During
third year I have found that I enjoy multitasking with projects. I
think this is due to the fact that the most exciting time for me is
at the beginning of research and roughing stages, when my ideas are
flowing and there are endless possibilities to what I can create.
This means that later on in the project I can get a bit bored or
frustrated if things aren't going to plan, so being able to jump from
one to the other helps me to stop this cycle and get a bit of
distance when needed. My aesthetic style has definitely become more
consistent through the means of combining, experimenting with and
developing my digital and practical skills. I found that using
handmade textures and painted elements alongside digital paintings
gives them more depth, character and tone.
Informing
my practice with literature or general research into particular
details is very important to me, I enjoy creating images that could
exist within their own world. Therefore, a viewer is able to look
into them and think about what could be happening before and after.
The idea of being able to suggest a full narrative within one image
is something I am fascinated with and will continue to explore.
A
turning point for my practice this year was working on live and
competition briefs and having my work applied to publications and
promotional material. I found that the excitement of seeing my work
out there helped me to build a lot of momentum and made me more
confident that I could work in the creative industries. Tackling
briefs put forward by real clients helped me a lot when thinking
about how to write my own briefs. Especially with the Wizard of Oz
and Momo's Mishap projects, I found that I could make the best use of
my time by creating book proposals rather than the entire outcome.
The good thing about doing this is that I now have the opportunity to
revisit these projects in the future. I am starting to feel a lot
more like a professional now and less like a student, which is
something I hadn't anticipated at all at the start of the module.
A
lot of the things I have learned during the extended practice module
I will take with me after university. Although very scary, I feel
more prepared than ever to work in the creative industries and am
looking forward to taking the next step. So far, I have a few live
briefs on the horizon in sectors that I aspire to work in. An author
approached me to create a picture book for children in hospitals,
which is something I feel really passionate about and can't wait to
develop further. This kind of brief brings me a lot of joy, and I
definitely want to look into doing more projects like this. I am also
creating the promotional imagery for the Left Bank Opera Festival, as
well as running a workshop during the event. There is an opportunity
to do further work for the northern opera group here, so this is also
something I am really looking forward to. During the summer, as a
result of the Stratford Literary Festival competition, I won a work
placement at Penguin Random House. I plan to make the most out of
this experience by taking my portfolio with me to discuss my work
with the art directors there. Overall, I gained a lot from this
module, and am feeling hopeful about my future as an illustrator a a
result.
