New Scientist

A few articles from the new scientist website regarding deep sea exploration.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9967-instant-expert-mysteries-of-the-deep-sea.html

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19926701.100-comment-the-seabed-is-one-of-the-last-frontiers-on-earth.html

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17242-robot-sub-reaches-the-worlds-deepest-abyss.html

Deep Sea Exploration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyBO10VhVmc

This is a video of some of the amazing creatures you can find in the deep sea, just one of the reasons that I think much more money and effort should be put into the developement of deep sea exploration.

Dialogue Ignites Change Brief - Water

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewSmN4rua6w

Just one of the things I looked up recently in my research into the latest brief, the floods that have recently devastated villages in Cumbria.

Colloborative Project Retrospective

Having now finished the colloborative project, I think it went very well. I really enjoyed working with the people on my team and I think we produced a good peice of work. I certianly enjoyed coming up with ideas as a team, as I think sometimes I can get stuck in a rut when generating ideas solo. I think the main success of the project was that we all put an equal amount of effort in, it reminds me of something Louise Vormittag of ContainerPlus said in her lecture, that it was necessary for each member of the team to have the same level of commitment, I think this was the case and that this was one of the keys to the project working well. Altogether I thouroughly enjoyed the project and I am happy with the final result.

Andy Martin

We recently had a presentation by illustrator Andy Martin regarding illustration in general and also the nature of collaboration. Andy gave some real gems of wisdom, he commented that it was good to have a bit of conflict in our projects, as it will prepare us for similar situations in real life.
Also he described how sometimes art directors can ask for too much in an illustration, and then the piece just becomes a description of the article it was meant for, rather than a good piece of illustration. This related to me as sometimes I will think too literally and try to include too much in the illustration, when it can be conveyed in a much simpler, more subtle way.
The presentation was very interesting and Andy was a genuinely nice guy with a great sense of humour.

www.andy-martin.com

Louise Vormittag - ContainerPlus

We recently had a lecture from Lousie Vormittag of ContainerPlus, which was very informative, enjoyable, and a good insight into the ups and downs of collaborative work.
Louise had some gems of wisdom, such as having the same level of commitment is necessary to a healthy working relationship and that it is good to learn from the strengths and weaknesses of the different members of your team. She also commented on how making your group bigger can be a mistake as it is harder to come to decisions with many different peoples opinions.
Louise also said that it is important to have real conversations with your team members when discussing ideas, and that there is no room for a big ego in a team.
Also a she said something that I think would apply to anyone taking on commissioned work; "sort out money issues before money becomes an issue".

Altogether a very interesting lecture and a thoroughly nice lady.

www.containerplus.co.uk

Hardie

I came across a great illustrator called Hardie, I love the grapic novel - like style of the dark black and high contrast, the way the figures are dealt with really speaks to me.





Hardie's page on the Association of Illustrators website.

Aasha

Again browsing the AOI website I have come across a brilliant Illustrator; Aasha. Her beautifully painted figures are so free and loose yet so expressive and emotive, I am really jealous of her ability to express the figure in very loose marks without getting obsessed over details, and also how some parts are left out but it serves only to make the image more interesting.

Her work reminds me quite a lot of David Downton as they both have a very expressive, loose style.

Aasha's page on the AOI website

Thomas Brill

I was just browsing the AOI website when I came across an Illustrator called, Thomas Brill, I think his work is really great, the line work is fantastic and I really like the way he deals with the human figure.


Thomas Brill's page on the AOI site.

George Bellows

I recently went to see an exhibition at the Whitworth Art Gallery, of American printmakers and discovered the work of George Bellows, in particluar, "a stag at sharkey's". This brilliant print is such a great action shot, I can really feel the movement of the two boxers and the physical struggle that is happening.

Figure Project: Abstracters

Paul Wearing
Lasse Skarbovik


These are two great designers I've researched who abstract the figure in their designs. Paul Wearing creates brilliant figures with a slightly abstract feel, but their is an inherent strength and cohesion to them. Lasse Skarbovik's use of shapes to build up the figure is very simple but looks amazing and gives off a great character to his designs, strecthing the limit of what the figure can do and be.

www.lasseskarbovik.com

www.paulwearing.co.uk

Figure Project: Stylists

Jonny Hannah

Gary Taxali

Christopher Corr

These are some of the artists I've researched who deal with the figure in quite a stylistic way.
Jonny Hannah's brilliant figures are simple but really evoke the message of his illustrations.
Gary Taxali often repeats the same characters in his works, his figures are beautifully drawn and give off a real sense of personality.
Christopher Corr's vibrant images have a great sense of fun and his stylised characters fit perfectly with this.

Jonny Hannah's works
www.garytaxali.com
www.christophercorr.com

Figure Project: Drawers

Some belated research for the figure project...

Firstly we have Ian Pollock, a fantastic illustrator, his quick, erratic mark making really gives his drawings a characterful quality and captures the essence of the person who it is depicting.



This is a piece of work by David Hughes, his drawings are brilliant and his style is very reminiscent of charicatures, I really enjoy the quality of line in his work.




These are a couple of illustrations by David Downton, his drawings are amazing, his expressive, free style is something I really envy, as is the way he leaves things out but it still makes sense as an image.



www.ianpollock.co.uk
www.davidhughesillustration.co.uk
www.daviddownton.com

Animation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuGaqLT-gO4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uad17d5hR5s

These are two fantastic videos of stop motion animation paintings done by artist "blu", they have been my main point of reference for my work so far, and I was sure almost from the minute Eleanor showed me them that I wanted to work in a similar way. The looseness and character of the images really appeal to me the most.

Critical Studies - Artist and their influences...

The artist I chose was John Howe, on of my favourite artists, he named some of his influences as Frank Frazetta, the Godfather of fantasy art, and Barry Smith, a great comic book artist who has produced some brilliant work for a "Conan" series of comics. The fact that Howe named these people as his influences doesnt surprise me all that much as Howe's work is also very figurative and based on myths and legends or fantasy themes. However, Howe's work is brilliantly informed by his extensive knowledge of arms and armour from many different periods.

John Howe

Frank Frazetta

Barry Smith

www.john-howe.com
www.frankfrazetta.org
www.barrywindsor-smith.com

Shaped By Fate - They Told Me You Were Dead

This is a video I found while listening to some music, reminds me of the Basic Design Module for some reason... The mixture of animation and film is brilliant especially from about 2mins30 onwards...

Juan Gimenez

Just a quick post... I recently discovered a brilliant fantasy illustrator named Juan Gimenez, his

pieces are fantastic from his colour pallete to composition this guy is awesome.

http://www.juangimenez.com/

Bastian Sobtzick

I recently bought an album and thought cover and inside sleeve work was amazing. Its by a guy called Bastian Sobtzick, I think its screen printed, I love the style and most of his covers are for heavy metal bands which helps...

www.bastibasti.de

Tanaka Ikko

Ikko deserves a mention as his use of shape, composition and space has really informed my work, also Japanese culture in general, there is something about his work how things just sit right that I think I sub-consciously strive for in my own work...

Matisse

I thought a quick word about some of the people who have inspired me in the 1st year of my study mite be a good place to start. Matisse is definitley somebody I should mention as I really like using shape and silhouettes in my work and theres no-one betterthan Matisse for that...

Finally!

Finally setup the blog and just getting to grips with the site so bear with me, some stuff ont he way soon...