FUTURE AMBITIONS.

Recently I've been getting pretty excited by a lot of animations and massively curious about how they've been made. After looking into process a bit more it seems that most of them have used AfterEffects and hand drawn elements. Ideally over summer I'd like to get stuck into making a short animation or ever a few depending on how smooth things go. Below are a few that have really tickled my pickle.


"A Kiss From Tokyo" Theatrical trailer from Stephane coedel on Vimeo.

A Kiss From Tokyo - Kevin Dart
I'm a massive fan of Dart's illustrations anyway so to see them moving is even better.


Between Bears from Eran Hilleli on Vimeo.

Between Bears - Eran Hilleli
Winner of best animation award at Vimeo's first film festival, amazing use of music and characters.

ANALOGUE AGE.

Been doing some further research today into the types of machinery and technology I'm wanting to include in my piece and decided I want to go back to the 60's/70's. I've been focusing on recording studios and science labs particularly looking at the computers and software used. I'm wanting to play about with lighting and quite dull subtle colours a lot in this project especially lighting from screens and buttons. From this I'm hoping to create highlights in the characters facial features (which I'm yet to draw) and create a moody and serious atmosphere. With this my key point of the illustration you might not be able to see most of the detail of the equipment as it'll be looming in the shadows but I want it there.

After looking at these it fully reminded my of the hatch in Lost and that's got the run down/forgotten about feel to it I'm after. From this I saw the logos and symbols used and made me get excited about doing some sort of corporate logo for the company in the story and get a real feel for the organisation. I particularly like the patters and tessellating shapes used to construct both the structure of the building and the branding.

RUSHMOORE.

So for our current brief we've been set against each other to compete to produce an illustration for a short story created my MMU students. Pretty brutal I hear you say. I'm actually quite looking forward to the motivation behind the competition. My story is set in the run down future (or so I think) where the human race has been affected by radiation poisoning and only the rich can evacuate elsewhere. From this I've started looking towards films like Brasil, Metropolis and 12 Monkeys for inspiration. I'm taking a different approach to this brief as at the moment I have no idea what I'm going to so I'm putting myself into the scenery before I try to work out clever,witty metaphors. Here are a few pics I've seen that I'm getting into.

Many more to follow

THE BEGINNING OF THE END.

This was for an editorial piece about NASA having to end the life of some of their oldest rockets due to government funding cuts. I made it on photoshop using the same technique I seem to do recently but drawing it all digitally and dropping found textures on top. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it as I don't think it comes across as being my work and think its lacking something to really set it off. I feel like I need to stylize the rocket more and make it much more obvious that its being held up by a zimmerframe. It's made me think I need to spend more time brainstorming at the start of a brief and give myself enough time to go all out on a piece rather then rushing last minute.

JON BOAM.

Last week I decided to get in contact with the highly talented Jon Boam and asked him a few questions about his work and personal life that I was intrigued to know more about. He was kind enough to reply very quickly and in great detail. It was dead nice to know that an Illustrator in the "real world" was so down to earth and friendly. Thanks again Jon. Below is his response to my email with my questions included.


1. How did you first get into illustration?

I studied graphic art & design many years ago but became disenchanted with my own creativity and the prospect of becoming an artist/illustrator seemed very bleak. The harsh reality of living and working in the real world took hold & I did lots of different jobs for money.

In my spare time I filled sketch books and piles of paper with drawings allowing my imagination to run free - I had loads of of original artworks I never showed anyone

anyway while backpacking in Asia about 4 years ago I decided I wanted to share my drawings with people via the Internet.

my first illustration commission came from the Science Council via Chris Gray the founder/creative manager of "TOY" who found my portfolio on the Behance network.

2. Other then illustrating what stuff do you do like doing?

I love getting back to nature and walking for days on end in the mountains & woodlands, more recently my favourite thing is just hanging out & having fun with my 2 year old daughter and being a dad, I watch films when I can.

3. What really inspires you when coming up with ideas for your work, and do ideas come reasonably easy or do you have to rack your brain for hours on end?

sometime ideas do come easily other times it's an uphill struggle - ideas that exist in my mind have to make the successful transition onto paper. some ideas just can't exist in the outside world.

4. Its evident that you have a clear, confident working method and technique when producing your work, did you develop this "style" or did it come naturally?

my "style" "visual language" has developed in a fairly natural way over time - lots of experimentation and drawing.

5. A lot of your work seems to include comic book/sci-fi esq imagery. These are all cool themes to be illustrating giving a lot for the imagination to play with. Is this what attracts you to them?

I love imagining things - sci-fi/fantasy/dreamland are comfortable places my mind continues to go, but I would like to do more things based in "reality" too. The next logical step for me is comics and children's books I'm just juggling my time to try and make a proper comic at the moment.

6. When making illustrations for something like nobrow, whats the amount of time you typically take to complete them?

"Colour me Menagerie" took 2 - 3 weeks as did my sub for "A Graphic Cosmogony" NB2 & NB5 subs took 2 - 4 days this is very rough and including all the other stuff I do - daddy day care and my night job as a care worker.

mostly I spend longer on the drawing and less time on the computer colouring things in but it's hard to say how long things take since I tend to start and stop a lot.

7. Do you prefer to work on your own or in a studio with other artists around?

It would be lovely to be part of a communal artists studio - the times I have been fortunate enough to work in the company of other artists & designers I have always got good work vibes but for practical money reasons I work from home which is nice too and both have there pros & cons.

8. Whats your opinion on the art industry at the moment? Is now a good time to be an illustrator?

I think for all the time and love and skill you put into an illustration you will be disheartened by the low pay that illustration work offers, chasing people for money is a chore as is working out taxes. Don't do it for money do it for love!, you will most probably have to work in another job to pay your bills and eat.

9. Last but not least, what advice would you give to aspiring designers/illustrators?

I still have to work in a job I don't particularly enjoy to pay my rent & finding time for drawing/illustration work is a constant juggling act but my passion and drive carry me through. so yeah I would say if you are passionate enough about it you will find a way to do it and overcome the many obstacles life throws at you.

Kris I hope these answers can be of some help to you, good luck with everything

Jon.

If you like what you (which you should) see check out his work here.

THINGS THAT I HAVE LEARNED.

What motivates me : 

Unemployment - I think its the thought of not having a job that can pay the bills really pushes me forward and striving for a career that I can put everything into it. I can't imagine myself sat in an office on the eighth floor, mon-fri, 9-5 so I think that alone makes me determined to push forward to do what I love. Thats the most important thing to me.

Things that I have learned : 

Fail More - I've come to realise that its okay to mess up from time to time and learn from your mistakes. Fail, fail and fail some more. For me personally when I come to finishing a project and producing a "slick" final outcome I seem to tighten up and completely. After changing ideas multiple times and re-doing sketches or paintings I seem to subconsciously progress or just seem more happy with my outcomes.

Get a new pair of eyes - When engrossed in work in a dingily lite flat on my own I seem to become unaware of how things are starting to turn out. It's always a good idea to get a fresh set of eyes looking at your work as my eyes become stale after so long. Asking others for criticism helps me work a lot better as you sometimes miss the obvious and see things from a different point of view. I find this hard to do myself if I've been staring at my own work all day on my own.

MIKE GIANT.

Absolute inspiration and idol.


Neighbors: Mike Giant (Trailer) from Agency Charlie on Vimeo.