Thoughtbubble Festival

Yesterday I attended Thoughtbubble for the first time. It was way more varied than I thought it would be. Although it was a lot of people selling items (not that that's a bad thing), it was a good way to see how broad illustration and similar disciplines can be, and what shapes it can take on.

It made me think about what I'm interested in too. I was weirdly inspired by all of the people sharing and appreciating illustration and graphic art. All of those people putting their work on display for the public to see. Well done everyone.

I saw a lot of interesting things, including illustrators and visual artists that I was a fan of, as well as small press companies and independent publishers. Here are some of the things I spotted or picked up.

1. Josh Shepherd - I liked this funny little comic because of its weird sense of humour. I enjoy things that are made because the person wanted to say something or share a joke.

2. Wai Wai Pang - A postcard and a small book of drawings. Her work is very fun and loose, and doesn't take itself too seriously. A world of tiny people and clouds where you are welcomed with open arms.

3. Maria Stoian - 'The Figure in Art (School)'. A short zine based on art theory to do with the female nude in art. Also has an autobiographical feel? I found it quite emotive, and the mix of theory (big world problems or ideas) with personal (memories, anecdotes, confessions) is really interesting. I think this could be about her own experiences in the arts perhaps.

4. Lorenzo Fruzza / Jinku Comics - Sketchbook and postcard. The book is a collection of character development sketches and concepts, as well as some pages that look like they could be finished designs for posters and such. A nice collection of images that show ideas and how an idea has became fleshed out.

5. Isaac Lenkiewicz - A comic fold-out poster that tells a short story of a group of lichens. I found this really charming and cute, and it a nice way of presenting a comic narrative in a format which has limited space/pages. In some ways the poster is like one big panel of the story.

6. Rosie Barratt / Hot Parsnip - Postcard. This illustrator had some really nice prints, and a mix of digital and traditional/hands-on work. There was a bizarre and funny tone to her work, as well as some observational stuff involving pubs and bingo halls and the atmosphere within these places.

7. kuš! - The name of a Latvian comics anthology and comics publisher, each book hosts the work of both Latvian and international artists and illustrators in attempts to promote the medium in Latvia and sharing the work of its native artists around the world. Really lovely publications that had such a variation of work inside. A more left-field approach to comics, open to experimental work it seems.

PPP Megatask

Last week we were part of a cross-course megatask where we had to pitch ideas as small teams, vote, and then assemble to create one big team to carry out a pitch for the chosen idea.

I was paired with Molly, we had to match our assigned numbers which created a word combo. Our word combo was hangry hi-five.

 Our sheets from brainstorming as a team of two

We did some thinking about how we could make these two words into a product. We went on to the idea of creating some app-based solution to hunger and loneliness (like JustEat and Tinder or something). Our idea ended up being carried forward to the last round of voting.

The whole thing was weird and stressful, but actually okay?? Was interesting speaking to people from other courses too. As it was our idea, we were elected as the default project leaders much to our dismay.

A big part of this challenge was the deadline looming over our heads, as well as having to communicate with people (but without being bossy y'know). Gentle leadership was my intended approach.

We split everyone up into mini-teams: MARKETING, GRAPHICS/LOGO, COMMERCIAL (Animators), APP PEOPLE, giving them smaller jobs to accomplish each to assemble our pitch for the lecture theatre at 3pm.

Even though computers crashed, we lost our original ad and our voice over, and in the end the final product didn't matter, it was an interesting insight into collaboration. Maybe a glimpse of what's to come in the next semester where collaborative efforts will be assessed.

Big Heads | Rob Hodgson

Website

We had a big heads talk today with Rob Hodgson. An illustration man who has a load of different and varied projects to his name.

• He balances his time between freelancing and working with a publishing company called U Studios.

• His practice is drawn together by various themes and ideas that crop up time after time. (He didn't say what these were, but I think it's characters, fun, playful, making, imaginary and make believe and things from real life.)

• Projects are a good way of exploring a certain material, idea, or technique. But once a project is completed, it doesn't have to stop there. You can continue exploring these things, sometimes ideas span across different pieces of work and are there until you solve them or move on to something else.

• Rob said he thinks about where illustration meets products. (What can be illustrated? Packaging? Figurines and toys? Paper-based products? Stationary? Books and published material?)

• Although he does create a lot of commercial work which is readily turned into products, or applied on to existing items (like clothing, for example), he said he teeters on the line between worrying about being too commercial, and then reacting against that by making personal work.

• He also said that maybe he just has a commercial sensibility. This made me think that maybe some people's work is just more suited to be things that people buy. This could be a good thing or a bad thing. I guess it depends what appeals to you...

(makes me think about creative responsibility, about what illustration is and where it's going -- maybe just empty stuff that people fill their houses with? doesn't have to be?)

His professional and personal practices differ, but feed into one another.

I'm interested in this idea and how it could potentially apply to my own practice.

Study Task 1

1. Identify 5 things you've learned so far on the programme

• The end product isn't the be-all and end-all

• Concept and idea should come before aesthetics and what's on the surface

• You (the human) informs you (the work/creative person)

• Take inspiration from a wide range of places, not just illustration (film, tv, books, podcasts, talking to people, memories, something funny you saw on the bus)

• Ask people for their opinions and help ("hey man is this drawing of a dog okay?")

2. Identify 5 things that you want to know more about

• Professionalism (Putting work out there (like actually putting work out, and being mentally ready and okay doing that), pricing, the business side of things)

• Context within illustration/visual arts & design (What exists out there? Is there really interesting and niche projects and ideas and formats that me/my work could exist in? Something amazing that I don't even know about?)

• My practice (What I'm good at, what I do, what forms my practice as a whole, where my interests lie)

• What illustration means to me and how this could inform my place in an industry-situation, where I go to next

• Facilities available to us once we leave here (printing, publishing, materials, all that serious stuff. Because thinking about buying paper keeps me awake at night ☺)

3. Identify 5 things that you consider to be your strengths

• Researching

• Creating links and connections between different info, sources...

• Drawing? (Just lines, really...)

• Idea generation (multiples, roughs, thumbnails, sketches)

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4. Identify 5 things you want to improve

• Having a level of assurance in my ideas/execution of ideas

• Ability to make quick, certain decisions

• Just going for it - taking initiative and going off gut feeling

• Expand skills with different techniques and media (so I can be an image-maker with a range of approaches, not just falling back on the same thing)

• The capacity to enjoy making things / worry-free creativity (solve this mystery)

5. Identify 5 practitioners that have informed your practice

• Mikkel Sommer
• Joost Stokhof
• Nathaniel Russell
• Michael DeForge
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6. Identify 5 websites/resources

• It's Nice That
• The Library (I like the photography and illustration/graphic novel sections. Wandering around is also good)
• Creative Review
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Natalya Bolnova

Print-based illustrator who's work takes the form of prints, editorial, and many publications. I like how she presents a range of factual, humorous, and whimsical topics in her illustration.

I especially like the informative subjects, presenting historical or scientific information in an exciting and contemporary way. I also like her use of colour, and how this sits against her line drawings, as a way to highlight or draw attention to certain areas without detracting from them too much.

I really enjoy this crossover of the old with the new, presenting old themes, ideas, or aesthetics in a modern way. Also this would require a level of research which relates to my interests/thoughts about my own practice.

JooHee Yoon

An illustrator who produces work for editorial, publications, advertising, as well as many other projects! I like how even though her work exists in these very official/professional contexts and formats that have a broad readership, it still maintains a sense of fun and liveliness.

Bold colour, textures, reminiscent of print making??, overlaying of colours, dynamic compositions, playful, experimental, but still easy to understand and decode

Good honest illo, it's all about proper image-making.

Sketchbooks, Group Crit

Today we presented our own sketchbooks which we had been working on over summer, and had the chance to see what everyone else had done.

Here are a few examples from my book:

I'm happy with some parts more than others, but I think it's just about filling pages and doing little test pictures. Sketchbooks as a whole look nice, somehow the quantity of all of the filled-in pages looks impressive.

It was interesting to see how everyone's books were so individual, also how they related to the person that made them. I liked when most of the pages were different in some way, yet they were linked by similar themes or images.

Here are some I liked from other people...

I spied this in the first year classroom and just enjoyed the weird collection of objects, including mutated hands. Nice one.

Someone made a tiny zine of all the bits and bobs they had in their bag. Simple and lovely! Makes me just want to go for it and make some stuff. 

This double page spread caught my eye, the pictures sit so well together. I like the contrast a lot.

Well done everyone