Getting Organised

Well, returning to university presents old problems and new. Luckily, old problems are slowly being rectified while new problems are being addressed. After spending a hefty sum, I have now established a reasonable studio at home to work from complete with workspace, materials, scanner etc and now can comfortably work from university and home. Which is good as I now more than ever I need to be able to work, almost 24/7 in order to keep up with the workload.

That workload at the moment consists of a couple of things that I'm quite excited about. Chief among these is doing a poster design for the 1990 film 'Total Recall' by Paul Verhoeven. Being an avid film fan, I jumped at the chance to do some designs. Ultimately I want to get into film and TV design, namely costume and storyboarding, but posters sat just as well for me too! I've included my initial thumbnail below, and once approved will get that painted up to standard. I've also included a little painting I did when I was in Exeter. This a return to pencil illustration again and I'm really pleased with the results I've been having.




The other project is a new editorial piece. Now, editorial work is fantastic when it is done well. An editorial image can have multiple levels that can give powerful insight and deliver a simple or complicated message. However, let's just say i'm as adapt at editorial illustration as a hippo is elegant and graceful when entering water. Still, I'm trying to see it as a challenge and a chance to explore a style that I don't usually approach with a barge pole.

Just because I found it

Another image I've managed to recover from my rather badly organised computer files, a digital painting done from my original horse painting. Hope you like!

While in France

So, i'm starting back at university tomorrow (huzzar!) which is great because i've been desperate to get back into a working environment, and have a studio to exploit. It does have the unfortunate side of effect of being set even more work, on top of all the others projects I have on the go at the moment! So I warn you now, I expect my upcoming posts will be work that was completed some while ago, and all new work won't be seen until I get to uploading them online here. For example, the costume and character designs below I did whilst away on holiday (3 weeks ago...) have only now been shown daylight, while the gouache painting i've had laying around for yonks and have only now found the digital file.

                                                                                                                        

The reason I put these particular ones up at the moment was due to me making some form of professional decision. This last year I was determined to experiment as much as possible, and while that did open my eyes to other mediums I had not even considered it also meant that my finished product was not always up to the highest levels that I knew I was capable of. These images were a return to media I knew I excelled at. Therefore I have decided the following:

To return to finished artwork completed with gouache + watercolour

Taking my pencil and pen based work back to the forefront

and regrettably

Factoring in more digital artwork into my portfolio

Well, there is my intended action plan for this forthcoming academic year. Lets see how well it holds up!

Another week, another country

Well, the title says it all really! Been away in France this week and needless to say it was gorgeous. Was tucked away in rural France and I can honest say it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. This does have the awful side effect that I now have a million new ideas in my head and visual inspiration bursting out of the seams!

I did manage to do some drawings while I was away which I will be adding here shortly, but the whole visit has inspired me to do an entire french inspired collection so watch this space!

A little Celtic flavour

So, with my project centred on the Mabinogion I've had to do some research on the era that it was written in to get an idea of the times. There are no exact dates for when it was actually written but the work it is based on (The White Book of Rhydderch and the Red Book Hergest) were all penned between 1300-1400AD. With this in mind i've been looking at the Celtic society in the 5th Century. I was surprised at the range of fashion that was around at the time, and it's meant i've had quite a lot of creative freedom with the designs. I've also drawn inspiration from the film 'Tristan & Isolde' which is also set in the same era.

Here are my initial sketches; they are of no particular character or from any story, I just wanted to get a feel for the designs. These will be followed up with some colour work, i'm planning to do a mixture of pencil, watercolour and digital and see what medium is best suited.

                                

            

The only sketch which has some narrative is the old man surrounded by dancers. This image was just a blast to illustrate! 

Everyone's allowed to be vain once!

Well, this is going to be a tad self indulgent but sometimes you just have to embezzle! For my blog I previously had some rather unflattering pictures of myself to be used as my profile picture which were, frankly, embarrassing. However, in an attempt to appear slightly more professional I decided to get some quality photo's for the webpage.

 

    

Firstly, I want to thank Nicci Mills for taking some absolutely wonderful pictures, which make me look far more handsome than I could possibly be in real life. If anyone is interested in seeing more of her work then please get in contact.

Back to business though.

I have successfully moved house all in one piece and have now dived head first back into my work. I will be putting up my latest sketchbook drawings on here ASAP.

A change of Location

Just to keep anyone even the slightest bit interested, I am currently moving house so there is a slight delay on content that I will be posting for a couple of days. Non-stop as always for me!