At the end of last
semester I wrote ‘Hopes, Fears and Opportunities (Part 1)’, reflecting on work
I had done up until that point in third year, and stating my aims for the
future. It’s been really interesting to look back at that piece of writing for
the first time in about six months, and see if I’d actually achieved any of my
aims, and how my thoughts and feelings have changed.
The aims I set myself for
the rest of the year were to come up with a good brief for FMP that had lots of
mileage and would hopefully improve the quality of my work and help me find a
clearer direction and confidence in my way of working. Secondly, to work with
other students again as I had a lot of fun earlier in third year making
Christmas cards etc, and finally to build up my portfolio in order to get work
when I leave.
I really didn’t remember
what goals I had specifically set myself until I read back over the piece of
writing, but I think I’ve achieved each of them to a certain extent. In terms
of my FMP, I really tried to go into it with just a strong subject matter in
mind rather than any ideas of a final product, so that I knew whatever the
outcome, I’d enjoy and find the subject matter interesting throughout. For this
I chose space and underwater exploration as my subject matter, which I really
knew very little about so it’s been really great being able to do lots of research;
reading and watching documentaries etc., and learning all about these two
worlds, and then trying to create images from them. I’ll leave the pros and
cons of deciding to do this until my project evaluation, but choosing to do a
project on space and underwater exploration definitely gave me a lot of
mileage. Looking back at the work I’ve created too, I definitely think the
project has helped me improve both the look of my work, and also my confidence
in that particular way of working. I think I’ve become a bit quicker at working
which has in turn meant that I’ve tried to put more into each image than I
might have done at the start of the year; been a little more ambitious,
although I think and hope there is still a lot more I can do to improve the
quality of finish and ideas in my work.
As well as working on my
FMP project, I’ve tried to take other opportunities for work that have come my
way, which has been really positive, but I did mean I had less time to devote
to my FMP project than I would have liked. For instance, I spent the first two
weeks of FMP working on my Scarab animation with Tom for the Manchester Museum
Bug Event. It was good to learn a bit more about animation and also how long it
can take to do it, I think I underestimated the amount of work that goes into
it so it was a bit of a challenge to get everything made for the animation in
time! I also spent some time re-doing my Little White Lies ‘Super 8’ cover, to
attempt my first portrait more in my own style than just drawing from a still
like I’d done earlier. I’ve also recently done a poster for the next Draw North
West event, and had a couple of editorial illustration commissions, so these
were opportunities I really couldn’t pass up, and will hopefully be good for building
up my portfolio in regards to getting more work in the future.
I’ve also tried to work
with other students where possible. The Scarab animation was collaboration, and
I’ve also worked with students making cards and running a stall to fund raise money
for D&AD New Blood. A group of four of us (Matt, Jordan, Kris and I) have
also joined forces to hopefully work on a collaborative project in the near
future which I’m excited about, and will no doubt yield much better work than I
could do on my own. I really hope to be able to work with other students again
after we’ve finished, as the quality of work I’ve seen and the broad range of
skills that people seem to have has been incredible, so I think it would be a
missed opportunity to not try and work together in the future. Fingers crossed.
Although I haven’t had as
many portfolio visits this semester as I did before Christmas, I think the trip
down to London and the visits there were invaluable. Not just with the advice
that was given (which was equally as good as from people here in Manchester)
but more for the fact that it made the idea of trying to get work from down in
London a bit less scary than it was before. Both the people we met down there
and the people we spoke to on the phone
(an idea I think we were all devastated by to begin with) were generally really
nice and approachable, so it made getting work seem more of a possibility than
before.
Whilst in London we also
had the opportunity to go and visit some galleries and exhibitions. The Pick MeUp graphic arts fair was a really good thing to go and see as it seemed really relevant
to the type of work illustrators are producing and was a fantastic showcase,
and is something I think we’d all love to be involved with in the future. Also
going to meet ups like the Draw North West events has been really positive I
think, as it’s a great way to talk to people and get advice about your work and
getting work in the industry, and is something I’d definitely recommend and
will continue to go to after I leave uni.
Makes you feel a bit more part of a group rather than just on your
own...
Overall, I think when looking
back at my work and aims from earlier in the year in comparison to know, I have
achieved them to some extent, and I definitely think my work has improved, or
my confidence and enjoyment in how I work has increased at least. I’ve worked
on some interesting projects both in and out for uni and been able to work with
other students. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep doing this after I leave.
My plans for the future
are to hopefully keep producing work and work on my self-promotion to try and
get a few more commissions. I really want to keep up the momentum of producing
work and working with other people because I think it’s really vital to keep a
presence and not disappear, which I’m sure it’s very easy to do especially when
I get a day job. I think meeting with other illustrators and working on collaborations
like the one a group of us have got planned, will help with this, and also
entering competitions and creating your own work to sell would be a good idea.
I really don’t want to lose links with uni either and would love to go back and
help do stuff there in the future also. I’m pretty scared at the moment but I’ll
just have to wait and see what the future holds....
Thanks everyone!
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