Quick Update!

It's been all "go!" since the start of this third and FINAL(ahhh) year. Hmmm, I'm sensing it would be a bit much if I went babbling on about what has been happening over the past 5 months... so here is a photographic account (am saving heavy writing for the dissertation;P ).

Summer Project, 2012

Folio Society Competition submission - Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

University trip to Rome - Vatican, Dec 2012

In the caaaave - working on stop-motion animation

Illustrating 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett... still have improvements to make so here's just a sneak peek

Submission for London Film Locations Exhibition accepted :)

Beetles

December 2011.

I had so much fun drawing the beetles for Postcard No. 3 of the summer project that I decided to do some more for my brother's birthday (as it is subject matter I thought he'd appreciate)! When it was completed I managed to salvage a frame for it to sit nicely snug in. It is easy to under-estimate the importance of a frame!

Anyway...

here are some more California road-trip pics I hadn't got round to posting up for a while :/ ...

Highway 1, summer 2011.

North coast, summer 2011.

Cosmology Project

For this 2nd year project, we had to create a few page spreads that illustrated how the world was created (with no need to be realistic). This was a challenging brief as it's often quite daunting when you suddenly are allowed a lot of imaginative freedom... especially when not used to it.

I don't regard my images as finished, but they were what I could do in the time allowed.

Pages 2-3, Jan 2012.

Pages 4-5, Jan 2012.

You can view and read the rest of my creation story here...

2nd Year Projects

Christina Rossetti

19th century poet Christina Rossetti, Dec 2011.

I was absolutely over-joyed to have my submission for 'The Haunts of the poets' exhibition accepted last year! This piece was shown along with fellow BA Illustration (Middlesex University) students and tutor's work at the Poetry Cafe in Covent Garden, London. 

The exhibition also earned the attention of Creative Review... click here for their article.






Recently had some more film developed and it was a great relief when the below photo turned out okay despite the low-light conditions (only had 200 ISO film at hand). Certainly beat my digital camera's efforts hands down!

Sculpture in De Young museum, Golden Gate Park California, summer 2011.

The Seagulls of St Ives

'The Seagulls of St Ives' hand-bound book, Nov 2011.

For the second project of the 2nd year, we had to illustrate a news item of our choice. Here I illustrated a short article about two seagulls who were being unusually protective over a flock of birds at the beach. Funnily enough, the cover of the book I made is my favorite and (I think) most successful part of the whole thing... probably because simplicity is sometimes far more effective! 


To see the rest click here.

Front and back cover of hand-made book, Nov 2011.

3rd of three double page spreads inside book, Nov 2011.

Endpapers of book, Nov 2011.

Now THIS one is particularly good if you have trouble getting to sleep.

However...

if you are sick of seeing birds now (or drawing them in my case), how about some pleasant seascapes devoid of the blighters?

Light house on north coast California, summer 2011.

Hazy sunset California, summer 2011.

Lamplighter Project

Part 1 (1st of 5 mono-prints), Oct 2011.

For the first 2nd year project, we had to illustrate a particular job - in this instance, a lamplighter's - that is almost non-existent today. The images above are two of a series of 5 mono-prints done for part 1 of the project. Here I focused mainly on conveying the atmosphere surrounding the time of day lamplighters would be attending to their job. 

Below are two cut-out illustrations I made for part 2 of the project. Here I followed the theme of light by trying to make something that could manipulate it. These two pieces are intended to be hung near a strong light source like on a window. My overall intention was to apply the theme for practical/decorative purposes.



See the rest of the work here. 

Part 2 cut out hangings, Oct 2011.

And now for a change - but not altogether different - note...

San Francisco at night, photo taken summer 2011.

Victorian Portraits

This is one of a series of mono-print studies I did based off some of Hill and Adamson's - photographers based in Scotland around the 1840s - calotypes of working folk. I really wanted to see how far I could push the process of mono-printing by trying to see how much detail I could obtain with the technique. It was a bit of an arm breaking experience... but was thankful that I made each one no more than A6 in size!

Here are the other mono-prints that I put into postcard no. 1 for my tutor...

Over the last few years I've been a big fan of early black and white photography. The posture and expressions of the people photographed look so alien to the way we pose for photographs today - let's just say you don't see many toothy grins! Quite a few people seem to be posing like they would for a painting. I suppose this is due to the fact that photography was such a new concept at the time AND was a far more laborious process than it is to now.

Postcard No. 6

Postcard No. 6, summer 2011

And finally, here is the sixth and last 'postcard' of the series! I made two single-signature (yes, it seems I can't get enough of this super easy binding technique) books for this one, that could go into a handmade envelope. In this postcard I wanted to show my interest in photography.

China town with Amber and Fred

The first book contains the most successful photographs from my second attempt at making a matchbox pinhole camera. Click here if you want to see them all.

In the second book I included some pen and ink studies of a few cameras we have at home, the oldest being an 'Autographic Brownie' dating back to 1908! Again, if you want to see that and more, click here.

Postcard No. 5

Postcard No. 5, summer 2011

After watching Powow Highway with my sister one night, it got me thinking about Native American culture and identity, and how the two have adapted to exist now in the modern world. Sadly, my history tutor at A-level didn't teach us about the migration of Europeans to the Americas and the many centuries of conflict and adjustment that ensued as a result... instead we focused on the Dutch Republic (although that was interesting too). When I was reading up about this aspect of American history I came across some really stunning old American Indian photographs, and felt compelled to draw them!

The mono-prints are presented in a single signature bound book, which can slot into a paper sleeve.

To view all four, click on the link below!

Summer Project

Postcard No. 4

Postcard no. 4, summer 2011

When I went to California to visit my sister, I brought along another travel journal to fill up over there. This book had the same binding as the scrapbook I took to Greece (postcard no. 2) but chose to try it out in landscape instead. Whilst over there I got into the habit of collecting papers, packaging and imagery whenever possible in order to collage with them. It was really great discovering the potential of all these different scraps of paper that normally would have been thrown away without a second thought!

See more of the scrapbook here

Summer Project

Postcard No. 3

Some feeeaky beetles in pen and ink

This was made more out of fun than anything else (well, it was partially inspired by some 'creepy crawlies' I encountered in Greece but they weren't near enough as gruesome as the ones I ended up drawing). Mainly it was an opportunity to test out a few new nips I had bought for my dip pen. I think they turned out reasonably well... certainly enjoyed drawing them anyway! 

Postcard No. 3, summer 2011

The drawings were done in a small square booklet, which slots into a neat origami pocket envelope. 

Postcard No. 2

Last summer I had so much going on - with there being a wedding, popping up to Sheffield, visiting relatives in Germany, going to Greece and California - that you're probably left thinking I had fallen at my feet with this postcard project! Well, all I can say is, it was bloody hard trying to find the time to crack on with making those six postcards with all that whizzing around. Not that I'm complaining... that summer break was probably one of the best I've ever had and I won't be wanting to forget it in a hurry. But now looking back, I'm left in a bit of a haze as to what order everything happened and that goes for the postcards too. I think this was the second one...

Postcard No. 2, summer 2011

Here I decided to make a travel journal in the form of a hardcover (case binding) single-signature sketchbook for my trip to Greece. It is kind of like a scrapbook as it doesn't really consist of any final/finished images. I mainly just wanted to experiment with combining various techniques, such as image transfer, collage and mono-print, using found and drawn imagery from that holiday. Not every page was a success but then, what would be the use of experimentating?

To judge the rest for yourself, feel free to check out all the pages here!

Summer Project

Postcard No. 1

Early last summer I had been taking photographs in Sheffield's once industrially active Neepsend district, and creating mono-print studies of Hill and Adamson's photographs of working class citizens of the 19th century.* The products of these pursuits seemed to turn out well and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to present them in a book showing my interest in England's industrial roots in the 1800s, as well as the people who inhabited that world. 

Postcard No. 1, summer 2011

For those of you interested in book-binding, I made a wraparound hardcover portfolio (case binding) with an inner folder insert. The paper folder attached inside served to hold together a selection of the photographs from my walk in Neepsend and a small single-signature bound booklet of my mono-prints.

*To save a lot of waffle I'll delve into these two aspects of the first 'postcard' a bit more in separate posts later. Don't want to be at the risk of boring you lot! 

But if you really can't wait that long, have a sneaky peak here...

Summer Project

White Widow

"White Widow" storybook, 2011

This was the outcome of a 1st year BA Illustration project where we had to illustrate a story from a childhood memory, and bind the images in a handmade book. My story revolves around a girl and her frightening encounter with a large white spider. Again, this was another project that was very new and exciting to me as I had never before created a set of images to illustrate a story - let alone, one of my own creation! 

Page 5 and 6

Click on the link below to view the other pages!

1st Year Projects

Shop Front Design

Shop Front, 2010

As part of a 1st year Digital Media Project, we had to design our own shop front using adobe photoshop and illustrator. It was a really exciting brief - especially since I had never really used digital media in such a way before! As you can probably guess, my shop is a café and gift store (which would include drink, cakes, handmade crafts etc). The only thing is...I kind of wish this was a reality now. 

Click on the link below to view more 1st Year BA Illustration work!

1st Year Projects

Brick Lane Concertina

Concertina with packaging, 2009

This concertina book was the product of a London reportage project that I took part in during my art and design foundation year at UCA, Canterbury (2009/10). Combining the techniques of image transfer and mono-printing, I created a sequence of images illustrating the great transformations Brick Lane has undergone in the past century. I find it hard to summarise any further, but a small quote from the introductory page might suffice in giving you a little flavour of the book...

"And yet, beneath the sheer abundance of graffiti it is not hard to detect countless layers - all bare witnesses to this street's chequered past."

Click on the link below to view the inner pages and more!

                                                                London Project