WHO AM I? WHY AM I HERE?

WHY ILLUSTRATION?

JAMES JARVIS

The story telling through facial expressions and shape like characters is really exciting and genuine. This sums up the vulnerability and endearing side of illustration I love. I love that again, Jarvis can speak strong emotions to an audience through such simple and easy line application to a page. 

MERNET LARSEN

Amazing use of shape and perspective throughout his work. Again love the story telling and the subjects in her work, very relatable pieces to modern day living. In short very strong ideas and execution of characters. 

TOM PARKER

I worked with Parker in retail in Nottingham, and was encouraged by his attitude and amazing style of work. The colours, shapes and painted texture are beautiful, however I mostly like his observational skills and attention to details. I am also a fan of his 3D pieces of illustration where pieces are stood up and layered like a theatre set.

LAUREN ROLWING

The language in this piece is so simple, so bold, so colourful and exciting yet so clear what it is. No words need to be used. I absolutely love the communication skills illustration offers, its something no other medium can achieve.The colour palette is very primary based and fun, I'd like to play around with similar colour palettes in my work.

VALERIE SERVAIS

Beautifully loose quality of line layered with coloured patterns and textures to create bold fashion illustrations (illustration for my favourite fashion design, Simone Rocha.) Really admire her composition on the page also. Her work inspired the turning point for me from fashion design to illustration.

WHY LCA

LIZZY STEWART

Very natural and soft illustrations are created through her use of watercolours. She creates flowing shapes and imprecise details, making her people drawing in particular very endearing. I chose LCA as they introduce amazingly talented individuals as part of their Big Heads scheme. Her muted tones and colour palettes again drew me to her work.

NOUS VOUS

Again another Big Heads illustrator. Also I am a big fan of wrap magazine and have gotten excited over many illustrators because of it. Massive fan of illustrated patterns and shapes currently, again really inspired by the bold shapes and lines and the simplistic colour palette. I feel this piece could have been created through paper cutting and would like to experiment with this in the future.

PARRA

LCA has the facilities to print in professional quality and on several different types of medium, for example, fabric. They also encourage the idea of collaboration and experimenting, For example, I am very interested in collaborating with fashion design students and creating prints for t-shirts and even a final collection. Parra creates beautifully bold prints on a range of different clothing items, including t-shirts, bags, caps, socks, etc. I feel they are so effective because they are hand drawn and have a quality that other art forms would not be able to recreate. The characters and designs are so vivid and exciting. 

PING ZHU

Again also a Big Head illustrator.Love her use of colour and bold confident shapes and character ideas. However I am not too keen on her washed out colour palettes in some of her work, they aren't as interesting and feel too subtle to grab the attention of someone and to think wow. Her composition is often very exciting and full and thought out, really allowing her idea to be communicated fully.

HUNGRY SANDWICH CLUB

LCA alumni students.Really inspired by their success and professional branding of the company and how they have managed to incorporate illustration, animation and graphic design for their advertisement campaigns. Again really like the simplicity of the shapes and lines used, which are then used as vectors and repeated to create a really strong selection of work.

MY STRENGTHS

• Colour Palettes- I believe I have a keen eye for strong colour palettes and understand that they can make a piece or series much stronger and professional in standard.
• Series Work- I enjoy working on illustrations that fit together in a series, however not necessarily narrative. Because I work quite loosely and quite quickly, creating a series adds more impact to my work.
• Composition- Placement of work on a page or any other form of foundation is something I take pride in and enjoy. I feel presentation of work holds just as much importance as the actual drawn piece, especially for a final outcome. 
• Idea Communication- Less is more definitely. Throughout my development work I simplify and take away information that's not necessary so the idea is clearly communicated to the audience. I don't like a cluttered page.
• Confident Line- I feel my work is quite striking as I use bold and confident lines throughout. I don't believe sketchy or light lines really convey the full potential of a design. 

SKILLS I WANT TO IMPROVE

• Digital Work- I find digital work to sometimes lack a sense of origin, however if layered well it can produce amazing professional pieces of work, especially when collages with existing images. I feel my photoshop and illustration skills definitely need improving so I can experiment with layering analogue and digital styles together

• Proportions-Something I definitely need to improve is proportion, especially with human subjects. This is something I just need to practice and plan on attending life drawing classes. I especially need to work on hands. 

• Experimenting- I definitely need to push myself out of my comfort zone, especially focusing on using different media and techniques for example paper cutting, pencil work and paint. I feel this is a significant point to make as I really admire work of others who use these techniques.

• Pattern- I am really interesting at the minute in shape and pattern, I want to adventure more into these techniques and possibly create printed illustrations in pattern format for future work. 

• Narrative- Again I really admire comic strips, especially in illustration magazines (not necessarily graphic novels) I have never really tried to fit illustrations to a storyline, but again this is something I want to try and develop whilst at LCA.

MY INTEREST IN ILLUSTRATION

Ata Bozaci aka Toast

Love the fluidity of the face and the application of colour. Again really drawn in by the colour palette and confident lines. The facial expressions is also really intriguing and enjoyable to look at.

Kate Morross

The shoes and pattern and colour palette are so striking and fun. Really want to use shapes and pattern in my work at some point. 

Tanawat Sakdawisarak

Similar style to Peter Judson, however the colours are mush softer and the use of characters are very endearing. I find the use of sharp angles and blob like shapes to create a really interesting depth to this piece in particular. It really sets a scene of another world. 

Pauline Edvall

Absolutely love the proportions and facial expressions t creates a real character, I can imagine their dislikes and likes in my head. I also love the colour palette and use of analogue media to create texture juxtaposition, especially the roughness of the charcoal face paired with the sleek painted hair. 

Linda Linko

The composition of Linko's illustrations are almost pattern like and would work beautifully as a print. I find her paper cut foundation and loose drawings over the top create a lovely texture to her work which is very comforting to look at. I also really love the fact her work is obviously drawn observationally.