Presentation Slides and Script

Presentation Boards

Portfolio

Evaluation

The importance of the PP module has become much more apparent over the course of this year. I have always been reluctant to showcase my work through a website or online social media as I felt my practice was still developing and that it wasn’t ready. I was looking at the end of the course as a point where my practice would be a finished product but after the Hanbury Symposium and talks from visiting lecturers it became clear that this was not the best approach. The professionals we heard from talked about their practice constantly progressing since they left education, informed by their experiences in the industry and personal projects. My online presence and identity should then develop alongside my practice. My website, social media and portfolio should be reflected upon and curated regularly to make sure they present an appealing and accurate representation of my practice at that time. 

When I was designing my website I looked at a range of professional illustrators’ sites to get an idea of what was necessary, what worked well and what not to do. I decided to keep the site simple, made up of three pages: a gallery, a ‘contact’ page and an ‘about me’ page. My first attempt at writing a description of myself and my practice was too formal and after talking to tutors I decided to change it. I wanted to communicate that I liked telling stories through my work, but rather than just say that, I decided to demonstrate storytelling through the ‘about me’ section, expressing my passion for my work. I created some GIFs of my character designs to use on my website to bring my characters to life and make the website more interactive and appealing. 

I printed out a first draft of illustrations for my portfolio which gave me the chance to get feedback from tutors and visiting professionals towards the end of the module. That feedback combined with the advice we received at the Hanbury symposium has helped me to understand what it is that publishers and agents look for. My portfolio needs to develop alongside my practice in the same way as my online presence. I also need to keep printed A3 copies of a wide range of my work so that I can tailor my portfolio to the specific agent or publisher it is being presented to.  From the talk by Chloe Morgan from Plum Pudding I got a good understanding of what children’s book publishers and agents specifically look for in a portfolio. I need to create character study prints that show my ability to maintain a character consistently through a range of emotions, actions and scenarios. I need to have the confidence to include development work. My portfolio should include character designs that are common to children’s books such as animals and children, and a variety of scenes from vignettes to full bleed page layouts. A key piece of advice I was given when arranging a portfolio is to start and end strong to create a positive initial impact and to leave a lasting impression. It is important to make sure the portfolio is varied and balanced throughout. Views on how to do this will vary from person to person but it is an important consideration when deciding where to place work within the portfolio. 

As part of my professional practice it is important to understand the legal, financial and ethical responsibilities of a freelance illustrator. There are a number of government organisations that can provide information related to self employment. Illustration specific advice and support is available for members of The Association of Illustrators who provide information on all aspects of professional practice including pricing, contacts and finance. Maintaining a professional network of illustrators can also provide help and information on these issues as well as support and encouragement. 

Over the course of the module I have developed a plan for approaching publishers and agents and have already started sending portfolios and manuscripts out by email. I have just had some manuscripts printed to send to publishers that only accept physical submissions. I have contact information for some of the visiting professionals that I have met this year and plan to contact them over the summer once I feel I have fully implemented what I have learned throughout the year. We have the Hanbury Exhibition in July that I am using as a target to finish two publications I am working on as personal projects. I plan to have them printed so that I can give them out at the event. I also plan to attend the Bologna Book Fair next April to expand my network and introduce myself to publishers. Throughout this process it will be important to maintain my online presence as it will be used to maintain and build upon my professional network. My online presence through my website and through social media will act as a representation of my practice, persona and brand. It needs to be an appealing, well-crafted and accurate representation of what my practice is, how it can be applied and why I do it.

Presentation Draft

Portfolio Feedback

I got these illustrations printed off on Tuesday for my portfolio. I experimented with different orders trying to keep individual projects together, making appealing double page spreads and making sure the illustrations didn’t constantly switch between portrait and landscape. On Friday I had my final one to one tutorial and was able to get feedback on my portfolio as well as improvements that could be made. It was pointed out to me the importance of having a strong opening image and an equally strong closer. There are a lot a varying opinions on how to order the rest but the general aim is to keep it well paced with no weak points. I need to give more thought to my first and last images and ask why they should be there. Could possibly make the final page a ‘thank you’ with some characters. Needs to be something to remember. If someone looks through you portfolio then you have a conversation this could well be the page that is open while you talk. Would be good to pick a more complex image or collection of characters demonstrating character design, narrative and humour.

As well as making changes to the order we discussed what I should add to my portfolio. More storyboards and roughs would be a good way to demonstrate my practice and how I got about. Creating illustrations. I should add a wider variety of characters, such as pirates, vikings and astronauts etc. It would be fun to try and come up with concepts to make these pages more interesting so that they demonstrate my personality as well rather than just being typical children’s book characters. In-depth character studies would be a good way to show I can consistently draw a character in a range of movements, scenarios and emotions.

We also talked about widening my scope of who to approach with my work to include stationary/card companies such as UK greetings and hall mark.

Manuscript

I have just reviewed some professionally bound copies of one of the books I have been working on this year. The book is unfinished and consists of finished illustrations and roughs. I have had these printed to send them out to publishers that accept unsolicited manuscripts. I much prefer sending a physical copy rather than a pdf version as I think the tactile nature of a printed book much more appealing. When sending digital copies it is necessary to lower fila sizes to meet specifications and this can mean lowering the resolution of illustrations. I font want to have to compromise the work I have created. I have been compiling list of publishers that accept manuscripts, both digital and physical copies. Now that the competitions I entered this year have finished I am able to send copies of my books out to a range of publishers. I have chosen to have the manuscripts printed as staple bound brochures to keep costs down but have opted for good quality recycled paper to make sure they are a high quality and appealing item. As I have been printing quite a few of them and realistically most if not all that I send out will not lead to any feedback from publishers it was important to balance cost and quality to make the manuscripts suitable for their purpose.

Website problems

I have been having trouble adding GIFs to my website. I really liked how they looked as part of my gallery but the page kept crashing slowing down and pixelating the GIFs and at times forcing the site to glitch and then have to reload. Reading up about it I found that the site is trying to load all of them simultaneously and struggling. It was very discouraging as I had spend several days creating animations for that purpose. I then realised that if I spread them out over the pages of the site and only used one on each page they loaded almost instantly. I would have liked to include more on the gallery page but the gifs I have placed on the 'about me' page and 'contact' page have a strong impact standing out by themselves on a white background. I have been getting SLIGHTLY better at using after effects and have now want to create more GIFs specifically for the specific pages.

I have also been trimming down the number of illustrations in the gallery. At first when I was trying to populate the site I added some older illustration I was not all together happy with. I think by showing less the illustrations That remain have more impact.

IMG_1265.TRIM from Joe Boon on Vimeo.

Gifs

I have been working on some GIF's for my website and social media. Adding moving parts to illustrations even something as small as eyes blinking or looking left to right draws the eye, especially when part of a gallery surrounded by stationary images. I think that straight away the gallery section of my website looks much more appealing and engaging. Using movement also gives me more options for demonstrating character, emotion and narrative, bringing my characters to life could make them more appealing to clients, publishers and agents. Developing new skills can also benefit my practice massively, I am only starting out learning animation but when I become proficient at it I can complete a wider range of jobs. I am seeing animated illustrations used for advertising and marketing more and more so if I am able to do both I will make myself a more appealing option for clients rather than having to pay an illustrator and an animator to complete a project. I am going to continue working on animating more of my illustrations. I already have ideas for some more complex animations that I am not skilled enough to make yet but I want to use those ideas as a target to push me forward.

Scott Bakal Talk

These are my notes from the Scott Bakal talk. It was a really interesting, honest and open talk from a very successful illustrator. It was very reassuring to hear about where his practice was when he left education and how much it has changed to present day. Its good the have it reinforced that you don't have to feel like a finished product when you finish the course and that you constantly evolve and push your practice. One thing that stood out to me the most and I think is a mistake I have made this year is that you shouldn't be producing work purely on what you think people want to see. If you need approval from someone else to give your work value how can you ever be truly confident in it?

He spoke about putting yourself into your work and allowing your experiences, surroundings and personality to inform your practice. Taking time out to find inspiration is also important, go and see new things, gain new perspectives, notice small everyday things that you never looked at in detail before. If everyone is getting inspiration from google images then everyone's work will be the same. 

he also gave us an example of how personal projects can have a huge beneficial impact on your practice both in terms of development and creating exposure to your work exactly as you want it to be seen. Personal project give you the opportunity to showcase your personality through your work with no outside influences and control. The talk was inspiring and also well timed for us to take the ideas and apply them over the summer into our professional lives. 

Scott Bakal

 Can’t be complacent.
Need to challenge yourself constantly

Get your work seen
if you don’t like it doesn’t mean other people won’t

Be healthy
Engage with artistic community
Start sketch booking more

Skulls of ultimate death website

Base work on life experiences
Find inspiration
Roughing

Key words
What symbols would work
Illustration helps explore humanity

New York Times
Swatting

Shows how powerful work can be

Am I free to go
Book cover

When you have an idea that works make it
Look back at roughs from previous jobs

Look at process films on YouTube

Missing out unnecessary lines
Blocks of colour, texture contrasted with line work
Rough edges on sold shapes
Big shape small details


Dream clients can turn out to nightmares

End up being much happier with ‘boring’ clients

Never feel like a finished product
Constant experimentation
Through ideas and materials
Look back and find things you didn’t fully explore

Robert Johnson series
Changed everything
Won lots of awards
Changed direction of career
Ended up in a museum

Keep digital files of previous work
Maybe also annotated
Organised

Three by three
Society of illustrators
Social media

Time management
Understand you practice
Set self deadline before actual deadline in case something goes wrong
Got process sorted, so try to spend as much time as possible on ideas

Believe in your work

Put yourself into work not what you think people want
Show people your work
Allow your experiences to help you find the right direction
Be an artist first then figure out how it fits into the market

James Jean sketch pads

Business Card - Revised Version

Postcard Ideas

I have edited some of my illustrations to use as postcards to take to events like the Hanbury Exhibition and the Bologna Book Fair. I could also send them out with manuscripts to publishers and agents. I tried to pick strong illustrations that represent my practice and that work well in the format and dimensions of a postcard. My older business cards look a bit dull in black and white and I think these illustrations better represent my practice as a whole. I have added my contact info on the back of the postcards including my website address, phone number, email and Instagram account. I thought about adding more colour to the back of the postcard but I think it is important for the contact info to be as clear and easy to read as possible. I think that a nice addition to the back of the card would be a small character ad the side of the contact info to keep a consistent identity throughout my marketing materials.

Laura Carlin Talk

These are my notes from the Laura Carlin talk today. It was the best talk I have been too so far. It was really good to get an open and honest insight into the work and thought process of an imaginative and expressive illustrator. It really interested me the way she thinks about how to communicate subjects. A good example was how you should think outside of the obvious and how that can benefit your work. If you are asked to illustrate a woman you could just draw her, but that would not necessarily tell you anything about her however if you draw the outcome of some of her actions that could demonstrate aspects of her personality. It makes the viewer of the work feel a closer connection to the character. That's not to say that you shouldn't draw the character but that it is a good idea to think well beyond the text or idea you are illustrating. What does the character feel about what they are doing? What are they thinking about?How can this be communicated through their facial expressions or posture. Following on from this is the importance of looking up from your phone more often, noticing the small day to day things that people can relate to. Relying on stock images from google can make your work stagnant and generic. look around and get away from your desk to get inspiration. think about postures and actions you encounter day to day that will not be found in posed photographs. Use your own loves and hates to stimulate your inspiration, this will help make your work individual to you. I feel like this is something I have lost this year. by completing so many briefs i think at times i have reverted back to 'safe' techniques and made literal and quite simple illustrations to communicate narratives. This is something i want to explore more over summer when I have more time. I have printed my current portfolio but would like it to look very different by the end of summer. I want it to demonstrate humour, emotions and character as well as my as well as my skills at character design and landscapes. A lot of people on the course have been worried, feeling they're not ready to jump straight into the world of professional illustration, including myself. It was very reassuring to hear a successful illustrator talk about working in a non illustration based job after university and illustrating on evenings, especially in such as positive light. I have found each year of the course that I learn throughout the year but am only able to properly apply that new knowledge over summer when I have more free time and space. I plan to go to the bologna book fair next year and can use that as a target for me to aim toward so that I don't lose focus over the summer.

Over all the talk today made me want to start experimenting more, both with my practice and with book ideas. It made me realise some things I had been trying to achieve through my illustrations but that I hadn't been able to sum up or even pin down to a specific way of working.







Laura Carlin

The importance of being yourself

If you follow trends your career lifespan will be short
What do you like
What do you hate
What annoys you


Follow up ideas

Don’t be afraid to ask

Start emitting things that aren’t necessary from scenes
Exaggerate things
Change scale

Make books , more books
Teach you to edit your work
Keep folders of things that inspire you


Children’s books
Play- images should be playful
Observe all the time
Don’t miss small details
Look up from your phone
Don’t illustrate everything
Pose questions
Spark the imagination
Don’t repeat the text
Draw just before or just after the action

The woman
Does a picture of her tell you who she is
Could a picture of something else do it better


Don’t need to go straight into full time illustration after uni

The iron man - ted Hughes
Not patronising
doesn't change tone of voice for children

sympathetic to the iron man

Collaboration works for you
They like doing what you hate
And are good at it

Children’s books is tough
End up producing tons of work boiled down to a book
Even people like Jon Klassen struggle
Publishers don’t give children much credit


Try and get into the world you are illustrating
Create the landscape
Storyboard the book, bock in colour and white space
Work starts to look static the more you are familiar with it
Find devices in design to switch up compositions
Devices that fit the narrative
City- close in borders- claustrophobic
Think about body language
Posture
Movement
Can look right without being ‘right’

Ceramics started selling during recession
Started as a hobby on evenings
History is prejudice so I just add a bit more
Learn skills along the way
Could end up being profession, could inform other work

Andre Francois

Create back stories to everything and everyone
What are they doing, where are they going, where have they been, how do they feel about it

Read a text
Watch films with a similar feeling or from a similar time
Then put the book away to gain some distance
Helps to separate from the text

Find people who are honest about your work to get feedback from

Get away from your desk to think
Walk away between stages
Draw through struggles
Don’t panic

Website update screenshots

Portrait, key piece, portfolio front page

Website about me page

In my tutorial last week it was suggested that I change the ‘about me’ Paton my website. The writing was too academic. I have now changed the page, the idea is to demonstrate my storytelling skills and show my enthusiasm. I have tried to show why I enjoy what I do and what I aim to communicate through my work. It is strange trying to change my style of writing after the cop module this year but is something I have already been practicing while writing children’s books. The tone is completely different and so is sentence structure. Repetition can be a useful tool with this style of writing, especially within narratives when trying to create a rhythm to the story. Writing in a more expressive way about my work is something I need to get more comfortable with, it is easy to make things sound cheesy or pompous if not thought out properly and it is harder to judge what is appropriate when their is more leeway to be creative. I am going to show my reworked about me page at the crit on Friday and get some feedback.

Original about page text

"I am a 33 year old freelance illustrator currently working in Leeds. I specialise in narrative based illustrations, in particular children's literature and comics. I like to write and illustrate children's books that are both stimulating and fun. I enjoy communicating humour, character, atmosphere and emotion through my work. Most of all I love telling stories.

Feel free to contact me by email or telephone with any questions."

updated 

"I love to tell stories...

from epic adventures of monsters and new worlds to the magic of everyday events we take for granted. Stories full of weird and wonderful characters that are more like us than would first appear. characters that laugh, cry and grow just like us. The most far fetched fantastical story can teach us about our real lives and the simplest and most mundane situation can be the most magical."