REVISITING MY INITIAL INTENTIONS FOR 505

What I said at the start
Have I achieved it?

One thing to take forward from 504:
Take forward the importance of research. I devoted a lot of time to research in 504 and it enriched my work. Grounded in facts, learning about and investigating themes made me passionate and gave me more ideas.
I have definitely researched and learned loads about L.M.Montgomery! I am passionate about her and the whole idea of the scrapbook was born from seeing her personal journals and scrapbooks.
One way I want to push out of my comfort zone in 505:
Ben said that in 504 I proved that I can do both - draw and make things... so since it's drawing that I have been running away from (the very thing I can to this course to do), I want to push my drawing in this module. DRAW EVERY DAY, draw and make pictures.
I haven't drawn every day but I think I have done more drawing and made some fun illustrations, especially in my character design in the sketchbook.
Also want to conduct myself professionally and make my own decisions. Having such a broad brief to begin with always daunts me (AND THIS IS THE BROADEST BRIEF YET!) and I am terrified of making the wrong choice but I am going to be an adult this module and make all of the decisions myself. Be bold and confident. Jump into the abyss.
I JUMPED. I MADE DECISIONS. I SURVIVED.
One thing I want to accomplish by May:
I want to have proposed, planned and produced at least 6 illustrations for a children's book. Have something professional and self-initiated to put in my portfolio. To have explored a theme/topic that I am passionate about. To have told a story.
I did it! I told L.M.Montgomery's story and explored her world. I made 6 pages that I am so happy with and that I would like to put into my portfolio.

Aims
Storytelling
I want to produce a book - this is something I've always enjoyed and have been avoiding since starting this course because I have been scared of the competition/standard of my peers.
Even with my obsession with puppets/3D it's about telling stories for children.
I intend to visualise a world and characters within it - Teresa said that we won't have time to write our own stories, but that finding stories in the public domain is easy and will save time.
Be charming
Be inventive
I produced a book.
I made charming responses (I hope).
I was inventive in my approach.

PROVINCIAL BIRD

The provincial bird of Prince Edward Island is THE BLUE JAY! Me! Just like how I found a connection to Poe's Raven in 504 and discovered a Jay feather, MONTGOMERY IS CONNECTED TO THE BLUE JAY AND THAT MEANS THIS TOO WAS MEANT TO BE.

STUDY TASK 2: Inspiring Illustrators (Olga Demidova)

Olga Demidova

 

Lucy Maud Montgomery's fascination with Prince Edward Island is woven into almost all of her stories. The island was her home and the home of some of her most famous characters, so I would like to make reference to the nature and landscapes of PEI in my illustrations for Emily of New Moon too. These scenes and settings were important to Lucy Maud, so this is something I want to pay attention to myself.

I stumbled across these paintings by Olga Demidova and found them really immersive in their depiction of wilderness and scenery. The artist has illustrated the depth of these detailed worlds through layering (mountains behind trees behind bushes behind flowers), altering scale (rules of perspective - assets farthest away being the smallest and closest to the viewer being the largest). 

I would like to recreate PEI by layering illustrations of nature and houses like Demidova has, capturing the tone of the landscape and Emily's adventures within these landscapes.

I also admire Demidova's use of mark-making to suggest currents, winds and atmosphere. 

I was surprised to learn that these paintings were actually made on Photoshop as I thought that they were gouache paintings so I am quite impressed by the realistic textures she has achieved. I wouldn't have actively searched for 'digital art' as I didn't think it was 'my thing', but this may be something I could experiment with to add more texture and movement in my work.

Demidova's audience is very similar to my intended audience for this project. Her illustrations are aimed at children and exist within the context of children's books and children's magazines. She's also applied her characters and stories to animation.

How does she promote herself?

Olga Demidova is a Russian artist, but captions her artwork in both Russian and English language on social media, making her posts more globally accessible.

What is she inspired by?

She takes inspiration from the Russian landscapes she grew up in.

Her intention is to 'share a moment of happiness with her audience'.

Lucy Maud Montgomery Research

Lucy Maud Montgomery's Suicide

I had been looking at the work of Lucy Maud Montgomery because I was drawn to her scenes and sense of place on Prince Edward Island (it seems all but one of her books were based on this island, where she lived, and are filled with scenes of the natural beauty around the island in Canada), but I was worried that there wasn't much substance to them. Pretty, sweet little classic stories... but then I started doing some reading about Lucy Maud...

I read that Montgomery had not lived the life she daydreamed about, she was in fact very troubled; she was adopted, her husband had religious melancholia, and she suffered a nervous breakdown. It is also believed that she died of a drug overdose at the age of 68.

Mental illness is a topic that is very close to me. I've been taking medication for generalised anxiety and panic disorder for three years. A close friend of mine, Anna, committed suicide two years ago, another friend has been in and out of psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide. I don't want to make this project really sad and too personal, but I do want to tackle these bigger issues. 

This is a chance to talk about something important and I don't think Montgomery's problems have been discussed, simply brushed  under the carpet. It's so shocking to learn that Montgomery was mentally ill, it's not what you'd expect from the tone of her stories...

Her family kept her suicide a secret. To protect Montgomery's social status? To protect her legacy? To protect her readers? I reckon it's time to talk about it. It's time to address the fact that this woman decided to end her own life.

"I have lost my mind by spells and I do not dare think what I may do in those spells. May God forgive me and I hope everyone else will forgive me even if they cannot understand. My position is too awful to endure and nobody realizes it. What an end to a life in which I tried always to do my best." (a note left on her bedside)

"my life has been hell, hell, hell. My mind is gone -- everything in the world I lived for has gone -- the world has gone mad. I shall be driven to end my life. Oh God, forgive me. Nobody dreams what my awful position is." ~~ from The Gift of Wings

"I am companioned by thoughts of old laughter and joys, shadowy footsteps of dead or absent friends, voices of the vanished years."

PROJECT PROPOSAL

Book Illustration Research

Choosing a Story

I've narrowed my initial list of public domain stories to just two which I am torn between: Emily of New Moon and The Magic City.

Emily of New Moon     by Lucy Maud Montgomery 

Similar to her earlier and more famous Anne of Green Gables series. Young orphan girl, Emily Starr, raised by her relatives after her father dies of tuberculosis. Montgomery considered Emily to be a character much closer to her own personality than Anne, and some of the events which occur in the Emily series happened to Montgomery herself. 

Emily is a heroine with a love for the beauty in nature and art, loyalty to her friends, a thirst for knowledge, and a passionate dedication to her writing.

Themes/Content: Powerful female heroine / the beauty of nature / a passion for writing

Rationale:

To celebrate the lesser-known works of Montgomery

Focus on Montgomery's life and relationship to her character Emily

Emily reminds me of 'Midnight' by Jacqueline Wilson

Potential to draw natural scenery/forests/woods

Character development and research into the time era/fashion/design

Cosmic/space/lunar imagery

Feminine, classic, beautiful book

The Magic City     by Edith Nesbit

After Philip's older sister and sole family member Helen marries, he goes off to live with his new step sister Lucy. He has trouble adjusting at first, thrown into a world different from his previous life and abandoned by his sister while she is on her honeymoon. To entertain himself he builds a giant model city from things around the house: game pieces, books, blocks, bowls, etc. Then through some magic he finds himself inside the city, and it is alive with the people he has populated it with. 

Themes/Content: Magic, fantasy, recycling, creating, imagination, play

Rationale:

Another lesser known title from Nesbit/Underrated book

The importance of imaginative play

The message - don't grow up/lose that sense of play

Make your own fun - relevant to a modern audience saturated by games/screens

Scope to use atypical/unexpected media (literally build the city and photograph it to illustrate)

More gender neutral than Emily of New Moon

Book Illustration

Trends, fashions, current but also considering classics and what made these illustrations so endearing to me as a young reader

Moomins Case Study

The amount of Moomin merchandise I own is almost embarrassing and this isn't even all of it.
The success of Tove Jansson's Moomin books has extended to hundreds of applications across the world, including:

Stamps - First Day Issue
Homeware - plates, mugs, lamps, cushions, bedding, wallpaper,
Cuddly Toys/plushies, plastic figures, dollhouses,
Stationery/Postcards/ Calendars
Enamel pins - VERY POPULAR AT THE MOMENT! I wonder how you can get these made?
Fashion - dresses and t-shirts, pyjamas (Even PRIMARK got hold of the licensing for Moomin Characters!)
Experiences - Moominworld in Finland, The Moomin themepark in Japan, The Moomin Cafe in Hong Kong - (Mary Chu told me about this), exhibitions, plays

Applied Illustration: Children's Book Characters - Products

Children's Book Characters applied to products/merchandise. Just looking around my room and realising how much stuff I have that's printed/themed with children's picture book characters. A lot of stuff.
All of these characters and illustrations were originally intended for children in picture books, so why do I have so many of them now? There has to be some kind of psychological reason why we obsess over these characters from our childhood and need that same picture as a print, a cushion, a teddy... Is it just nostalgia?

Anyway, there's lots of potential for applications! These characters can be applied to pretty much anything and some loser will buy them. Prints, postcards and stationery are the most obvious and probably the easiest application since they are paper-based products (cheap production and distribution).


Clanger Small Toy from Jay Stelling on Vimeo.

Here's Small the Clanger from Smallfilms The Clangers who I found at the carboot sale this morning. Not only is he a plush toy of the character, but he also has a soundbox inside him and he makes the iconic Clanger whistling noise when you squeeze him. There's more to think about with character than just their physical form! Think about tactility, sound, smell etc!

CHILDREN'S PUBLISHING

Our group arranged to meet in the studio at 9.30 today so that we could get a good start on the presentation. I always end up taking control because I worry that things won't get done if I don't, so I sat at a computer and started compiling all the images we'd shared on a group chat together.
A couple of people turned up but not everyone (disappointing), but I've learned that this is the way to do it. It's done now and we have a good presentation compiled together. My strength is being here early and being productive in terms of getting my head down and just doing the work so I'm making the most of that and taking the reigns with the presentation.

The comic fair is tomorrow which explained why people were rushing about/had print slots today. We didn't really need everyone in anyway since we had all shared our research on the group chat, we just needed to make decisions as to what goes in - what stays out. Although I was sat at the computer doing the clicking, Joe, Kieran, Kat, Mary, Penny, Amy and Dana were all super great with suggesting places to look/posting things on their blogs for me to grab into the powerpoint/popping by and checking how it was going.
Dana made the case studies which I'm really thankful for, gave a focussed and in-depth review of some classic children's books.

Still not sure who's saying what - how we are going to present it but WE HAVE A POWERPOINT - HUZZAH!

Study Task 1: Case Study - Wildwood

I've been wanting to read the Wildwood books since seeing the beautiful sting video for it in 504.

It's a middle-grade adventure/fantasy story and looks exactly like my cup of tea. Since I've decided to explore children's publishing in this module, I think it's about time I ordered the first book!

I've studied and made picture books before but they have always been early readers/pre-reading books because I haven't had the time to write longer stories. I would really love to write a book for this age range and embrace the challenge of illustrating bigger chunks/chapters of text. Looking at Wildwood will help me to see how Carson Ellis has achieved this: analysing the format of the illustrations, the relationship between art and text (and author+illustrator) and also get a real feel for the adventure/fantasy genre.

While I wait for that to arrive, here's some photos of my drooling over it in Waterstones. These are paperback versions, so I imagine that the hardback copies feel even more precious and special than these do. 

The covers are elegant and really beautifully illustrated. It's immediately obvious that this is an adventure story as the result of capturing the children on the front running - running to or running from something? - intriguing and exciting, suggests a fast pace, a journey, an adventure.

It's interesting to see that a serif typeface has been chosen because that's not typical of children's publishing. Serif fonts are often deemed too sophisticated/complicated for young readers but these books are for middle-grade readers (7-12 years) so might be trying to establish a step-up from 'childish' books and a stepping stone to the teen/young adult genre.

The covers remind me of the Narnia Chronicles by C.S.Lewis. I remember feeling really grown-up and clever when I moved onto the 'free-reader' zone in the school library and I got to choose which books I wanted to read. I was a bookworm and a daydreamer, so it had to be fantasy, but I was also aware that I was too big to be reading fairy stories. I thought looked clever reading these books, especially reading a series of books and being able to say "I've read the whole series". Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings looked too boyish to me.

These full-page illustrations have caught my eye because they don't interfere with the text. They're on a completely separate page, like colour plates (although this one is black and white), presented more as 'figures' in the book, not illustrating that page but a reference for the reader to go back and find. It feels momentous to reach these pages and it's almost a reward for reading all that chunky text when you finally get to another picture.

Study Task 1: Case Study - Little Ripon Bookshop

An independent bookshop. Values: local, small, independence, quirky

https://worksbyclaire.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/ripon-outside.jpg?w=676

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5jwKCV3snmnVmo0smVfqpbVSkHxlqOqh24sdZ0lEmBaWDf7X3M1fXntHhtem8o0rubWEHZbxDavbP6o36y1Gb0Bbl7X_NTgZBtwgiDb-ZIQwEDNArXcYyIS42bvHlnPd2QZxGmCYoc8I/s1600/rip+front+room.JPG

Study Task 1 - Online Resources

Publishers (resource for finding existing products/exploring market/contacting the publishers)
Bloomsbury - www.bloomsbury.com/uk/childrens/
Nosy Crow - www.nosycrow.com/
Hachette Children's Group - https://www.hachettechildrens.co.uk/
Walker Books - www.walker.co.uk/
Penguin RandomHouse - www.randomhousechildrens.co.uk/

Other Online Resources
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators - https://www.scbwi.org/
(advice, articles)
Creative Bloq - http://www.creativebloq.com/
Illustration Age - https://illustrationage.com/
Business of Illustration - http://businessofillustration.com/

Study Task 1 - Trends

Summary:

Lessons in kindness in response to the year's political/social news (Trump/Brexit/Refugees/War) - CONTEXT informs CONTENT.

Anniversaries and films introduce new readers to modern classics.

Children will choose humorous titles for themselves. Parents/educators will choose non-fiction for them. Classics with a twist (modernised) will be popular.

Special editions and artistic presentations - emphasis on books as objects and possessions.

(Gift edition cloth-bound Classics in Waterstones, January 2017)

Study Task 1 - Facts about the Industry/Market

Summary:

Books are doing well, the children's market especially.

People are taking the children's and YA market seriously.

Children learn about new books from peers.

If targeting avid readers, a purchase trigger is cheap price/sale.

If targeting disengaged readers, purchase triggers are point of sale/in-store factors.

505 Applied Illustration

One thing to take forward from 504:
Take forward the importance of research. I devoted a lot of time to research in 504 and it enriched my work. Grounded in facts, learning about and investigating themes made me passionate and gave me more ideas.

One way I want to push out of my comfort zone in 505:
Ben said that in 504 I proved that I can do both - draw and make things... so since it's drawing that I have been running away from (the very thing I can to this course to do), I want to push my drawing in this module. DRAW EVERY DAY, draw and make pictures.

Also want to conduct myself professionally and make my own decisions. Having such a broad brief to begin with always daunts me (AND THIS IS THE BROADEST BRIEF YET!) and I am terrified of making the wrong choice but I am going to be an adult this module and make all of the decisions myself. Be bold and confident. Jump into the abyss.

One thing I want to accomplish by May:
I want to have proposed, planned and produced at least 6 illustrations for a children's book. Have something professional and self-initiated to put in my portfolio. To have explored a theme/topic that I am passionate about. To have told a story.

Character and Narrative v.s. Children's Publishing
Initially overwhelmed and stuck between these two categories. I think I am both, and that I pursue both in my work. I sat down with character and narrative but the majority of the table were interested in comics and graphic novels (which I am not) and I felt that although everything they were discussing was still concerning storytelling and world building (which I am interested in), it is very specifically the children's book context that my work sits within.
Yes, I want to tell stories and develop characters (and possibly explore 3D design for stop motion), this again would be for children so I decided to move over to children's publishing.

Aims
Storytelling
I want to produce a book - this is something I've always enjoyed and have been avoiding since starting this course because I have been scared of the competition/standard of my peers.
Even with my obsession with puppets/3D it's about telling stories for children.
I intend to visualise a world and characters within it - Teresa said that we won't have time to write our own stories, but that finding stories in the public domain is easy and will save time.
Be charming
Be inventive

Photo Lighting Induction

REFRESHING MY KNOWLEDGE OF STUDIO PHOTO LIGHTING
I've done this workshop twice before (once on foundation, once in first year), but I do feel like I need a refresher on it, since I do fall into lazy/bad photography habits (AUTO function, AUTO focus, laptop editing, CAMERA FLASH) and I want to feel confident enough to be able to go back down to the photography studios and do a shoot whenever I need - I have forgotten most of the rules in setting up/using the studios so I need to get this nailed before I go and break the lights and cameras down there!

HOW TO SET UP
Soft blocks are for 2D (need a paper roll backdrop), curved beds for 3D (already have a backdrop). Two lights, on same intensity. Balance on each side with Light Meter (e.g. test gets 2.0 on left side, 4.0 on the right, so left needs to be pointed more towards the object until the lights are pointing at 45 degrees, hitting each other in exactly the centre, test will get the same reading on both sides)
Use grey board to set white balance manually.

WHEN I WILL USE THESE SKILLS
This will be especially useful in taking professional photos of my 3-Dimensional work, but also can be used to photograph bigger sketchbook or 2D work that can't be scanned.

The part of the induction I most enjoyed was using the different light attachments e.g. the frezznel, the snoot... this created really moody, atmospheric lighting rather than a balanced light as we were attempting with the standard setup. Worked especially well for my crow, shadows and texture.