HP Illustration

This blog was initially set up to document my work at university. I'm now going edit it, and continue to use it as my online sketchbook.

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Lately...

I finally think I’m discovering my style (or a way of working that I feel comfortable with)

The two bottom images are experimental pieces I created using elements made for other projects.

The top two images are inspired by photographs taken on my trip to the West of Ireland combined with some lettering - so far I’m pleased with how they’re looking.

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Looking back on my work from Foundation year and feeling inspired :) 

I really enjoyed this project as it allowed me to combine quotes with tracings of my own photographs.  I think the work I produce now will be better thanks to skills learnt at Uni, plus my eye for detail and colour has improved.

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https://www.instagram.com/theresetgirl/

This lady is literally my biggest inspiration right now!!

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My final degree show (photo taken 10/06/16)

So this is mt final outcome for all my hard work for Level 6 = I’m so proud of how far I’ve come, what I’ve achieved and how it looks!!

This year has been a challenge, but it’s all been worth it to see my work alongside my other classmate’s and appreciate each other’s talents - I look forward to see what the future holds for all of us!

I just wanted to give some advice/tips to next years Level 6, and the years beyond that (if anyone actually reads this blog?! :P) 

1. ENJOY YOUR FINAL YEAR!! You’ve already come so far (although you may not feel or realise it)

2. Don’t stress out too much over projects or your dissertation - it’s important you do your best to pass the course, but you can gain marks from the design of the dissertation book you make if you know writing isn’t your strong point.

3. Be prepared to do the majority of your course work independently from now on (tutors are only there to guide, they will not spoon feed you)

4. Support your classmates!!  I’m sure they’ll do the same in return. Don’t take tutors feedback too personally, you have to begin to filter critical advice as it suits you = you can’t please everyone

5. Begin your client visit list over summer (have a few names) and contact them STRAIGHT AWAY from September onwards (don’t wait for tutors to tell you to do so) as some take a while to reply, and some don’t reply at all.

6. Buy a new portfolio - we were advised to get one that didn’t look like an A3 student one. I purchased an A4 Seawhite Archival photography box from Amazon as it’s nice to have the option to take 3d things or books along with you to client visits.

7. Set aside cash, AT LEAST £80 for final show printing costs = picture frames, shelves, posters... you might not think it but your final show ALONE (if you want it to look the best it can) will set you back a bit, but it’s worth it.

8. Also set aside cash for the printing of your dissertation book, business cards and portfolio. Doxdirect is an excellent printing service to use - plus you get a mini bag of Haribo sweets with your order! Another service I didn’t know about until recently is Printed.com. Moo.com is good for business cards too.

9. Be prepared to have to get things RE-PRINTED, as tutors might recommend this for your final show = set aside more money for this just in case

10. No matter what your final grade BE PROUD of what you’ve achieved!

Hope some of this is useful, good luck!!

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Final work

I’m so pleased with how everything had turned out for this unit, I can definitely see the progress I’ve made this past semester- can’t believe I’ve actually finished my final year!! Although there’s still the final show yet (June).

I’ve worked hard, I just hope it’s enough to get the grade I’m hoping for?!

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Another attempt at a PDF portfolio

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PDF portfolio feedback - Andrew Lyons

Hi Harriet :-) 

Cool portfolio! I really like the design of the site, it’s nice and clean looking. My favourite project is the Fedrigoni one, the style is very cool, it’s bold and colourful, limited palette always works well. Very eye catching. I like this style a lot. I see your interested in cut paper/collage, that’s great, it a fun way to work and it works well in the Cirque de Typique project. 

At the moment you’ve still some work to build up the portfolio a bit, but it’s just a matter of time! :-) 

I know this might sound odd but my favourite piece of art on your site is this self portrait, which I totally love!!It would be great to see more work in this style , the shapes are lovely, the simple three colours you’ve used and the style, wow love it! simple, graphic and bold. In your portfolio it’d be great to see some editorial style work. It depends on what you eventually want to get into, but magazine work is really the bread and butter of the job. For me it counts for about 90% of what I do. When I started out (I didn’t study illustration, but wish that I had done!) I spent a good couple of months looking at portfolios of illustrators I loved online, looking at what they created to get a sense of how they approach a brief. I then realised I wanted to get into editorial, but with more of a ‘lifestyle’ feel rather than a conceptual take on articles. I looked for articles online or in magazines that didn’t have an illustration attached and I set myself little self initiated briefs based on these articles to build up my portfolio. I had about 10 pieces of work in my portfolio when I landed my first job with the Radio Times. 

Consistency of style is super important, as I feel that Art Directors want to have an idea of what to expect when they commission you. If you can build a portfolio with a consistent style of work (I think along the lines of your profile picture cut-out paper style) on various topics that include business/finance, travel, some maps, cooking/food, horoscopes, fitness/sports and then anything else that interests you like book covers for your favourite books, illos inspired by songs you like etc.. Then you’ll be totally sought after by clients. I’d say around 10 projects to get going is al you need and then the portfolio just builds itself with client work. Maps and food are definitely where it’s at right now, I get a lot of commissions for this kind of work. Getting your style down for drawing people is super important too. Oh, having an online presence is very important these days. Twitter, Facebook, very useful for making contacts with other illustrators and getting work seen. On Twitter I share my own work and re-tweet others by illustrators I like, and then you make internet friends that way and share advice and tips - illustrating can be a lonely job! That’s how I met the Mighty Pencil Collective through Twitter. Also when you’ve got a good portfolio you’re proud of, blast it out to as many illustration blogs you can (I did that when I started out) try and create a buzz, everyone loves fresh new work. It’ll bring in work, lots of AD’s will be checking out these sites to find illustrators. So I hope I’ve been of some help! Do let me know if you have any other questions at all, or if you ever feel like sharing any work for feedback feel free! :-) Best of luck with your studies!

Andrew

Andrew Lyons 

IllustrationDijon, France+33 (0)9 83 54 07 89 (home)[phone] (mobile) [email protected]

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First attempt at a GIF

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CLIENT VISIT - The Cake Box 

This morning I visited The Cake Box and spoke to the owner Lisa. I showed her my portfolio which she liked, and she told me a bit about how she started her business = she’s been making cakes for over 14 years!! WOW! 

She had some display cakes out in her shop. In the window were super hero head sculptures, on the side as you went in there were novelty children’s cakes, and along the back wall taking pride of place were beautiful wedding cakes.

Her advice to me was to start getting some work experience - that’s how she found her recent employee. I asked her whether she would consider a graphic design student, and she told me that for her it’s easier to find someone who is already doing a catering course as it’s easier for her to train them, but that doesn’t mean that other businesses won’t give you a chance.

 She advised me to continue working on things I found difficult (human faces) practice is the only way to get better.  She definitely encouraged me to get a Twitter account for my work, she said that she got about 40 requests after making a cake for Kym Marsh whom posted about how much she loved the cake, and her followers contacted Lisa.  

Lisa also recommended Instagram (which I told her I had recently got) as this is also a great way to get work, as you can follow people without having to add them personally -like you do on facebook, and they can still see what you do/have to offer.

She said that I’m more than welcome to help myself to some of the images of her cakes on her website (I would contact her first though out of courtesy) and create my own designs/leaflets of them to use in my portfolio to show other clients in the future which was really nice of her!  She said that this could be a good starting point of getting work, as she got her friend to help her design her website.

Overall, a useful visit.  It was a really good experience to present my portfolio to someone connected to the creative industry (but not an illustrator or tutor) to prove to myself that I can express my work and where I’m trying to go with it.

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CLIENT VISIT - Helen Musselwhite

Today I visited Helen Musselwhite (Illustrator) at her home for my portfolio review. What an absolutely lovely lady! She had nothing but positive things to say about my portfolio, and gave me some useful advice, AND let me see her studio!! It was like a paper wonderland in there!

When she invited me in, she was photographing her current work project in her kitchen-diner, and her dining room table was completely taken over by her 3d elements. It was lovely to see her work in progress and she was more than happy to tell me what she was doing.  She told me that whenever making anything, always make it bigger than it actually would be as it’s easier to add type and photograph.

After talking with Helen for and hour and a half - the time flew by!! She said (and I agree) that my mark-making work is my niche, something that would set me apart form the rest if I continue to develop and make it my own.  She also encouraged me to continue on the path of making my images more 3d with layering or propping them up to create depth to help my images come to life a bit more.

She loved my Fedrigoni work, she said she liked the dotted background and the fact I’d done a negative version of the lamp to make it stand out.I took along some of my 3d letters and the stationery pieces, a tip she gave me with foam board is to always trim it shorter than the image, that way it will hide any untidy edges.  She also advised to change the blade of my cutting knife any time I start to feel it drag, that way I will get less jagged edges.

She told me to always have fun with whatever I’m working on, and then really try to refine it (something I’m really trying to work on in terms of background impurities)

It was nice to learn that she also struggles at capturing people (I disagree, I think all her work is amazing!) to the ability she can make objects and animals = thankfully I’m not alone!  She told me not to worry about it as everything comes with time and practice, it maybe the case that I’m simply someone who creates the silhouettes of people?

Certain pieces such as my sea creatures and mark making work Helen said is where she could see the energy and fun coming from.  She told me to keep with this as its what people buy into.  She liked my cut up type, as this was a reflection of this.  She said it’s important to have a type section to show clients to show I can do a bit of everything.

Helen even suggested combining different type of images e.g. my water colour of an animal with some cut up design just to see whether the two could work together?  

I asked her how she got her first job, and she said she approached a gallery she liked and showed them her work and got a job from there, after that it has mainly been word-of-mouth and now her Instagram account has helped a lot. 

She really recommended Twitter and posting things relevant to what I like and do to help people get more of an insight into me and what I’m about. She told me she’s had a sneaky peak at my website & Instagram before I arrived - glad to see they work!

Her studio was amazing! On the way up I met her really cute dog Earl (chocolate labrador) who is not allowed in her studio as he would destroy everything!! Her work space is full of all the smaller work she’s managed to keep from past commissions.  She even showed me some that she’s made with coloured acrylic perspex which she had combined into her designs - simply beautiful!  She also gave me the tip of buying cheap fabric from charity shops or markets and scanning it in to create background patterns, I would never have thought of this and it was such a good idea!

On leaving we swapped business cards, she gave me two of her favourite business card designs (photos above) and told me to keep in touch. Apparently I’m welcome back anytime and if I need anything I can contact or ring her! She’s even offered to send me some links to people and artwork that she believes may be useful.

Overall, I could not be happier with how my first client visit went! Thank you Helen!

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Unexpected surprise!

This afternoon I have been racking my brain as to who to contact for a client visit (I don’t give up that easily) I really wanted to full-fill the brief and visit two clients for myself as well as completing the requirements of the future self brief. 

This evening I tried messaging a cake shop near where I live in the last hopes of getting an appointment with someone connected to the creative industry. As I have produced 3d work for this final project I thought why not? they make   novelty cakes which is 3d art in edible form.

Anyway, within the next 5 minutes of me contacting The Cake Box via their facebook page, they agreed to see me on Thursday morning!

Happy times! - I really didn’t think that would happen at such short notice. 

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Quick update

Blog deadline is quickly approaching = Friday! 

Wednesday is my client visit with Helen Musselwhite.  I did get an approval from Paper Salad earlier in the year, but unfortunately they have had to post-pone at the last minute, until the end of May due to their busy schedule. 

Annoying! but can’t be helped I suppose - as I work for them, I know how busy their unit outlet is!!

I also got an offer from Diane Harrison studio earlier in the year to show them my portfolio...but then they never got back to me after their initial invitation?

It has been difficult arranging dates as I was busy with uni work up until half-term, away over Easter, and have still been recovering this past week from a virus.

Part of me wishes that uni could have arranged some stand by illustrators/artists to come into uni just in case we couldn’t have arranged to see two clients each. I was organised in that I contacted a number of people early on in the year, but even then things come up which means certain appointments have to be rescheduled.

I’ve also got PDF portfolio feedback, so hopefully I get some credit for that ?

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Link to my PDF portfolio

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PDF portfolio feedback - Amy Harris

Hi Harriet,

I hope you’re well. I had a look at your work and it looks like you’re really starting to develop your own visual language, which is great. I think the hand made marks you’re bringing into pieces such as the ‘sea creatures’ piece adds character and could potentially be something you could develop further. I also like the personality in this and your ‘strong man’ piece - perhaps you could explore characters in your work further and use this as a vehicle for telling stories or capturing a concept? I had a look at your blog and think the Fedrigoni project you’ve been working on is really successful - the concept and visual style are both strong and it looks like a way of working that you could develop further in both 2D and 3D. Have you considered collaborating with a still life photographer to shoot this? You could really bring it to life by shooting it with good lighting and it could be a good opportunity to experience working with someone with a different skill set. In terms of approaching potential clients, editorial work is always a good place to start. You could start by researching the content and tone of different magazines / newspapers, paying attention to the type of illustration work they normally commission - you can then decide if you think your work would fit in well. A short email accompanied by a small piece of posted promotional material (perhaps a postcard of your work) could be a good way to introduce yourself to potential clients. Keeping it friendly, to the point and professional is a good approach - remember art editors are often very busy and so are more likely to respond to a short email. If you don’t hear back right away, I’d suggest following up a week or two later - sometimes people need a little nudge! I hope that helps…. Best of luck with the rest of your degree!

Kind regards, Amy Amy Harris [email protected]

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Represented by Agency [email protected]

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PDF portfolio feedback - Matthew Shearer

Hi Harriet,

Thanks for sending these images across and apologies for the delay in getting back to you, manic here as ever! For me, the strongest works are the cut type and cut animals, as they show an ability to work with materials, which Clients love (think train tickets, wrappers, packaging etc). The mark-making circles and fish are also interesting, but perhaps a little abstract for commercial clients. For me, the weak links are the strongman and the mural, these lose the sense of immediacy and fun that makes the other images stand out. The idea of making images out of “things” is always useful for Clients, so I think this would be a great area for you to explore.

Hope this is helpful! Best wishes,

Matthew Shearer Agent

Bernstein & Andriulli Inc.49 Borough High StreetLondonSE1 1NBC: 07561 101 300 www.ba-reps.comhttp://bareps-eu.tumblr.com/archive

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Fedrigoni project

Final poster designs = pen pot and telephone that will be printed A1 for my final work (I had to shrink the file size down to upload it to Tumblr.)

The next three images will be printed at A3 size as they are part of the set, but not as successful as the first two. The bottom two images were more experimental.

I made the type myself! They are actually physical 2d/3d pieces which will be part of my final show as I’m so pleased with them.

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Fedrigoni project

Still continuing with this project, I’ve designed some posters to advertise Fedrigoni’s paper being sold in single sheets at London Graphic Centre, but they’re still a work in process, but watch this space!

My tutor suggested making some 3d ‘2d’ letters and mounting everything I have made so far onto black foam board to give it more rigidity.  

I’m really pleased with how they have turned out considering I’m not used to making 3d type work. I think this project has been really beneficial in helping me bridge the gap between my 2d work and pushing it more into 3d.