End of Module Evaluation

This module was much more self-directed and independently driven than previous modules, it gave me the freedom to select and conduct briefs that are relevant to my practice. Whilst I did try to make the most of course-directed briefs in other modules and solve the problem of these not necessarily suiting my practice, I appreciated choosing more specific challenges in this module. For example, my interest in model-making and 3D illustration is quite niche so I chose briefs I knew could fit my practice (LAIKA Challenge and ADQ Submissions) and wrote my own briefs to suit my process (Classic Stories). This freedom also allowed me to explore and research themes I am passionate about, such as storytelling and world-building.

It was refreshing to see so many different directions in the mega crits with all of my peers pursuing their individual interests. Being able to choose the briefs we undertook meant that the images made were fuelled by unique objectives rather than just to fulfil the learning outcomes. The work I have produced in this module will fill the majority of my professional portfolio because they are briefs I am enthusiastic about and would be happy to talk about to clients.

I have definitely built on my confidence levels since first year. I attended every tutorial and tried to get the most out of these by preparing pitches and questions to get the feedback I needed from my peers and tutors. I took on board feedback I was given, making the necessary amendments and learned not to take constructive criticism to heart. As we all were doing completely different briefs, I didn’t catch myself worrying about what anyone else was doing or how I compared at all. I have overcome a lot of the anxiety I suffer with and I have changed my perspective from viewing myself as a student to considering myself as an

 artist, which will be important in beginning my career. I am no longer terrified to work without direction from my tutors because this module has shown me that I am capable and can make decisions myself.

In working more independently this year, I made decisions about how I could best use my time. I organised my time efficiently and made action plans to keep my projects running on track. I didn’t use the studios at college as much as I could have because my work was mostly 3D and required a larger amount of space than was available in the studio. Working from home also provided me with more time to work because I wasn’t spending as many hours commuting. I didn’t use my blog as much to reflect on my progress as I have in previous years but I spent more time in this module making than writing which I think is evident in the quantity of work I have produced.

I have learned new skills in this module, such as creating atmospheric lighting and giving the illusion of depth in a miniature scene. I do still have a lot more to learn (for example, about making industry standard armatures) but I hope to always be learning and improving, not just in my time as a student but in my career beyond.

Collaborating with an animator, Stacy Straub, gave me valuable insight into the roles involved in stop-motion and how I could fit into this industry. I learned a lot from working with Stacy and we formed a productive working relationship. I also collaborated with event organiser Gaynor Gray for the Fairytale Hunt. Collaborating gave me a great experience of working professionally, communicating and organising projects collectively. I would have liked to collaborate more in this module as I can see that this would have pushed my work even further. I am excited by the prospects of working as part of a team to share skills and knowledge and I am sure I will collaborate again in the future, especially with animators.

I much prefer longer projects so this module has been the most rewarding as I had the time to fully dedicate myself to projects. I put a lot of effort into Whistle-Stop Thistle, my biggest project yet, and was pleased to finish the course with a fully-realised children’s book. Whistle-Stop Thistle is a project I will be taking forwards and developing further. This has become a world I believe in and want to continue expanding. I achieved everything I set out to in my statement of intent and I am really proud of the work I have produced in this module.

DESIGN BOARDS

STATEMENT OF INTENT

Notable Moments

October

‘Who Am I?’ Pitch: I presented a pitch about my work and my practice, in usual Jay-style in the form of an elaborate poem and a film (here) using clips of my collections, things that inspire me and the things I have enjoyed making so far on the course. Who I am is a storyteller, a maker and a performer. Doing this pitch helped me to establish where I stand in the industry (somewhere between a model maker and a children’s book illustrator) and how I could build on the skills I have developed so far. This task also encouraged me to reflect on the briefs I have enjoyed in previous modules and to consider the sort of briefs I want to work on in this module (more research, longer projects and plenty of stories).

My main aim for the module is to have fun and make work I am proud of to go into my portfolio!

Confessional Statement: This task asked us to move out of our comfort zones, address an area of illustration we weren’t familiar with or to use a medium we avoid. I chose to explore scene building instead of relying on real-world backgrounds in my work. ‘In first year I approached briefs with an open mind and tried to be innovative. Taking risks and being explorative was important to me, but over the second year I lost that playful quality. I got used to the same process of making dolls and relied on this because it felt comfortable. Experimentation with media was unnecessary because I’d found something that worked. Making to the same ‘formula’ was restrictive. I never allowed myself chance to make in different materials/improve. I became quite arrogant and my work became stiff. There was some success in this: an exhibition and lots of commissions, however, I’m bored of making that work and want to break away from my habitual process. Also found myself holding back from making sets/scenes/props because I was spending so much time making dolls. I’m bored with using the same garden backdrop and really want to construct scenes!’ (full statement here)

Confessional Statement Visual Response: (see outcomes here) ‘Taking time to do what I've wanted to do for so long but have avoided since I've been spending so much time making dolls. I finally made a scene! Really happy with how it looks, it does look ready to use for an animation. Used really simple painted backdrops inspired by Chris Sickels and his combination of 3D props and flat illustrated backdrops. Worked well, adds a lot more interest than a boring plain white wall and demonstrates more skill and more imagination than using the garden all the time... BRINGING BACK PLAY! I had fun making this. Building the scene allowed me to make, place, change, re-arrange until I was happy with how the whole thing looked. Reminding me of my How Hill project in Level 4 and how much I enjoyed controlling the whole scene I made of the landscape in felting wool.’

Extending the Visual Response: I took the project a step further, pushing it and extending beyond what was asked in the brief and using the set with dolls I already had in the studio. (see extended outcomes here) ‘The painted backdrops make the image so much more interesting to look at as a work of art than if I'd used natural scenery. I also felt proud looking at these images and knowing that I had controlled and produced everything in the image, from the doll right down to the fence. By making the scene, I was also responsible for all of the colours in the shot which allowed me to design my own colour scheme.’

December

Time Management: Struggling a little to balance the overlapping modules. ‘One thing I am struggling with is time management/project management and routines. I'm keeping on top of everything but I do feel as though I am juggling and that without a clear routine I might drop something.’

Action Plans: Organising my time and working logically through briefs (example here).

Briefs: After a Megacrit on the 4^th (here), I realised that live briefs and competitions aren't the most important thing - I should be choosing briefs that are relevant to my interests, skills and portfolio. Choosing briefs that I found exciting rather than ones that would look impressive in my submission! ‘The idea of making images for an existing book was appealing to me, but the competition and the Folio brand is what ruined it for me. I'm going to make illustrations using models for existing classic for MYSELF and MY OWN PORTFOLIO, not to please a company competition. I do hope that certain publishers or clients would find these attractive, but I need to be specific and aim for the ones I would want to work for in the future.’

Fairytale Trail: I collaborated with Gaynor Gray for the Fairytale trail which gave me a useful experience of working professionally with individuals outside of the university environment and meeting to discuss plans (here). The focus of this brief was on the event rather than the dolls as illustrations or products so the biggest part of this brief for me was seeing the reactions of children doing the hunt. The trail was a huge success and all the winners were photographed with the character they discovered (here’s one of the blog posts about this). ‘There was such an enchanting buzz around the city and I'm so pleased with how well it went. The trail has got my name out there a little more, since all Ripon residents get a Review Ripon through their door and lots of people took part in the hunt, but it feels so great to be part of something that has made all these children smile and actively support their community.’

February

The End of Cop: The submission of my dissertation and the end of Cop made way for a lot more time to spend on Extended Practice. I was ready to play but also ready to sink my teeth into some bigger projects after skirting along the top of smaller ones.

Scenes:  Experimenting with lighting and atmosphere in the lion the witch and wardrobe scene - attention to detail, ‘Shining light through the window adds a real mood and atmosphere to the dark room. It's really mysterious and adds to Lucy's curiosity.’ (images here) ‘the illustration doesn't have to be an exact copy of the text, or it would be boring. I'm being selective and directing the scenes from the text, not spoon feeding the reader’. Making images for portfolio and 'vanity' projects, trying to produce images that look like full illustrations – considered, composed and refined (more images and reflection here)

Another Pitch: Using my tone of voice, passion for performing and telling stories by presenting my pitch as a dramatic poem again. (here) Presenting in this way gives me a lot more confidence, makes me stand out and be remembered by an audience. It suits the way I think, work and explain things so this is definitely the way to go for me!

Group Crit: (blog post here) ‘It was suggested that I do some collaboration, working with different disciplines, or at least consider how this project could be improved/extended by working with others. As a director or working in an animation studio, I would have lots of different people with different skills that could help in bringing a world like this to life.’ Starting to think about my career path and how this project could prepare me for that. Shortly after this mega crit and being given feedback about working as part of a bigger team unit, I plucked up the courage and determination to apply for a work placement in the design team for BBC Children’s.

Character Design: (here are some character design sketches for Whistle-Stop Thistle) ‘I've not drawn for a while and I know I often overlook it/avoid it in briefs in favour of MAKING but I have had fun drawing these characters and I definitely have spent longer figuring out who these characters are than I usually do. I like the big, round shape of the bodies - think this could be a distinctive 'characteristic' of the Thistle-folk that makes them distinctly recognisable.’

March

Research: I conducted a lot of research into my audience, product, market and similar projects. I looked at SoftStories (here) ‘I love how their worlds are very obviously and unapologetically handmade; they let the material show (cardboard and felt) and don't try to hide its rough edges or make it look perfectly crisp. They seem to celebrate the fact that all of these items are made by hand and encourage children to get creative too.’ I fell in love all over again with Smallfilms (here), discovered the Whatamagump (here) ‘They've been really active online on social media throughout the process, sharing behind the scenes images and footage of the team on-set which is lovely to see as it makes the entire product more personal and inviting. The creators are only human and they have made all this work! Using Instagram in this way demonstrates just how much work they have put into the book too. I think this would help to sell the book as it is intriguing and engaging for artists and art-lovers to see this kind of content that goes into the production, they know that the book is a product of value and that the team have put a great deal of work into making the story that they might buy in order to support these artists.’ and analysed the merchandise and products of Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom (here).

Making: Using skills practised in smaller briefs and applying to a bigger project (WST). Spending a lot of time in my studio at home making, testing and playing. Having a lot of fun! Lighting (experiments here) makes a difference in set design and atmosphere! Something I'd never really tried before. Using the blog to upload photos of my buildings in progress then stepping back to reflect on how they look (here) and (here).

May

Collaboration with Stacy Straub: I worked with animation student Stacy Straub to create a looping short animation for LoopdeLoop. I made a puppet and Stacy animated it (video here). This collaboration was really valuable as I learned how I can work with animators, what they would expect from me and how different animators have different skills that suit different puppets/forms of animation. Stacy and I worked really well together and will be doing so again.

Final Products: I put so much work into this module, especially for WST I am really proud to finish the course with a book (Blurb link here) I love, some more experience of animation (trailer link here) and a portfolio of work I have enjoyed putting together. If I was asked by a client to do more work like this then I would be ecstatic. I am pleased to have work I can exhibit at the EOYS and a portfolio to take out into the industry.

FINAL MEGA CRIT

The LAST EVER CRIT. Feeling a bit emotional!

What I saw:
Kyle's Books! Kyle has done an awful lot of work this module and I hadn't seen much of it as we were in different tutor groups. I always look forward to seeing Kyle's work because he invests a lot of time into learning new methods of storytelling (AR, VR, 3D Printing, laser engraving etc) and this module was no different. He had two finished book projects on display which was incredible to see and he had printed and bound his children's book himself. Impressive, inventive and inspiring. I don't know how he does it!
Joe's portfolio - Joe has used this module to practice areas of illustration that he knew clients, publishers and agents would want to see. He has finished the module with a really well developed portfolio full of character designs, sketches, compositions and narratives. He has used the module to prepare himself for going into the industry which is brilliant and a really productive use of his time. Do I have enough of this sort of work in my portfolio? Do I need two separate portfolios - one for model making and one for illustration?
Sophia's Spreads - Sophia hasn't limited herself to just one area of illustration, but has demonstrated in her portfolio that she can adapt to a range of ages, genres and contexts. Is my portfolio too specific? Too niche?

What my peers liked
Professionalism of the book - this isn't my handiwork so feeling a bit bad about that!
The detail and amount of work - great to get some recognition for this. I was worried that because I couldn't bring the town in that my space in the mega crit would look small and as though I hand't done much work but people could see in the book and the photos that I had actually put a lot of hours into this and that everything (except the artificial flowers) they saw in the images had been MADE.
The story - I am pleased with my story and I love writing them! I'm glad that it was well received.

What I will do now
BE PROUD - I need to take a step back and appreciate what I've achieved.
Start to look into the submission process for publishers, who I would want to work for, what I need to know.
CONTINUE MAKING.

BOOK PRINTED!

My book arrived from Blurb and I am so happy with it! I managed to get the book finished before I went to the BBC last week because I knew I wouldn't have time after that to print and bind it myself. I'm glad I did because my week at the BBC was incredibly busy.

It does feel like a bit of a shame that I didn't bind it myself and maybe that makes me look a bit lazy but Blurb did a way better job than I could have done. It's so neat, professional and beautiful! 

What worked:

My favourite part of the book is the yellow binding design, it brightens the whole book up and it just seems reminiscent of Little Golden Books or old cloth-bound books to have the yellow bind come over the sides.

I'm happy with the story and really proud that I managed to finish the whole book. A massive achievement!

It's great to see the book in the flesh and having a tactile copy should be useful in demonstrating the book to publishers.

With spending the last couple of weeks designing the book and putting the photos together, I'd almost forgotten just how much MANUAL WORK went into building the set and it really does look impressive to see it in print, all the tiny details! The proof is in the proverbial pudding.

To improve:

The text on the spine is slightly too big so comes over the edges a tiny bit.

Some of the photos appear a bit dark. Perhaps this is something to do with my laptop screen and how it appears differently on there to how it does in print/on a different screen.

I'm not sure about the typeface I chose inside the book anymore. It seems a bit clunky and not soft, rounded enough for children. It also doesn't fit that well within the cloud shapes on all of the images so this could be neatened up (especially with the help of a graphic designer).

What's next?

Approach a publisher?

Self-publish?

Will need to do some research into this before making any rash decisions! If I got a publishing deal for this book would the publishers own the rights to the world?

Better photos of the finished book - collab with photographer

ANIMATE THE WHOLE STORY? A post-uni project perhaps...

The next story!

Make promo material/merchandise?

Whistle-Stop Thistle Trailer

Whistle-Stop Thistle Trailer from Jay Stelling on Vimeo.

Rachel suggested that I should do some more animation and I did really enjoy making the animations I did so I would LOVE to do more! Model-making for television/film is what I'm really interested in at the moment so it would be great experience and relevant work for my portfolio. I'd love to get more people involved, make some real music for a television proposal and get real animators to have a play with these puppets BUT time is running short! Really short.

I go to the BBC next week so that's a whole week out before the deadline. Unfortunately I don't have time to make any more animations, but the idea of making a trailer/sting for my book caught my attention so much that I used WHAT I ALREADY HAD to make something that resembles a book trailer... I used a clip of stop-motion I'd tried out earlier and then used After Effects to pan across the huge image of Whistle-Stop Thistle.

What works well:
Offers readers an engaging and dynamic view of Whistle-Stop Thistle.
Brings the world to life
Extends the 'brand'

With more time:
The panning scene could have had small elements of animation happening within it (blinking, waving, walking)
Interactive element for Whistle-Stop Thistle (online game, website, app - I could still propose these)
Pitch for a children's TV Series
Pitch for a series of books (more stories in the same format)
Whistle-stop products/merchandise

LUCKY CLOVER FINAL VIDEO

Lucky Clover from Stacy Straub on Vimeo.

This is our finished looping animation!
So exciting to see a proper animation using my puppet. Stacy has done a wonderful job and I really like the little sound effects she's done too. Stacy and I have similar tastes in stop-motion animation so I think we made a good team to collaborate. We had similar visions for this which was useful in that there wasn't much compromising/arguing to do!

What I would do differently next time:
I didn't plan this puppet because I was busy working on WST at the time so this was just something I put together very quickly. Next time I would like to storyboard the narrative, design the character and plan what I will be making before I start.
Find a way to make the doll's feet heavier and flatter on the bottom so they don't move about.
I would like to be more involved with the animation next time, just to see how Stacy worked her magic and did this would be interesting.

Puppet for Stacy Straub

I made a very quick doll for Stacy to animate. Nothing in particular, just a quick girl in a flower dress because that's what my hands wanted to make. Really intrigued to see how Stacy will animate this. Because I'm busy with my own project, Stacy will be animating this on her own. It's quite nice to step away and let someone else do the animating instead of trying to do everything myself but I am curious to see how Stacy does this/see what I can learn from her in the animation studio.

Now time for Stacy to work her magic! Here she's attached a rig to keep the doll in place and moving smoothly.

She's been sending me video updates over messenger... the puppet is coming to life! 

We're going to work together again when there's more time, I hope to make some better puppets that I actually plan and put some more effort into so we can animate those.

I could make some sets to animate too!

Re-Formatting for Createspace?

If I DO want to sell these books then I would have to make them more affordable... The copies I ordered from BLURB were over £27 COST price each EX VAT and excluding postage. I could make a paperback copy through BLURB but this would still be around £15 plus postage it seems...

Amazon has a self-publishing platform called CreateSpace which I was looking at using as it is really cheap to produce books through this HOWEVER they don't do landscape formats! This seems to be a common factor in book printing, landscape it costly and not many companies offer it.
So if I use CreateSpace I will have to reformat the book to a square (8.5x8.5)
I've also heard that the quality isn't very good and the trimming is often wrong.

BOOK SENT TO PRINT THROUGH BLURB

http://www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore/invited/7587479/ff6a645b6287c966d473adf73976da32075b48d4

It's ready to go! I'm finally happy with all the pages, the covers and the yellow spine is definitely my favourite part. I've uploaded it to Blurb and it's ready to be printed as a hardcover book with an imagewrap cover. The books I've had from Blurb before have been really professional and great quality so I hope it works just as well with my 3D illustration.

I'm so excited to see it printed and I've ordered two copies as there was a special offer.

BOOK AMENDED 3

Amendments: 
New back cover as the previous version looked more like an interior page. Still doesn't quite fit in with the front cover.

Book Amended 2

Amendments:
After a tutorial with Rachel, it was suggested that I should increase the line spacing for child readers. I had looked into this already and thought the spacing was big(ger than usual documents) (20pt) but after comparing in print against Maggie Rudy's City Mouse, Country Mouse I did notice that her spacing is much bigger!

(example of a page in a Maggie Rudy book)

I increased from 20pt to 30pt and it's made the lines much clearer to read without getting jumbled.

Fonts and Sizes

http://childrensbookcreation.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/typography-for-early-readers.html

I wasn't sure how big to make the type and how much of the page it should take up but when searching for 'average font size for children's books' I found this post which shows the best fonts to use for children's books and the best size and line spacing for young readers.

BOOK TEST

I've got most of the pictures sorted but how should I integrate the type? There are so many different colours in all of the images that black text or white text over the image would just get lost. Maybe white boxes for the type to sit in but would this take away from the images?

Meeting with Stacy Straub

After a week of trying to meet Stacy and our timetables clashing, we finally managed to meet today!
Stacy was working in the stop-motion room of Animation (I didn't know this room existed!) which is a great space dedicated to practical animation so it's very messy and filled with little props.

I got to see what Stacy has been working on for her big extended practice project: a 3-minute stop-motion animation using big felt character puppets she made.
Stacy let me hold them and see how they worked: the arms are removable and are connected by copper tubing.

Connections: Stacy's boyfriend works in metal and construction so he was able to help her to produce door knobs, a curtain rail and some miniature scissors.

Future Projects: Stacy wants to go into the animation industry and said that if I ever need anything animating, even if it's just for fun/post-uni, she would be happy to do that for me. I said that if Stacy ever needs some extra hands or has a project that requires pro

Front Cover?

Look at existing covers and see what works

Chris Sickels - The Garbage Barge - focal image character in centre, sky as a mostly block colour for type to sit on around the character. 

Masthead covers about 1/3 of the page

Sets the scene - we can tell this is set at sea but doesn't need to show the whole area

Other children's picture books: bold, block colour backgrounds (lots of yellow!)

Title usually fills the entire width of the book - red or blue writing, author's name bottom right. Main character central underneath masthead.

Struggling a bit with the front cover. A lot of front covers feature the protagonist on the front and little background, but my story has three protagonists and the real focus is the WORLD I have created. This is what the story is about and the title too so I thought the street itself should be the front cover.

More Smallfilms

I'm on a Smallfilms roll. Try and stop me.
'They told stories and created worlds that would leave an almost magical impression on generations of British children.'

What I find 'magical' about the Smallfilms animations:
The worlds they created - they were believable, they weren't completely obscure or threatening, just little parts of our own worlds that only children would wonder about, e.g. how a plush cat could come to life when left alone (Bagpuss).
The stories are whimsical and dream-like, happy and sweet.

How the image making and aesthetic made the animations charming:
Everything looks handmade, not perfectly finished or smooth, but like something that as a child you might imagine you could make too, or that remind you of your own toys.
They weren't trained as animators, so the animations are very wonky/imperfect. You might see a random hand or something jolt where there was a mistake but this just adds to the handmade aesthetic and nostalgic tone.

Reflecting on 60s/70s Influence

I've had lots of feedback from people seeing Whistle-stop Thistle saying that it reminds them of things they watched as a child, charming and wonky stop-motion animation from the 60s/70s, which I take as a HUGE compliment and reassures me that I have achieved the tone I was aiming for.
Animations like Bagpuss, Trumpton, The Herbs are all considered classics and are each distinct worlds that captivated child audiences at the time.
I was definitely influenced by this era of children's entertainment and that is what I was trying to recreate, but I do hope that my book is also something very different and a world all of its own.

I have been reading Oliver Postgate's biography and I sense a reflection of myself within his words. Both in our similarly anxious minds, desire to please others and our passion for world-building. My favourite quote from his biography is this one:
'Magic or not, something was changed in me that day. Perhaps I had found broad space and clarity. There was no going back on that and if the world didn't suit? Well then, I would make another one.'



'The virtue of our films doesn't lie in what they are, it's what they aren't. They're not made by formula, they're not made at enormous expense, they were made just by Peter Firmin and myself...'
'It was a matter of providing enjoyment.' 'We were so bad at animation that we had to have a very good story.'
'The actual stories were driven by the objects. What I had to do was to scout around and find something... and I would put it down in front of Peter... and we would try and think up what its story was, how it got like that.'
Reusing things
Strange, woolly creatures where you're not quite sure where they are
It's through watching them again that you really see what was important to you
The fact that everyone remembers them, that itself is proof of the alue of the work.


Gordon Murray (Trumpton,Camberwick Green,Chigley)'s intentions are not dissimilar to my own: 'To see it on television' 'for the young people who watched it to remember it with pleasure'



A suggested video after watching this was one which showed how Windy Miller was brought to modern audiences for the Quaker Oats commercials. I found it really admirable how the team at Loose Moose had closely examined such details as camera angles and how the puppets moved (the signature 'plod') in order to recreate the classic character and CHARACTERFUL animation.



'In these old animation series they kept things really simple. So stuff like the fact that they don't have a mouth and they don't actually speak when you hear voices... it's a convention that has been established.'
Retro 'style' campaign stands out against everything else that you see as a viewer. It's different and striking in modern Television to see something as handmade as this.

Mixed Group Crit 27/4/18

Present: Ben Farr, Megan Naylor-Wardle, James Moore, Dana Davis, Jay Stelling

What I can take away from others:
James recently worked in television production with a team in Ireland (work experience placement) which he really enjoyed and offered me some advice for when I go to the BBC - be friendly, make them remember you, get involved, take lots of photos if you can.
Consider your portfolio and what you will include.

Feedback on my work:
Strong narrative. Relation of text-image works well.
Not much time left but you have been really organised and know exactly what you need to do to finish on time.
You don't NEED to print the full book for submission! Maybe just have a few finished pages? Print for the exhibition.
Eyes have been digitally enhanced - tone down on some of the darker images where they look a bit too bright/out of place.

Test Book

A vague layout for the book... I've been working towards this book as a 32 page children's book with the idea of submitting it to MacMillan children's book prize, but as the deadline got closer I realised I didn't need that extra pressure of submitting to this. I just want to make a book, I don't need to submit it to a competition to validate that.

I could self-publish through BLURB which I have used before. The quality of production there is really great and the books I have had printed have been really beautiful but they are expensive. An alternative could be AMAZON which is really cheap but I have never used them before and the quality I'm sure will be lacking in comparison.
Should I be printing myself? I don't really have the time and my intention for this brief was to illustrate a story not prove my bookbinding skills...
I am making a book because I want to TELL THIS STORY and MAKE THESE PICTURES! Getting it printed/published is just a finishing/distribution consideration. My focus has been on the CONTENT and the WORLD.

LOOPDELOOP COLLABORATION WITH STACY STRAUB

This photo belongs to Stacy Straub and was used to demonstrate how I could make stronger wire armatures.

Collaborating with Stacy from animation because we share an interest in stop-motion animation. As Stacy studies animation, she knows a lot more about armatures, industry standards and the animation process than I do so I think it will be really valuable to observe how Stacy works and learn how to work with her.

I will be making the puppet and Stacy will be animating it.

What can I offer Stacy?

Experience of working with another creative.

Animating models made by someone else.

This photo belongs to Stacy Straub and was used to demonstrate how I could make stronger wire armatures.

WST: BOOK PROGRESS!

It's coming together! I have hand-drawn sketches of each page/composition and I've been using these to inform how I compose the scenes and arrange the characters for each page but it does take a little while to get the characters to stand just right for the camera to focus on all of the elements/the lighting to make the most of the image.

I'm using InDesign to put the book together and working towards an 8x10 book format with a 3mm bleed. I'm finding it a bit difficult to establish whether these pages do look right together - they do to me but I am not a very minimalist/design person so they might be a bit cluttered together and too busy. I need to get some feedback from peers on this.

Also not started to put the text on yet... will it even fit? Will it clash with the images? Need to start looking at this!

Self Portrait Final

New self-portrait! I had a few issues with the previous one in that the Jay Bird wasn't flying and the lighting was shadowed in one side of the image.

This new one has solved these issues and I also added a crown (actually a pendant) to the doll to communicate my persona as Queen of Jayland.

It's still not PERFECT - the bird's legs look a bit weird, should be more tucked under when flying, and the wings should be stretched out more to fly.

BUT again I think this image reflects my quirky personality and the type of image-making I do.

More Photos

I've taken so many photos but starting to sort through them and choose the best angles and focus etc. Every photo needs a bit of touching up (if I was working in true Smallfilms style, perhaps I should leave all the imperfections?) just to boost the colours, clean up parts where the clothes have ripped and to change the direction of the pupils on the eyes. I could also do this manually by having blank white eyes and just sticking the pupils on in the right position for each scene.

I think this is one of my favourite photos so far because the colours work so well together. It looks really considered and synchronised and has a completely different tone to that of the Bakery pages where the palette switches to warm pinks and oranges. This looks like a really fresh Spring morning, which is just what I wanted!

Final Touches

I bought a big box of artificial flowers from the car boot this weekend for £1.50! I saw the yellow ball-flower bud things (which mum informed me are called Mimosa) and thought they could look great to add more dimension to the card leaves behind the buildings.

They do! It was a bit of a fiddle to get these all in and stay in place but I think it adds a lot more vibrancy, dimension and interest to the scene. I should have made these all by hand to demonstrate more prop-making BUT I think being a maker is a lot to do with making use of scraps too! 

All of Whistle-Stop Thistle is made from bits and bobs I've found/repurposed/crafted into something else (lids made table tops, pencils made table legs, bottle caps made pie dishes, jewellery made door knockers etc) and this adds to my tiny world-within our world- theme.

WST: FULL STORY TEXT

One little Magpie soaring through the sky in a rush.
Over the nettles, past the trees and behind a bramble bush.

He lands amongst the berries and calls out with a whistle.
For he has just arrived in Whistle-Stop Thistle.

The tiny town is filled with colourful buildings; lilac, magenta and aquamarine
When the Thistle-folk hear the tuneful whistle, they know the friendly Magpie has been.

Each morning the magpie visits and brings the Thistle-folk a thing.
An object he's found and carries it under his wing.

The youngest and most curious Thistle-folk run to inspect the treasure he's brought.
Benji, Brenna and Malcolm gather around, scratching their heads in thought.

"Mr Magpie, thank you!" said Benji, "What have you found?"
"Something shiny" noted Brenna
and Malcolm said "The thing is very round."

As swiftly as the Magpie arrived, he flapped his wings and went,
leaving the Thistle-folk to work out for themselves what the thing was he'd sent.

"Maybe it's the Moon, or a drum to hit with a spoon." suggested Malcolm
"Maybe it's something to wear like a hat, or for hitting a ball like a cricket bat." wondered Brenna.

The children took the thing to show Mrs Martha Maple at the toy shop
in the hope she might know of its use in Whistle-stop.

They walked into the shop and made the bells on the door ring
then Mrs Martha took the object and looked closely at the thing.

"If I rounded these edges, I could make a toy safe enough for play.
But I'm sure it could have better uses, go see what the others say."

The children tried the cafe, perhaps Mr Cedar knw
if the thing could be used to help him serve his brew.

"Oh it's definitely useful; it could fit our teacups in
but our trays are wooden and this one's made of tin."

The children tried the bakery next
where there's mouth-watering smells
to greet every guest.

"It's deep and round." Said Betty Bramble the baker
as she looked up from her little bread maker.

"I suppose it could be filled to the brim
with hot steaming fruit and a thick pastry trim."

"This was once a bottle cap for humans to close a bottle of pop or beer
It'll need a wash of course, but we can make use of it here."

"Leave it with me. I'll give it a good scrub.
Come back in the morning and I'll show you the grub."

The Thistle-folk slept in excited dreams
whilst Betty Bramble, as usual, prepared delicious cakes and creams.

Benji, Brenna and Malcolm raced to the bakery when they woke.
How would the thing help the baker feed Thistle-folk?

Betty opened the door, a large dish in her hand.
"Children, the bottle cap you brought made the BEST PIE DISH in the land!"

The fresh pie was cut into pieces and shared around for all.
And one little piece was left in the field for the kind Magpie's next call.

(500 words)

WST: Full Scene Photo

Really happy with the lighting in this. The scene looks happy, sunny and bright!

Might add some more foliage and bring the leaves up even higher behind to make it look like the town is more hidden. Currently doesn't look like it's hidden behind a bush.

The full scene photo is made up of SEVEN INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS stitched together digitally. This was a long process and took a while to get them all lined up perfectly but this was the best way to capture all of the details of each building.

WST: Layout

Working towards a landscape children's book format: 25cmx20cm - not sure if this is the best size, I need to look at some existing examples of children's books and see what I like best! I think I'd prefer really oversized since the photos will be so detailed. But landscape suits the content

The surface I have for the set isn't big enough to fit all of the buildings on spaced out in this way, so I have been arranging them in two sets (these four buildings and then clearing them off and setting up the next three). This isn't practical as I'm having to change the set every time, things then fall off or are placed slightly differently to how I had them the first time.

This landscape photo of the first four buildings is too long anyway. I wouldn't be able to show the whole street in one double page spread, only four and then three... to solve this problem I think I will reduce the spacing between buildings (pushing closer together) and bring the 'bushes' (greenery) higher so they actually look like they are hiding the town from human view.

The brambles look randomly placed or even plonked so I will change that to make them look as if they're actually growing from plants, dangling from leaves etc.

I need to purchase some more lighting if I want all of the buildings to be lit at the same time! Different levels/qualities of light?

WST: Sky and Path

I've been working on the path for a few days, cutting lots of tiny 'cobbles' from cardboard and glueing them on individually to a long length of cardboard. Very simple and didn't require much skill but I achieved the cobbled look I wanted and made a street long enough to run through the scene. The buildings now look more in place, like they're actually in a street not a bare field.

I needed material big enough to cover the whole width of the scene to make the sky and I couldn't find paper big enough for this but I did find some wallpaper and cut this to the right length. I added clouds by dabbing white on with some scrap toy stuffing I'd saved from work. A lot of what I do is just collecting scraps and finding ways to use them.

I wanted the town to look like it was hidden inside a bramble bush so I have made all these leaves from cardboard and coloured paper, but I think I need to make them a bit taller in order to show the miniature scale of the town and how the buildings would be hidden inside this hedge.

Self Portrait 2

Second Self Portrait was created with the intention of demonstrating my interest in model-making, my love of character/charming children's illustration, world building/set design and to hint towards my name visually (Jay bird).

The first self portrait was a small, clay model of my face as a witch. The task asked us to do something a little different and try to push ourselves, so I used a material I wasn't as familiar with. I made the hair and clothes from plasticine. Although the self portrait was relevant at the time of production to my work (I was busy with COP making lots of magic-themed work), I don't think that this witch-like identity is suitable for all of my work. I prefer 

I don't usually work with plasticine and although it did work for that image, it's not a process that I would choose.

What works:

I think it's successful in communicating my tone of voice - it looks happy, sweet, charming, fun, like the characters are about to set off on an adventure.

It tells a story, it's relevant to me as an artist and a person so it is suitable for use as my visual icon. I think it's obvious that this is my work; although there are a few other illustrators who work in puppet illustration/3D storytelling, I do think that this is distinctly my 'style' and my content so it would be recognisable, especially to people who know me.

The costume on the Jay doll is very basic, no extra props which I could have added, but I think it's striking in its colour and it reads well as a character even in a small icon like on Instagram. Smaller props could have got lost in translation.

Things to improve:

The lighting isn't great. There is a lot of shadow on the right of the image and the colours would look a lot better (less murky) with stronger lighting.

The grass is too green, would look more natural with some yellows and different green tones brushed through.

The sky has some random flecks of white which look out of place - needs repainting/airbrushing out.

Could add more texture to the bird to make it more realistic/bird-like but I think it suits the way I make models and my visual signature, it looks like my work and the creatures that live in my world.

More props and little details! A crown on Jay? Clouds? Flowers?

Perhaps a white background would allow the icon to be easily applied as an overlay, to print or as more of a logo/emblem. The bird could be made to look more like a typographic letter 'J' and used on letter heads, invoices etc. It would be more versatile as a symbol like this rather than a square image, and it would probably look more professional as a graphic element.

look at first and second side by side

WST: Stop-Motion Baking

Works well:

Charming, sweet, short, good practice

Gathering more interest online than photos - something a bit different on Instagram!

Needs work:

Tack down the props so they don't wiggle or move about (e.g. tack down cake so it doesn't get knocked when Betty touches it).

WST: Stop-Motion Betty

Works well:

Quite a smooth animation, not much camera wobble!

Bright and colourful

Needs work:

Not really much to this... she's not doing anything significant! It doesn't tell much of a story. It's just a movement. Do a bit more, maybe try some slightly longer animations, perhaps even with narration?

WST: Stop-Motion Coffee

Works well:

More practice... yet again a very raw and unfinished 'Smallfilms' aesthetic.

Needs work:

TABLE IS VERY UNSTABLE AND WAY TOO WOBBLY IN ANIMATION.

Bad framing - composition isn't well-considered... should be either a close up of drinking or focus on the food and table, too much boring building behind him.

Lighting isn't great, his face looks shiny.

WST: Stop-Motion Books

Works well:

Very sweet. I'm really in love with this little animation and can't stop watching it over and over. Simple but cute! The blink was added digitally but adds a bit of magic/life to the stop-motion.

WST: Stop-Motion to the Bakery

I'm so pleased with how this stop-motion animation test has come out! I think it really sets the tone for Whistle-stop Thistle: a quaint, charming town populated by little blueberry-shaped people. Bright, cheerful and sweet.

Cafe Food

Some little miniature items of food to go inside the cafe. I don't know if these would even be seen in the 'illustrations', but I like the idea of there being lots of little tiny details in the scene that maybe don't get noticed straight away. Easter eggs if you like!

I made these using air-drying clay, ModPodge dimensional magic and acrylic paints.

If I ever did decide to promote/fund a book/animation project with a scheme such as Kickstarter, little props like these or the actual puppets would be perfect rewards for pledges.

WST: Library Books

These tiny books were really satisfying to make but it took a while to make enough to make the shelves look full. I've made around 40 books so far and have filled two bookcases. Some of the books are covered with fabric/patterned paper whilst others have printed jackets (found on Google). Is this stealing? Yes... but I'm not claiming that these books were illustrated by me, only showcasing their design in miniature form. In the final WST photos you won't be able to see the detail of what's on the books, just that there are many of them!

I would love to illustrate all of these tiny books and add writing to each of the pages but this was a simple solution to saving time and making a bulk load of books for the Library. 

Soft Stories

Soft Stories is a collaboration between the artist CatRabbit and Isobel Knowles. They make 3D models of towns and felt creatures to be used in animation, workshops, installations and children's books.

I first heard of Soft Stories through instagram where I saw that they were exhibiting their sweet little felt characters and a handmade town at an Australian gallery, which I thought would be relevant to investigate in relation to my Whistle-stop Thistle. I didn't know that they also made animations and books until I looked at their website. The above image is taken from their website www.softstories.au 

I love how their worlds are very obviously and unapologetically handmade; they let the material show (cardboard and felt) and don't try to hide its rough edges or make it look perfectly crisp. They seem to celebrate the fact that all of these items are made by hand and encourage children to get creative too.

Their photos are bright and their colour scheme includes muddy pastels against clean whites and sky blues, an atmosphere of spring mornings and a friendly town.

Perhaps the bright, sunny tone of Soft Stories is informed by their geography as both of the artists live in Australia. My tendency to construct slightly gloomy, moody sets might be the result of a truly grey climate in my British experience. 

It's very exciting to find other artists working in this medium and making innovative, engaging worlds but I do worry that this is a growing t

http://www.softstories.com.au/