Triptych

I have chosen a quote from the book Missing Out: In Praise Of The Unlived Life by Adam Phillips to base my work upon. The book is a discussion of the ways in which your fantasies can ruin or haunt your real world experiences. He goes into great detail about the way humans react to different levels of missing out, not getting what they want, and actually getting what they want.

The quote I have chosen is based on the way fantasies and reality collide when falling in love. However I plan to take the idea in the more broad sense. 

In my work I have interpreted the writing on the three frustrations as need and desire, discouragement, and disappointment. 

I am looking forward to finding metaphors and imagery to represent this idea. My tutor, gary, directed me towards a triptych method of making work, to show a movement or change in each of the images to reflect the different emotions.

What does illustration mean?

"As our visual language evolves, the playing field is levelling. Graphic designers, sculptors, painters, creative developers, and even musicians amorphously meander across different parts of our creative industries. As a consequence, I often wonder what the term 'illustration' term now means. Maybe as a medium it might need to do more than vocationalise aesthetics and cultivate a border palate of profundity for its own survival."
Michael Salu
Artistic Director of Granta Magazine
2012 Varoom

When I meet people and tell them I am studying illustration the usual response I get is, "What...Drawing?".
This is one of the most frustrating things I have come into contact with in the past 22 years.
However, it is difficult to explain to someone not in the field exactly what Illustration is due to the fact that there are a range of different opportunities for work these days. In the past an illustrator would merely summarise a piece of text, but these days illustration is used to make almost everything. Everywhere you go there are pictures and colour and animation (which is just an animated illustration) so as broad as the term is, it allows for experimentation and fun.
I think it's really exciting having the opportunity to play with all the different realms of illustration, old processes and new. I especially love combining the two. Pushing the boundaries is the only way of getting anywhere with an art form, so trying new things should always be an option to people.
I don't think there is a need for a name change as suggested in the above quote, as I don't think it matters what its called. What matters is you and your talents. And to illustrate is to explain. As long as your work is there and has a meaning behind it, it is an illustration in my eyes.

Prague Trip

I recently returned from a course trip to Prague where I had an incredible time. It is the most beautiful city I have ever been to, and the many pictures I took do not do it justice. Thought I'd pop on a few photos from the visit.

Sedlec Ossuary - The Church of Bones

John Lennon Wall

Pedestrian crossing  (I love the way the language looks)

Train station

Wenceslas Square

Dancing House

Wenceslas Square 

Castle cathedral 

Astronomical clock

Patrick Caulfield

My tutor directed me towards Patrick Caulfields work in my mid-semester evaluation. At first I was unsure of the way I could take influence from his style when looking at his more abstract work since this is not usually my style. However, I found some beautiful pieces that seem to use illustrator or some digital method to create black line work to create the structure of the image, and then textured colourful backgrounds to make the space have an atmosphere. This, I realised, is what is lacking in my work at the moment. The lack of colour causes it to not really have a sense of place or mood about it. Another aspect of Caulfields work is the elements of seemingly photographic sections added to his work, invoking a sense of surrealism and photo realism.

The work shown below obviously demonstrates these notions, and compared to my own work shown before it, it is quite clear how taking influence from this can help me to succeed in improving my style and method.