EDITORIALS.

Where to go next? A question that I've been pondering over for some time now as I'm not sure what line of illustration I intend to go down once completing uni. I dabbled in working on a couple of editorials last year when the majority of my work was digital based but haven't touched on it since. I seemed to struggle to complete the briefs on time as I tend to work quite slowly but this is something that I need to over come.

Having spoken to tutors about it all, they suggested that for my final part of the major project I give it another shot. As the last part of my project has about 7 weeks in total, I aim to produce about 4 editorial pieces, with one consisting of a short animation if possible. The previous editorial pieces I worked on were given to us by tutors as part of a project so this was a chance to work on pieces that I could later benefit from. I intend to visiting the Guardian and New Scientist during our London New Blood visit in June, so I thought it would make sense to choose articles from their issues rather then publications that aren't really relevant to myself. To prevent the finished work looking like a collection of random scribbles, I have chosen the theme of health and science to work around. This body of work is something that interests me and would like to further working on such topics in the future if possible. I've always been inspired by scientific etchings and illustrations from various places including Dover publications so working similarly excites me.

I'm currently working on three editorials with still having the intention of completing another one before my hand in date. I've enjoyed the faster pace of working but still could do with upping my game a little. Working in this manner has made me avoiding working too literal as my work sometimes seems to turn out. In doing this, I've tried to give the pieces more depth and think more conceptually. I've found this way of working more challenging but definitely a rewarding process at the end. I tend to slip into the trap of making illustrations that have little meaning or depth too them and feel I could push myself to do more. By think more about the concept being the illustration, I've found myself generating many ideas at the start of a brief, where sometimes I'd be a little stumped. It seems to have set the ball rolling and I'm finding it harder to settle on one idea rather then just settling with the few I've got.

Creating work to fit in to awkward dimensions has been a difficult challenge that I'm not familiar with doing. I usually play safe and work to standard paper sizes or the odd square if I'm feeling adventurous, so having to adjust an idea around boundaries has been hard. You can have a really clever idea but sometimes it feels impossible to make it fit comfortably in the given size. This has subsequently changed my work to look different as intending and I've found it massively frustrating at times. I think it has been beneficial to try my hand at this way of working because in 'the real world' if I'm being realistic, I'm not going to have a say behind the format of work. If I do choose to try and work as an editorial illustrator, this is something I'll have to get used to. My time management seems to have got slightly better due to this body of work but I feel like I still need to work quicker. I can sometimes find myself being a bit of a perfectionist and this seems to drag me down at times. Rather then getting on with the work, I tend to redraw bits that don't necessarily need editing but I won't be content until I've done it. I suppose it could be seen as a good quality to have but recently I've found it a hindrance. I'm confident that in time it will hopefully become a much smoother process and come naturally to me driven by the adrenaline and fear of client.

I'm finding this way of working very challenging and wouldn't rule out the option of a career in it but I still prefer more freedom in my work. I think it all depends on how the final illustrations turn out and if I'm happy with them but when it comes to it, I don't think I'd turn down work if it pays the bills.