Chapter Illustrations - Roughs

I've started to make roughs for the chapters that I selected. I've decided to scrap the idea of doing a pattern for the end pages and add another chapter illustration in, I feel it fits better in the given context and I also didn't want to overcrowd my book with a lot of different imagery in too many different places. Before I started drawing anything, I knew I wanted the illsutrations to be spot images but wanted soemthing that pulled them all together and kept them in form. I decided to take influence from sacred geometry and began to incorporate geometric elements of linework into my designs. I feel that it's important that I keep these illustrations consistent when I come to drawing them digitally. I want to make sure that the colour scheme is cohesive, and also that the application of colour is cohesive across all five illustrations. My next step is to move onto developing these digitally and figuring out my colour choice.

New Project Proposal

Study Task 2 - Five Inspiring Illustrators

Lisa Perrin

Lisa Perrin is an illustrator whose work covers a varity of formats but also works on book covers for different novels. Her work mostly consists of shape based imagery, using line and texture to create depth and add character and detail. Her work is slightly surreal, and carries a slightly darker tone of voice whilst still being appealing and aesthetically pleasing. I like the way in which Perrin uses shape based imagery and then adds detail in using a variety of line and texture. I feel that this is an approach that maybe I could take with my own work as I feel it is a kind of illustration that could appeal to a wide audience. 

Marissa Johnson

Marissa Johnson is an illsutrator and designer who applies her illustrative work to textiles and printed fabric. Her work consists of shape based imagery, texture and mark making in order to produce pieces of work that have depth and integrity to them. I particularly like her application of colour, this is soemthing I struggle with and I find it inspiring to see a relativley simple colour paletter that is cohesive but that also allows the focal point of the imagery to stand out. Her use of texture as a background further helps the imagery stand out. I think texture is something I would like to be incorporating into my work more as a means to give it more depth. 

Tallulah Fontaine

Talllah Fontaine is an illustrator who's work has been applied within multiple contexts. Her work ranges from retail and promotion to publishing and editorial. I've noticed whilst looking through her website that Fontaine maintains a consistent visual aesthetic but depending on the brief and context, this may differ slightly, wether it's in terms of colour palette or image composition. I feel that this is something to remember whilst working in different contexts or trying to work within one. There are certain considerations that have to be taken into account but this doesnt neccesarily mean you cannot communicate a tone of voice. Additionaly, the colour palettes throughout her work and subtle use of texture are a beautiful combination that strengthens her work as a whole. 

Bryn Perrot

Bryn Perrot is an illustrator and woodcut artist. Her wood carvings have been used for beer labels, band merch, shops signs and collaborations with t-shirt companies. I find her work particularly striking because of both its simplicity in terms of colour but also it's intiricacy using shape and line. I find it inspiring to see illustrators that work primarily in black and white, this is usually my go to, so it's nice to see proffessionals who use black and white imagery as their main method of image making. I also particularly like the high level of detail achieve using line. Her work isn't so much over-complicated imagery, at face value it may seem quite simple but the detail and character conveyed via the use of line is wonderful. 

Camille Chew 

Camille Chew is an illustrator who's work addresses the themes of mythology, fantasy and the occult.  Her product range is limited and mostly consists of prints of her many illustrations. Although maybe her work doesnt sit in a wide variety of contexts already, I believe her work is something that could be applicable to more than one area of concern. Her use of clean shape and line is a good contrast to the rough textures used in some of her backgrounds. Through this combination she manages to convey a darker tone of voice, linking to her interests in fantasy and the occult. I feel that making imagery relevant to the subject matter and that conveys the theme visually is something that is important to remember whislt undergoing this module. 

OUIL503 - End of Module Evaluation

OUIL503 - Studio Brief 3 - Project Report

OUIL503 - Studio Brief 2 - Collaborative Practice - YCN - The Grown Up Chocolate Company

OUIL503 - Studio Brief 1 - Individual Practice - Substantial Brief

OUIL503 - Studio Brief 1 - Individual Practice - Additional Briefs

The Book of Fortune Telling - Agnes M.Miall

I've been struggling with the context part of this module but I think I've finally found it. I was looking for something to read at home the other day and I found this book that used to be my grandma's. It's really old, and the cover is very 90's BUT it's all about fortune telling and different ways to tell fortunes. Since I've been looking at the occult and divination I thought this book would be perfect for me to base my 505 project around. It would allow me to explore the different themes and ideas that I've already had whilst providing a strong context for my work to sit within.

I geuss I've gone back to working within the adult publishing section, something that I moved away from previously because I was fed up of working around books. After having some time away from this kind of work, I remember how much I enjoyed working around texts and books in 504 and I also really enjoyed working on the penguin brief for Responsive. I was put off adult publishing to begin with because I didn't think I'd be able to find something I wanted to work with but I'm quite happy with the idea of work around the book that I've found.

As a intial idea, I was thinking I could create a new cover design for the book and then propose to accompany this with 4 illustrations that would accompany the start of different chapters. I was also thinking I could create a pattern to go on the end pages of the book. These are all things that I can propose and specify when I get round to re-doing the Project Proposal. I went through all the chapters and have highlighted the ones that I am interested in working on. 

- Foreword

- Reading Your Hand

- In Which Month Were You Born?

- The Man For You 

- How To Cast A Horoscope 

- What Do The Cards Say

- Your Name And Number

- What Your Handwriting Reveals 

- 'Bumps' And Face Fortunes

- Dreams And Destiny

- Crystal Gazing

- Divining By Sand

- Dice Decisions

- Deductions From Dominoes

- Your Fortune In The Fire

- The Five Physical Types

- Knife Prophecies

- Sense From Scribbles

- Teacup Fortunes

- You Can Be Lucky 

- The Luck Of Precious Stones 

- Bridal Luck

- The Luck And Meanings Of Christian Names

- Something About Surnames

- Some Surnames And Their Meanings 

I've looked at a few of the chapters and had a quick read of some of the chapters I might be interested in, I think I'm going to write my Project Proposal next so I have a clear plan to follow and then make a final decision on which chapters I want to illustrate for, what I want to do for the cover and what I'd like to do for the pattern for the end pages. I also think I'd like to add my illustrations onto product as an accompany feature to the book. 

Choosing a Theme

I've gone back to the idea of witches and witchcraft but rather than focusing on that as a theme, I've decided to look at the occult. I feel like this will offer me less restrictions and more ideas and themes to work with. I'm still not 100% on the context that I have in mind yet but I feel that once I've nailed down my theme and done some more research, I will be able to build on my context. I've done some initial research and begun to look at what the occult is, what it means and what its subcategories are

Occult - mystical, supernatural or magical powers, practices or phenomena
            - knowledge of the hidden
            - magic, alchemy, extra-sensory perception, astrology, spiritualism, religion, divination

Categories

Magic - the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces

Alchemy - a power or process that changes or transforms something in a myterious or impressive             way

Extra-sensory perception - the sixth sense, reception of infomation not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sense with the mind

Astrology - the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world 

Spiritualism - a system of belief or religious practice based on suppossed communication with the spirtis of the dead, especially through mediums 

Religion - the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power

Divination - the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means 


I've highlighted three areas of the occult that I think I'd be particularly interested in working around. I've also done a little more research into the three different categories to further understand what they include and figure out which one I'd be happy working with. 


Divination:
- Tarot Cards
- I Ching Diving Coins
- Runes
- Crystal Balls
- Scrying Mirrors 
- Pendulums 
- Tea Cups 
- Dowsing Rods
- Lithomancy Gemstones
- Palm Reading 

Astrology:
- Zodiac 
- Horoscopes 
- Lunar Cycles
- Star Divination 
- Constellations 
- Charts
- Maps
- Sun
- Moon
- Stars

Spiritualism 
- Seances
- Mediums 
- Ouija Boards
- Prophecy 
- Clairvoyance
- Gift of Tongues 
- Visions
- Raps
- Levitations 
- Automatic Writing
- Materialization
- Phantom Forms/Faces
- Luminous Appearances 

Decision Making

I think if I've learnt one thing about myself from this module already it's that I am awful at decision making. I said at the start of this module that one thing I wanted to accomplish by may was to be able to make better informed and quicker decisions, this is something that I definitley haven't done. I've changed my mind on this project twice now and I feel that I'm putting myself behind and creating more work for myself. I might not have been able to make quick decisions so far but I feel like experimenting with a few different possible routes to follow has helped inform me about what kindof work i want to be creating.

The whol decision making side of it is definitley something that I need to be working on and that I need to be able to do quicker. I know that next year and after uni I'm not going to be able to take months to decide on what I want to do for a project so I'm really going to have to work on this. I feel that if I just started following my instinct abit more and started creating work that I was genuinlley excited about then I'd be able to avoid this whole situation. I think I still get hung up on making work that I feel other people would like and this sometimes gets in the way of me jsut making things that I know I'll enjoy working on.

Change of Plan.... Again

I've done the unthinkable and decided to change my project again. Although this might not be the best decision I've made considering there isn't long till deadline, I feel that its the right one to make right now. There were a few problems with my Baba Yaga theme that were proving difficult to work around.

1 - There was no context
- As much as I tried to put this into context, I just couldn't find anything that had any substance behind it. Yeah, I could have applied my illustrations to a wide variety of things but I want to create something thats got more structure and meaning behind it. I feel that moving on to create something that has a solid context is important, after all, this module is more about the strength of the context rather than the process and creation of the actual illustrations.

2 - I wasn't enjoying it
- I think I was pulled in by the idea of how cool Baba Yaga's hut could have looked as a print, and decided too quickly that I'd be able to create a whole collection of images based around her. As much as she's an interesting character, I've not been able to find out that much more about her and my work is lacking in substance and research. Additionally, I followed this route because I wanted to create something magical and a little spooky, this isn't really whats happening at the minute and I feel I'd be more productive if I just found something that'd allow me to create the kinds of images I want to make.

3 - I left it alone for too long
I've spent some time away from this module because I've been catching up with other things in preparation for upcoming deadlines and to be honest, I'm bored of it and I've come to dislike all the images that I was making. I just don't want to work on it anymore, and even though it might put me behind abit, I feel that changing to something else that I really enjoy and that I'm interested in will help me be motivated enough to get the work finished.

The Batsford Prize - I Forgot To Submit

Right, so basically, life got on top of me bit recently in terms of things going on inside and outside of uni. Due to this my head and my time management have been all over the place and I managed to forget to submit to Batsford. I am a little annoyed about this as I would have liked to submit my work but it's my own fault that I forgot the submission date. I'm still happy with my outcome and happy with my research and reasoning behind my outcome.

I think I do need to be bit more effective with my time management but at the same time, compared to last year I'm doing a lot better at juggling things so to have one minor slip up isn't that awful. Anyhow, I mocked up my final image just to put it into context and show how it could've been presented had I submitted it.