outcomes and presentation boards.

Hollie and Rowena reviewed my work and suggested that I make a few mock ups for my final outcomes that aren't going to be printed, with bus stop and book mock ups. Secondly I need to look at my presentation boards and refine them more. Some briefs are okay with one boards others may need two or three. Additionally they recommended I make an additional blog post or two for each brief with a collection of my final outcomes. This was something Fred recommended in my tutorial last week, so I was already aware of this task.

Following the crit this morning I set about reviewing my work to the ILO's and whilst my work does show evidence of each there is more I can do to capitalise on them.

Here are today's sheets;

EP: Studio Brief 5 - Reflection

Studio Brief 5 was an interesting brief due to it’s evolution throughout the course of the year. Whilst it initially spun out of my Beyond La La Land comic in Studio Brief 1 with the intention of creating more of the same, the brief ultimately changed into a self defence guide promoting safety.

Despite the drastic change of outcome the underlying theme of female empowerment is still prevalent in the end product. Additionally the product’s distribution method understandably changed. Initially the end product would have been a comic, sold in bookshops, comic book stores etc. Then with the change to a self defence guide it was imagined as a leaflet to hand out to victims of muggings etc at police stations or given to participants of self defence classes. Ultimately it ended up being a series of GIF images that would be posted online through social media.

I explored my process at get length through this brief, with my desire to work more with analogue methods of illustration prevalent throughout the early parts of the year. However as my workload increased and time became an issue I found digital to be a better method of production for creating work of a visual high quality. At times this did mean my line work took longer to create, but had I been working with pen and pencil, the time pressures would have resulted in a lesser quality outcome.

Finally, I feel that my understanding of character development and knowledge of form grew dramatically throughout this brief. Where I got into the habit of tracing a found image I now use myself as a reference and use my frame to create an anatomically correct form, before building from there.

Whilst I hit a lull mid way through this brief, I ultimately feel that the process and purpose of my work found a strong direction near the end that I capitalised on to full effect.

EP: Self Defence Guide - Application

With my self defence guide now online I've given some thought as how the product can be pushed further with one of the more logical ideas being to create an app for mobile devices. In the app people would have access to all of the self defence techniques, available in one, easy to access place.

Here are some mock up of the app icon and the app in action;

EP: Tory Chums Postcard

On Friday Fred suggested that I change my postcard design to focus on my Tory Chums work. With this in mind I used a rough design that I made recently for my Bullingdon Club work. However I altered the piece to include present Tory characters rather than the Bullingdon lot as that story is going to be a one off whilst my present day Tory strips are going to be ongoing and more recognisable. Additionally, the focus of Cameron reaching out for the money is hopefully suggestive go this Government's attitude to grabbing for money from anywhere they can.

Below is the process through to the final outcome for the piece;


In this illustration I drew on many aspects from other briefs in this module, focusing on line work, colour and texture to create a piece that reflects my current visual quality. I will now send this piece to Fred and get his approval before finalising it.

EP: Erica Henderson

Erica Henderson is a comic book illustrator, whose character work I don't personally think much of, however, I do think she uses colour very well within her imagery. Furthermore her work is coloured digitally. This lends itself to Fred's comments in my tutorial last week and makes me feel more comfortable using a strong digital colouring method, as seen by Henderson, for my Tory Chums work.

EP: Self Defence Guide - Online

This afternoon I posted the first GIF in my self defence series. It is the title page effectively and doesn't actually present any defence technique on it, but I felt this was an important GIF to have. In the text accompanying the image I warn people that the upcoming techniques can be quite dangerous and should only be used in violent circumstances, emphasising the importance of fleeing the attack as soon as possible.

Here is a link to the image.

To get the GIFs onto Instagram I had to upload my GIFs onto the website giphy.com, from there I was able to download an MP4 version of my GIF which I sent to my phone and uploaded to Instagram. This was a somewhat tedious and time consuming process, but until I discover a GIF  upload process with more immediate results, it will have to suffice.

I have already gained a few new followers from this post (I presume) which only bodes well for the upcoming posts.

EP: Self Defence Guide - Gifs

Here are the series of GIF images I have produced for my self defence guide. I feel that, even though each GIF is only two frames, my work really does come to life when they work together! I have included my branding logo, Instagram username and website address in each image. I have done this as should anyone reuse these pieces my branding will be present, garnering me a larger audience. I chose to only include my Instagram username as that will be the primary platform for the guide, and any more text could potentially distract from the illustrations.

EP: Self Defence Guide - Coloured

Here are the coloured illustrations for my self defence guide. After yesterday's tutorial with Fred I decided to stick with the same colour palette I have been using recently.



I feel that these images, when fully coloured, have a 60's feel to them with a somewhat pop art visual quality. Had there been more time to work on these I could have perhaps introduced halftone to fully capitalise on this visual quality. I will now begin the process of compiling the work into gif images. I'm excited to see the outcome of this.

EP: Tutorial 06/05/16

Today I had my last big tutorial with Fred, providing all things go to plan. I began by informing him how my work for Studio Brief 5 has slowed me down recently, and the stress that it had brought. He suggested that I just keep my head down and power on, which makes sense, giving me a few ideas that could save much time. Firstly, after seeing my silly GIF image from yesterday, he commented how it helped bring my work to life and proposed that I could make all of my self defence guide as GIF images. This would save time having to produce a leaflet and getting them printed. Instead I should think of this as a wholly digital venture, with social media and mobile apps as possible outcomes.

He then went on to discuss my work in Studio Brief 3, where he acknowledged an evolution of my line work and colour theory throughout the brief. This filled me with joy, as it was great to see that an outside source understood what I was trying to achieve throughout the project.

Finally, we discussed my decision to change my major brief to Studio Brief 4 'Tory Chums'. He agreed that this seemed to be the right course of action, understanding that I became somewhat lost during my time working on Studio Brief 5. He advised me to keep my Tory Chums work digital, with social media being the platform to it. He liked my idea of creating a book, but believes that will come in time once I have a large body of work. For the brief hand in, high quality prints of my work will suffice. For my postcards he suggested that I use an existing Tory Chums related piece or work or create one, with this being the centre of my practice. I have to agree with him there. Whilst I see my poster work as nice to look at, I don't want people to think that is all my practice is about.

Overall my body of work, with the varying briefs make sense as a cohesive whole, indicating where I want my practice to lie, with political satire at its heart. I'm feeling quite positive right now, more so than I have done in a long while. I have a lot of work to do, but am motivated and eager to complete it.

EP: Silly Gif

Here's a silly GIF image I made to amuse myself using the work from my self defence booklet;

Whilst I don't really see much use in this GIF, it is enjoyable to see my work animated to humorous effect.

EP: Self Defence Refined Line Work

Over the past few days I've been working on the line work for my self defence leaflet. Thanks to my refinement in Studio Brief 3 (seen here) I feel that my line work has reached a new level of visual quality, specifically my understanding of line weighting.

Here is the line work I have completed thus far;


The downside to this investment into detailed line work is that I am now two days behind my planned schedule and somewhat stressed now about my remaining time.

EP: Tory Chums Bullingdon Script

Over the past few days I've been hammering out the script for the Tory Chums Bullingdon Club story. I quickly found that for it to be a more cohesive story I had to sacrifice the idea of have a joke on every page, with some pages relying on visual humour etc to progress the story.

Here is the script;

EP: Image Outlines

I spent much of today outlining the imagery for my self defence leaflet. I cut away much of photos and fine tuned certain areas in preparation of the line work. This was a somewhat time consuming process which I hadn't expected. Hopefully this process won't affect my schedule too much going forward.

EP: Jeremy Corbyn

This is a quick lunchtime sketch I made of Jeremy Corbyn who is endlessly in the newspapers at the moment for trivial things.

Many of the visual cues that I have been using in other briefs are absent here, but this is a quick study rather than a refined piece. Not amazing, but rather a distraction from my Studio Brief 5 work that is dominating this weeks schedule.