STUDY TASK 2: ANDRE DA LOBA

Andre da Loba is not an artist I've heard of before. I was attracted to his quick, child-like 3D illustration in the form of cardboard cut-outs painted in acrylics.

http://beautifuldecay.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/andre002.jpg

They're so silly and crude that they're funny. It's this naive, frank approach to 3D illustration that makes his work memorable and striking. When I discuss playfulness, THIS IS IT. This is having FUN with art. Andre da Loba obviously wasn't aiming for perfect brush strokes and precise lines with this piece, he was just letting loose and it works.

The hand of the maker is evident in his illustration, since it is his hands that chopped the cardboard, splodged the paint and glued it all into a hodge-podge mess of happiness. If the lines were perfect and the paint was smoothly applied, it wouldn't have the same degree of wonky, fast-paced busy-ness.

http://www.andredaloba.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Land-of-Decoration.jpg

I found it hard to believe that da Loba's work has been published in highbrow editorial contexts. I really like what he does, I just can't imagine other people enjoying it in that context! I suppose it adds a lot of fun and humour to dull articles, much more than what a drawing could bring.

http://www.andredaloba.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/I-Five.jpg

He draws and screen prints too. The image above is a laser-cut shape that has been screen printed. I much prefer his hand-chopped art because it's more of HIS input than a computers. It's all his craft and it's original. Anyone could have made this sculpture and I wouldn't be able to tell. It's nice, just not what I now recognise as Andre da Loba's handiwork.

http://www.andredaloba.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/C_023.jpg

STUDY TASK 2: CHRIS SICKELS - Editorial

I've been following Chris Sickels (Red Nose Studio) for a couple of years now, but I didn't realise that he has worked in EDITORIAL illustration. I didn't think his work COULD BE editorial.

He is an illustrator but illustrates using sculptures, puppets and tiny hand-made props. When Ben told  me that Sickels's work has been published in 'The New Yorker' I felt so much better about this brief because I realised that physical illustration can be printed and showcased in this format too. Not your typical editorial illustration, but it can be found in this context. Magazines and newspapers have comissioned Chris Sickels to do it. They've paid money and CHOSEN this kind of 3D illustration over more traditional, pencil-on-paper methods.

Nothing is stopping me.

http://www.ideastap.com/ImageHandler.ashx?FileName=/Upload/CmsMedia/IdeasMag/ImageUpload/201501/RedNose1-8ad12e4d-635560756064708351.jpg&Width=540&Height=306&ImageMod=Crop&OutputFormat=HighQualityJpeg&CacheEnabled=True

The image above screamed out the answer to one query I had about printing: Can photos be printed in two colours? OF COURSE. Sickels has achieved a two-colour print by taking the photo in black and white before applying a blue colour overlay, turning all the image into values of the same colour.

I could easily use this same technique to turn my photos into two-colour prints.

'I build little 3D worlds and take photos of said scenes to have them reproduced on a page to grab a viewers attention for about three seconds and hopefully, lead them to read the story, article or investigate a package.'

Sickels crafts everything in the image: painting backdrops, making props, sculpting the figures and hand-drawing over the image - all in order to communicate something to the intended audience.

These images document and help to explain topics as analogies; the viewers see a little scenario that they can relate to or respond to.

FROM ROUGH TO MODEL

http://www.ideastap.com/Upload/CmsMedia/IdeasMag/ImageUpload/201501/RedNoseInFocus-1a3d3d9e-635560757601016047.jpg

I've always wondered how other MAKERS make! I sometimes struggle to sketch and plan a sculptural piece because I never know what it will look like until it's made. I feel that I need to let the materials choose how they will look and not plan anything too much, or it will seem too staged and artificial.

Sickels's roughs are so similar to his final photographs - very well planned! Even considered the lighting in his roughs. THEY DON'T LOOK ARTIFICIAL. Sickels, as the photographer and designer, is the director. He has to control all variables and make creative decisions in order for the photograph to look the way he intended, so this is a good process for planning the shot. 

Further Reading: http://www.ideastap.com/IdeasMag/the-knowledge/chris-sickels-red-nose-studio-3D-illustration

http://www.howdesign.com/design-creativity/design-inspiration/chris-sickels/