Reading over my previous blog post about my
hopes and fears, I have realised that my hopes and fears have changed since the
beginning of my final year. I have come to a few realisations regarding my job
prospects, my style and the way I work.
Hopes
One of my initial hopes was to refine my style
at the beginning of the year. Initially it was thought that using pen and ink
would be the route that I would take my style, improving on the techniques that
I was using and encompassing cross-hatching. But on reflection I have always
thought my greatest pieces have been where I have used digital methods to
create illustrations. And so, I decided to leave the pen and ink behind and go
back to my digital illustration roots. This has meant that my illustrations
look more professional and I can produce these images easily and quickly. Over
the course of my major project I have learnt that I can develop some really
nice work from an initial sketch, then refine and colour the piece in
Illustrator. I have been using limited colour within these illustrations and
cross-hatching the images digitally, which I have become quite skilful at. I’m
already starting to see some interesting results with this new working method
and am starting to gain more confidence in my ability to be a professional
illustrator.
I have also found from my major project that I
can compose a character from a small amount of text. I have realised that I
prefer to create surreal images and characters, rather than characters that
have no substance. I read through many autobiographies for my major project and
found that many of them did not sustain my interest or evoke amusing imagery.
The best books I found for evoking imagery were “Boy” by Roald Dahl and
Alexi Sayles “Stalin Ate My Homework”. Roald Dahl was a surreal and creative
writer and I think this kind of text with it’s surreal content is what works
best for me in terms of coming up with ideas for me to illustrate. I would hope
to illustrate other children’s stories and will be looking to find editorial
work for newspapers and magazines in the future. My ultimate dream is to be a
character designer, maybe for Disney.
Fears
I still have the same fear that I may not be
able to find illustration work after I finish my degree, but I believe the best
way to overcome this fear is to get out there and promote myself and not be so
nervous about getting knock backs. It’s taken me a while to update my
portfolio, but I’m really proud of the content that’s currently in there and I
think It best represents my style and who I am. I have received some feedback
from my previous employer saying that they find my illustrations are of a
higher standard than the illustrator that they currently use. They mentioned
that they would be in touch with any illustration work that comes their way. I
have a few contacts from when I worked in the design industry and hope that if
I keep networking alongside my employment, I will be able to build up a
substantial client base. Upon looking for design employment, I have noticed
that a lot of companies now are asking for web design experience. This is
something that I do not possess, and I am worried that I may not be able to get
a position within the art industry at all! As mentioned in my previous post, I
must have a regular income with a family to support, so I may not have a choice
but to take a regular “job”, rather than a career.
If I am unable to secure a position within the
design industry, I may have to do an additional web design course to open doors
back into the design industry.
My confidence would need to be increased
further if I am to be successful as a freelance illustrator. I need to have a
thicker skin and make sure that the confidence knocks that I may receive do not
make me quit from the path of illustration.
Opportunities
I will make sure that I utilise the contacts I
have acquired over the 14 years I have been in the design industry. This may be
to acquire a position within a company doing graphic design, or to build a
client base for my illustration work. I am hoping that I will not have to
complete further courses to get where I would like to be and would ultimately
love to be a character designer. I feel my work is now well on it’s way to
being of a professional standard, as well as my portfolio. I will need to keep updating
my website with further pieces and hopefully I will be in a better position in
a few months time to build my own website.
Now that I’m feeling more confident with my
portfolio I will start making opportunities for myself by sending work out to
design agencies in the my local area and contact the agencies I visited for the
portfolio visits. I have already made a hit list of editorial clients I want to
send work samples to and I plan to start putting my plan into action next week.
I need to widen my scope a bit more and make
more connections within the world of illustration and if I can make it to one
of the Draw North West meets one evening this could be helpful. I also found
Leeds Comic Con was a brilliant place to make connections with professional
illustrators and am really looking forward to going there again this year armed
with my business cards and samples of work.
I really enjoyed the opportunity to learn a
little bit on Adobe After Effects with the transformation animation and
although I was more confident in drawing everything by hand I found it useful
as it helped me to get my head round Flash. Now I know the basics I will be
looking to make more animations from my vector work.
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