Paul Davis

Dear Paul, 

I am a student in my final year of a BA Hons in Illustration. I attended a lecture you gave at Stockport College, last year, your work is remarkable! As part of my degree, I need to build up information about Illustrators/ Designers and the Design Industry.  

• I know how busy you are but was wondering if you get a spare moment, I could have your opinion on a few questions below?  
  

• Do you think it is better working in a studio with other Illustrators who you can share your ideas with, as opposed to 'your own private space'? if so why?  
  

• What would you say makes the difference between success and failure when trying to establish yourself in the design industry?  
  

• What was the easiest way to establish and promote yourself within the wide world of Illustration? Did you conform to a style that was around at the time you first got commissioned?  
  

• Would you say it is hard to remain an established Illustrator when there are so many other illustrating practitioners within the design industry?  
  

• You wont have seen my portfolio, but if you get time, I have included a Pdf, I would greatly appreciate your opinion and advice on improving any aspects of my designs. I can appreciate how busy you are but if you get the time, I would be over the moon to hear what you think.  
  

finally.. 

• What advice would you offer an aspiring Illustrator?  
  

Thankyou so much for your time, any of your feedback to any of the questions would be greatly valued! 

I look forward to hearing from you! 

Kind Regards, 

Sarah Hilton.

Paul wrote back

Sarah,
give me a couple of days and in the meantime please read the Q & A section on my website.
Maybe you should ask me some stranger questions as I get these questionnaires a lot! Something like: Q "how do you put off working when you project is utter misery?" A "find weird websites, drink inordinate amounts of tea/coffee/wine/beer etc., go for long lunches, try to change the art directors mind, weep gently..."
Best,
Paul.

So from here, I had a quick peek on his website, and Im sure I hadnt been able to find a question section at first, but another glance, and typical.. there it was, and so have included a few of the questions asked from previous interviews until I further hear from him.

The questions I have included are typically acting as research at this point, I have found and included them upon the basis that they relate to the way I work and the Illustration industry. They would have been similar to questions I would have asked prior to Paul's reply.


Q: What is the difference between what you do and fine art?

A: Illustration, more often than not, dances on the grave of someone else's idea. Or,
if you're lucky, it embraces the idea like a forlorn lover. A drawing or image could be based
on a piece of journalism that has to be interpreted, or it could be required to illustrate a
six-month market research study about how to sell a soft drink. Obviously, financially, the
latter has more going for it. You could also be involved in generating ideas from the outset…
but I always feel that the creatives who offer this do it because perhaps they haven't thought
of anything, or because they feel a bit sorry for you. I've done all of these and, for many
reasons, I can't make up my mind which one I prefer. Then there is the
greetings cards scenario... Fine art, on the other hand, is marvelous in the sense that no
one tells you what to do—it's your shit, your soul, your brilliant idea. Much more free and
enjoyable, but scary as hell—there's no one to blame for the potentially rubbish work that can
be produced. Art and illustration aren't the same thing—that’s so obvious. I also don't like
illustrations put on the walls of galleries, as this seems to defeat the object of what
illustration is for. Illustration could work on the walls of a gallery as long as the work
on the gallery walls functioned as illustration. An illustrated gallery is wonderfully perverse...

Upon finding this question it made me think about promotion of my work, of any illustrators work and my design 'style' if you want to call it that, has developed and altered upon gaining knowledge of illustrators and the industry. As my work has changed, I used to be more of a fine artist and a maker, but learning of drawbacks when your within the industry, time for example, for a fine artist, you have all the time in the world to create a piece, but an illustration is developed and worked (in general, if we are talking editorials) over a period of days! It ultimatly has to be simple effective and communicate an idea. 

my work, has developed with shape, created mostly on the computer, this shape ultimatly lends a structure to a piece, yet, I still feel that without hand crafted elements my illustration would not fulfil to be what i consider an illustration to be. But then its finding the elements, and the right elements. Photographic imagery, textures, marks, comments from the people around you.

I chose to include Paul as a contact for the simple reason that his work communicates instantly, through imagery and type. Communication has been one of the elements of an illustration which i struggle with. Speaking to Andy Pavitt, who works with Paul Davis in the Big Orange studio in London, he was telling me how Paul creates atleast one illustration a day - to keep his ideas flowwing and to create an archive at the same time.

Q) What artists, or any people, do you admire and why?

A)I jumped the gun - see above. Also The Chapman Brothers. And, I'm not being a toady
about this because you are an Australian magazine, but The Angry Penguins show years
ago in London was excellent. The Fall. Nabokov. The tomorrow, and tomorrow, and
tomorrow quote from Macbeth. The Kawasaki 900 (1976/77). Sexual matters. Borders.
Colour. Reference books. Google. I could go on...so much to do.

Q) Placements and internships - a useful experience? Where did you work and what did you do?
A)I worked from home for many years but I would recommend doing an internship. Good way of
learning vocational stuff and good for contacts.

Q) A lot of your work -that I've seen- is derived from your sketches and drawings in your
notepads, just using photoshop to add colours/shades. Do you think that the rise of the
digital media has warped a lot of the current pool of illustrations out there? To the point
where people will miss the tangible creative methods to jump straight into computers.
and if so do you believe that this has watered down the quality of art out there?

A)I reckon it's still all about ideas that work and the medium is secondary but a certain
amount of skill in realising the idea is always essential. Illustration can take many forms
so the to be recognised is to work honestly and diligently without falling into the trap of
trendiness. Copying or 'being overly influenced' by a style is a problematic idea because
it's immediately seen as lazy and stupid.
Some student once declared to his peers "I can do a Davis, and I can do a Shrigley." No
he fucking couldn't, he's still a child. I told this to David and we agreed we're going to
find him a cut off his hands. Just to make him think a bit deeper. What an arse.
Computers are wonderful when used an abused properly. My Mac is a beauty - I can work
anywhere these days. All I need is a scanner and (preferably) wireless and I'm away. It's
the drawing that matters - and the idea within it.
I once saw a poster saying something like:
"SHARPEN YOUR PENCILS, DRAW, DISCARD DRAWING, TRY AGAIN, FILM THE DRAWING,
GET FILM PROCESSED, DRAW ON THE FILM, THINK MORE, ABANDON PROJECT, COME UP
WITH A DIFFERENT BUT GREAT IDEA, PRACTICE REALISING CONCEPT. EXPERIMENT USING
DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES, TRY AND FAIL, TRY AND FAIL, EVENTUALLY GET IT RIGHT. NOW
YOU CAN SWITCH ON YOUR COMPUTER"
I must add that I see nothing wrong in un-conceptual drawings or drawing for drawing's
sake because it's drawing or image making that isn't illustration. It irks me when I have
exhibitions with my drawings and paintings, people say they like the illustrations in the
show and I tell them they're not illustrations at all and I'd never put an illustration on a
gallery wall anyway because their job is to illuminate text or embellish someone else's
idea. Drawings are drawings. You have to see the work in context. I keep the work of a
jobbing illustrator and artist very separated. Some great art is done by creating it in the
machine too, mostly in Japan.

Q) What was the difference to your work from when you left your schooling, compared
to what you practice now- has anything drastically changed since then?

A)Hopefully the drawing has moved on a bit! The ideas are more mature, I work a lot
quicker and I hardly get any paid work on a regular basis. I tend to get a couple of big
jobs a year. The rest of the time is working on book projects, having shows or doing a
lecture tour which I wouldn't have been able to do back then because I didn't know very
much. (Judging by your questions, I'd say you are more together than I was). In the past
year I've done judging and talks and workshops in New York, Cape Town, Melbourne,
Sydney, Tokyo, Bristol, Coventry (ah, the glamour), Glasgow, among others. So yes,
things have changed as for as being invited to do stuff connected to the industry
because I've stuck at it and have gained some recognition. People write about my work
in magazines instead of commissioning me (ah, the irony).

Martin salisbury - email no.2

From the last mail I had included about Salisbury and previous contact, these are further questions which I mailed to him relating to the design industry, I also sent over some small samples of my work for his opinion.



Hello Martin,
I am a student in my final year of a BA Hons of Illustration. I attended a lecture you gave at Stockport College, last year, featuring your book, 'Playpen'. A beautiful illustrated book, which I still look back on for inspiration!

I emailed you some time after you attended, questioning your influences and inspirations. As part of my degree, I need to build up information about Illustrators/ Designers and the Design Industry.


I know how busy you are but was wondering if you get a spare moment, I could have your opinion on a few questions below? Primarily about your career as an illustrator


• Do you think it is better working in a studio with other Illustrators who you can share your ideas with, as opposed to 'your own private space'? if so why?

I think this depends on the individual. Some illustrators crave the studio environment and go mad on their own (can be a big shock after college), others need to work alone and can't concentrate any other way

• What would you say makes the difference between success and failure when trying to establish yourself in the design industry?

Assuming there is 'talent' there, I am quite sure that the key word is 'persistence'. I have known many very good graduates who I felt sure would do well, who simply haven't been persistent enough. Whilst others, with good ability but perhaps not as gifted, have just been persistent and well organised and done better. Quiet dtermination and professionalism is the key.


• What was the easiest way to establish and promote yourself within the wide world of Illustration?

It was very different for me. there were very few illustratots in the late 1970s when I graduated. i got a job from the first publisher I visited!

• Did you conform to a style that was around at the time you first got commissioned?

'Style'? I hate that word! I suppose my work was unconsciously informed by the general vogue of the time which was for a mainly 'realist' approach. I loved drawing people and trying to create convincing narrative  'scenes'

• Would you say it is hard to remain an established Illustrator when there are so many other illustrating practitioners within the design industry?

Yes. Which is why it is important that your work doesn't consciously try too hard to pursue an idea of contemprary 'style' but has a distinct agenda aof its own. Ideas are important.


finally..


• You won't have seen my portfolio but if you get time, I have included a PDF, I would greatly appreciate your opinion and advice upon improving any aspects of my designs. I can appreciate how busy you are, but If you get the time I would be over the moon to her what you think.

i enjoyed looking at your samples. I don't like to comment on small images onscreen, out of context but I like your sense of colour and design. It looks as if you are focussing on the areas of design and editorial which are very competitive areas in which to establish yourself.

Good luck and do feel free to contact me.



Best wishes



Martin

Thankyou so much for your time, any of your feedback to any of the questions would be greatly valued! I look forward to hearing from you!

Kind Regards,

Sarah Hilton.

CIRCUS creations

Since i picked the topic subject of 'Circus' to work with, from recent projects, I have struggled on occassions with a self initiated brief, to create imagery that had a meaning, that had a purpose. For this, I suppose you could say I took the easy route and picked a story to illustrate.. After reading into Martin Salisbury's 'Playpen' and the in depth anylsis of childrens illustration, I developed a keen liking to childrens illustration. I have also been looking into Jim Flora and french illustrators Antoine and Manuel. All shapely design of which are constructed with strong colour, composition and simplicity.

By the time I will have completed the project, I will have an image for each chapter I complete, there are 26 chapters and upto now, I have atleast 15-20 images all at different stages.. the few I have included, are images I consider either finished or a rough final..

Above: the chapter depicts how Lotta, a circus girl, is learning to do tricks with the horses, she has to jump within a ring, that is on the broad side of the horses back. (ROUGH FINAL)

The above image, was created from a range of old circus imagery, that have an etching look to them, I try to use an element of this sort of imagery within most of my work. The cut and paste technique seems to have generated into an original style for me, it gives a different appeal, a look of building an image and 3dness instead of flatness, for me the image comes alive with this. and finally, shape, the element that holds my work together, that links each piece of imagery. For this project, after looking into book illustrations and format, I have 3 format proprtions to choose from depending on the image. a full page, a half page and a double page, just across the top of both pieces. Most of my designs so far, have been the half page, and so only develop into a size of 10 x 7cm, this is quite a small format, so the images have to be a somewhat simple detail.. so you can see exactly whats going on, but yet still have the integrity that depicts the making of the illustration. After looking at some 'Vignettes' , I have decided to create my designs in the same manner. 

Above: Lucky, the new dog of the Circus, is learning new tricks, one being how to push a pram, the chapter denotes how the dog steers the pram right round the ring, and so this large circular element denotes this. The image is not quite finished as yet, but its not far off. (ROUGH FINAL)

Above: An idea that has generated and changed a numerous amount of times. 'the new caravan', as the browns move in with the circus, they have their own caravan but are expected to clean it out in return for their gift from Mr. Galliano. After I have generated it a bit more it will be finished, but presently, the elements, are a bit all over, and too spread, and not correctly scaled. (ROUGH FINAL)

Above: the first final image, an exciting chapter where Jumbo - the elephant rampages through the town at night time, the dimmed colour, is reflective of the night as is the shadow around the elephant. As a first image, I decided to keep the shape of the elephant simple, this contrasted on the mixed media photographic elements in play with the shape, and gave the image a sense of movement. (FINAL)

Above: A chapter denoting the circus dogs, jumping through hoops, showing their tricks in play. Again the large shapes play the roll in holding this image together, they leave out the negative space in creating this vignette. (FINAL)

Martin Salisbury

Martin Salisbury, studied at Maidstone College of art in the 1970's he has been an Illustrator and painter ever since, most recently, his work has been focused around the area of childrens book illustrations, and in 2003, he wrote, 'illustrating children's books'. I know him most commonly for this book 'play pen' a beautifully illustrated book of which demonstrates new trends of childrens illustration. 

My work isn't necessarily based around children's book illustrations, yet as it has been developing it is an area i have looked into, and taken notice of. My work demonstrates various mixed media techniques, but has recently been inspired with shape and character after starting to create images for an Enid Blyton novel, 'Mr Galliano's Circus'.

More importantly, I had emailed Salisbury a while back about his inspirations, to start me of with his knowledge of children's books, and his background, ((these questions were for another brief but i chose to include them to back up more questions, presently that will follow and tie in.)).. The questions follow.. 

Dear Martin,

I have recently been reading your 'play pen' book, it is brilliant, and some of the work within is remarkable, particularly by 'Istvan Schitter' and 'Ragnar Aalbu' but primarily, 'Kristin Roskifte'. I tink the concept of the piece with the book is gorgeous! It makes you look and assess every character within the illustration. Brilliant! I am also quite fond of the work of Harriet Russell but have been unable to get hold of her, sadly.

• How do you develop your ideas?

ideas- Im not an 'ideas person' as such. As a painter/illustrator, my particular preoccupations are with landscape and atmosphere or 'sense of place.' Ideas are visual motifs for me. I get a sense of something I want to make images around. So as an illustrator, if art directors are doing their job, they commission me to illustrate texts that reflect my particular preoccupations or themes.

• Who/what inspires you to create your pieces and what processes and practises do you go through when answering a brief for a client?

Inspiration/ influence - see above but I am influenced by the british 'neo-romantics' of the 40sand 50's - John Minton, John Piper, Keith Vaughan. Also Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious. My work has changed a lot in recent years. I try to approach a brief through landscape/place etc. I draw various compositions in the sketchbooks and am increasingly using ink and gouache for painting, rather than watercolour which i used for years.

• Have you any favourite jobs?

Favourite jobs- The book cover for 'the midnight fox' by betsy byers was nice because the writing is good and allowed me to focus on a sense of place.

• How did you get from being a design student to part of the design industry?

I studied at Maidstone College of art in the 70s. In those days you did graphic design but my course was the first to split into GD and illustration as separate routes while I was there. I only ever wanted to draw for living. There was far less competition in those days (very few illustrators). I just walked into a publisher with my portfolio and they gave me a book to do! (even though I wasn't very good!)

Thankyou very much!

Sarah.

I am now in the process of mailing him more technical ideas relating to the design industries, of which, I am awaiting a reply.

Andrew pavitt

Andy Pavitt is currently working at Big Orange studios in London, the studio itself houses 7-8 people, all with their own working space, this collaboration of people, enables each of them to be exchanging ideas and thoughts. For these reasons, I believe it can be quite successful, working together, not necessarily as a collaboration but when your stuck for an idea, or a view of your work, your always have a professional opinion.


Pavitts imagery is created based upon pattern and form. I admire the way he constructs his pieces, I feel they have a dynamic appeal, due to his large clean shapes and bold colour palette. His designs are simple but effective. His work varies from editorial illustration to his own range of card designs. For me his work is elegantly simple and communicates an idea instantly with his use of eyecatching colours, his shapes and vignette type designs are wonderous as illustrations because of their simplicity. Inspired by 'scandinavian designs of the 50's and 60's', Pavitt 'applies pattern and humour of Stig Lindberg and sublime shapes and forms of ceramic and glass artist Tapio Wirrkela.

Last year I attended a lecture which Andy Pavitt directed, and I mailed him a few points about his work,

• How do you begin the developement of your ideas when designing an illustration?
  

-When developing ideas for an illustration brief I will start with sketching as I find this the quickest way of getting something going. I should stress that I always draw even when it's crap, and not write ideas down, as concepts and metaphors etc very much present themselves from the drawing process. I know the vogue is to scribble a load of notes down but I have found this very much hinders visual ideas from happening.
The drawing might just be shapes or forms that suggest a route through. When I have something that has a strong enough idea I might begin to develop it on the computer but find it always helps if I continue doodling as I go.

FROM READING THIS, I KNEW THAT MY WORK WAS INITIALLY CREATED FROM NOTES SCRIBBLED DOWN, AND FOR A WHILE IT WAS WORKING, BUT LIKE PAVITT STATED DESIGNS DONT HAVE ROOM TO BREATHE WITHIN NOTS AND SOMETIMES A METAPHOR EMERGES IF YOU EXPERIMENT WITH DESIGN, ALWAYS AT THE READY WITH A PENCIL IN YOUR HAND, FROM PAVITTS COMMENTS AND SOME WISE WORDS FROM ANDY MARTIN WHO CAME TO WORK WITH US FOR A FEW DAYS, I CAME TO REALISE THE DIFFERENCE A DOODLE MADE( EVEN A BAD ONE AT TIMES) TO THE UPLEAD OF MY ILLUSTRATIONS, DESPITE BEING MIXED MEDIA BASED AND LETTING THE IDEAS GENERATION COME FROM A CUT AND PASTE TECHNIQUE OF CUT UP PHOTOCOPIES AND GATHERED EPHEMERA, THE ROUGH WAS ALWAYS BETTER!!

• Who and what inspires you inspires you?
  

-I think it's really useful to surround myself with inspirations and artists work I admire. A scrap book of ideas or a mood board ( I hate that term but it's true I guess) is good.
For me it has always been important to look at images outside the world of Illustration, eg. Sculptors, Architects, Fabrics, Ceramics, Fashion.
I think perhaps if one gets too close to other illustrators work it can stifle your own approach somewhat. The british designers Robin and Lucienne Day have always been a big inspiration and they are both into their 90's now and recently I have been looking at Ben Nicholson's wonderful drawings.

• Have you had any favourite jobs?
  

-I think favourite jobs often start out as the most difficult or challenging briefs that then develop into a real learning process. A good example was a poster design for the Association of Illustrators with a completely open brief (often the hardest)
In conjunction with the client I developed an idea based around the constellations which we called look up. With an initial starting point of a sketch of a bears head for urse major it slowly transformed into a hunting narrative representing a whole variety of constellations. A great mix of fun and challenging fitting everything together to fold into four separate pieces.

• Can you establish the path from being a student to becoming an illustrator/designer?
  

-My path from student to illustration and design was a strange one. I started from a fine art degree so painting was my thing. Making contacts and getting appointments as an illustrator isn't so hard it's keeping the momentum going and not getting disheartened that's more difficult.

• What advice would you offer an aspiring Illustrator?
  

- My advice is to develop as many areas of alternative application for your work, try to view illustration in the wildest possible design context and you will get more work. (So being open to anything really) Second, always be proffessional and if possible never turn a job in late or for that matter turn a job down. Illustration is a commercial art, so at some point you will do a job that your not entirely happy with (don't worry to much as you will be on another job soon enough) and you can make that a great one.

Kind Regards,

Andrew.

Whilst I was in London, I was Lucky enough to arrange a meet with Pavitt and a few other members from Big Orange studios to have a portfolio briefing, of which, he thankfully had a browse through my work and gave sufficient feedback. Again in relation to his work as he was browsing through, he picked out an illustration, which in my eyes was only an element, I wouldn't hav classed it as an illustration, a train, with textured ephemera and he said the simplicity is what gives it its meaning, there was no need for anything more.

I have more recently sent him another email with a few questions about the design industry and his view on 'success and failure when trying to establish yourself in the design industry' as well as a few others questioning how he got his work heard about, what he did to promote himself.

Hi Andrew!

You may not remember me, I came to visit you in London with a few friends from Stockport College, for a tour around your studio and a portfolio briefing. As part of my degree, I need to build up information about Illustrators/ Designers and the Design Industry.

I know how busy you must be, but was wondering if I could have your opinion on the six questions below?

I need to get as many opinions as possible.. It would be phenomenal if any of your colleagues at Big Orange (only if they had a spare few minutes) could answer any of the questions of which they have time for, I would be ever so grateful!

p.s. I am developing the type from the letterpress stamps I 'borrowed from you'. I shall send you a few designs, as promised, when I get my brief finished!


Do you think it is better working in a studio with other Illustrators who you can share your ideas with, as opposed to 'your own private space'? if so why?


What would you say makes the difference between success and failure when trying to establish yourself in the design industry?


What was the easiest way to establish and promote yourself within the wide world of Illustration?


Did you conform to a style that was around at the time you first got commissioned?


What advice would you offer an aspiring Illustrator?


Thankyou so much for your time, I look forward to hearing from you!
Regards,

Sarah Hilton.

Im just waiting for the reply.

Tal Rosner

(( up until two months ago, id never heard of him, i kind of stumbled across him accidently because a couple of months ago on channell 4 there was a program called animat tv which i missed, but rik recorded it and the next day brought it in and said, you gotta hav a look at this, i watched about 4 or 5 minutes of the program and it took me straight to tal and within about 30 seconds of watching it, i was hooked on it, because i like absract animation, abstract film, so i wtched it and i immediatly emailed him, went on his website and even said id seen his work on tv, and i said, would he like to come up and give us a talk to you, and within the time, i didnt really expect a responce, i expected him to be a very busy chap cos hed been all over the world, and why should he come up here, and within a few hours hed emailed back and said id love to come up to stockport and talk to your students. ))

i was thinking for a bit about how to construct this lecture, and got talking to people and thought the best way would be to show you what id been doing within the last 4 years. i guess from a similar stage you are at, it was on a graphic design desgree, similar to your own, where i started this work and it was at the end of that degree, from the beginning to where i am now, and there are different projects that happened since then, how your language, which i would hope is independant of the projects that you get, how your personal feelings and language develops through these almost consequential things on the way. you get oportunities and you grab them, and you change through that.


i was a graphic design student, doing compositions and posters, and magazine design and felt, after about 3 years that i had had enough for rhythm or movement and i wanted to explore that a bit further. you get to the ends of these degrees and you feel what is it that i want to do? what is it that i want to explore? and i felt at that time, that i want to take all kinds of things that ive learnt in graphic design and translate them to movement on screen, whether it is composition or sequence.

if you think about it, a newspaper, or if your designing for a magazine, its going to flow, what happens when you turn a page, and in this thing, you turn a page, 25 times every second, and you begin to think about what is a flow???

in the year of my MA, in moving image - doppelganger. s east london. re developed area called docklands, and there is a tiny lego like train that goes around docklands, and i left this camera in the front seat while it went round, this was for me my starting point i felt i thought that i had an idea, it had a strating point a beginning middle and end, i look at it now, and i think i was learrning, and while your going through this, you teach yourself, and you find your own way the more you work on the software, my work is digital and i record things digital by camera, also the exhibitionage is digital, from beginning to end it is a digital process.

BELOW: is the doppleganger video..
http://www.talrosner.com/doppelganger/video.html

moving image translates into possible actions in the world, for me, this idea of working so large and large budgets, the software was huge to strat with as a prospect and I kind of thought i would be dealing with something smaller, but i get to do the filming and the editing and as long as you completely fund it yourself which is not the case in my case, it is about how much your willing to adjust, actually i was very lucky, these two pianist, french pianits probably from the late 50s stumbled across one of my dvd music videos, and asked if i would like to do that sort of stuff to pianist music, by the composer stravinsky, and i didnt know anything about classical music. i was more of a techno background, i thought it may be an interesting project. they wanted to do this new set of products, they were tired of recording pieces that have already been done, they wanted a kind of cd/ dvd combo, which would attract maybe a younger market to the music that they play, it would be different.

the pieces, i was able to create chapters in them. i have one piece 20 mins and another piece of 5 and another of 15 mins.

these were similar to the pieces i created with the trains but in a different way, a level up. if you try to analyse the music there are 2 pianos playing, i used the two screens to make it work, which show the two pianos playing together, but you have to see both sides for it to work.

BELOW: stravinsky- concerto
http://www.talrosner.com/stravinsky-concerto/video.html

i probably started going a bit further with the abstraction and the spectrum between you seeing what it is and what you think you see, this went wider and when you see what it is its really a kind of art.


probably not my favourite piece but id like to show it, but it shows a different approach to movement as apposed to what im used to. changing forground and background, alternating, u think its only one frame but theres all sorts of ways to create depth in that flat image. i then did another piece, which was composed based around a series of a few videos, each about a minute long, built together based around buildings, and we deconstructed the buildings in shape and form, all the constructions are based around a silhouette and the building itself.

BELOW: stravinsky - ep
http://www.talrosner.com/stravinsky-ep/video.html

there's a lot of luck within the making of some of my work, having faith and it being the right time for people to see your work, skins started in 2005, nobody new about the sets, nobody new anything, it was a really low budget, and working with the stravinsky stuff, i thought about it being applied with something more commercial. this is the 5 sequence of the first season. the title sequence was about the characters that the people were playing, the beginning is the doppleganger and then it mixes.

BELOW: skins season 1
http://www.talrosner.com/skins-1/video-low.html

the title sequence changed depending on the characters or what was going on within the storyline. we decided to keep this different ending going on, a few notes of music and sequence, it was a rebellious idea.

i was then contacted by this big art agency who did this regional sport thing, live performance. again i continued to devolop my visual approach to visualising sound and music, and this is a piece by nan carrow, an american composer, he likes the history of music, and experiments with this, he composed some music for a mechanical piano, so instead of writing, using black dots, holes punched into a roll, which was then fed into the machine. its a longer piece. i worked with a friend called sophie, we decided that there was a crazy piece of music, to work with and we asked the musicians about the various noises and what instruments played these noises, when the instruments changed or stopped to make a kind of analysis of this track.

BELOW: nan Carrow
http://www.talrosner.com/nancarrow/video.html

coming from a graphic design background, your deciding on the system of the videos and music and movement, when we were deciding on it, we had the black and white an then all the elements which made it crazy being in sync with the music.

the second set of skins was more kind of mischievous, more characters, all the title sequence used large typography of the logo and using parts of k's and n's for example, in different places but to still keep it the same but give a completely different feel to it.

BELOW: skins season 2 video
http://www.talrosner.com/skins-2/video-low.html

there is a tool we used a lot called grading, something that has to be done right, just slightly changing the colours and tones of the colours, it makes two shots totally different, these are the sort of things you will see in the developing process, there is a new one coming out in january which im working on now. i tried to follow the progression of how the series has followed on from each of the others and keep their similarities when constructing them.

the next one was one of the biggest projects ive accomplished, an amazing thing that happened, with an orchestra in london, which i just finished in april/may it was a pro-creation, the performance was in the opera/ concert, and in order to enable us to create it, we wanted to do a piece of music with visuals, of all the animals which god created, the water, the earth for example, and we decided to do it together. the composer was there writing the music at the same time i was making the visuals, a system of communication and commissioning, a commissioner from europe, a commission from england etc, there were 3 focal people, persons, who organised the money to create this piece, one in london, one in LA and another in Amsterdam. 7 days of creation, which consisted of a 6 screen production, its a narration, its a story. all the visuals for the pieces were from the concert hall, from the one in london the one in LA, i was looking for something to play with, something to abstract, then i created this animation. i think of myself as a sculptor, in motion rather than a painter, i don't do things such as drawing and painting, but i take material, i take footage and mould it into something else.

BELOW: concert hall: 6 screens - in seven days.
http://www.talrosner.com/in-seven-days/video.html

having half an hour of visuals to do to music, when the music is playing at the same time, you have to negotiate, "i need a few bits here. i need this to go down, this to go up." its about co-opperation and communication.

then the last video, which brought me here in the first place, called 'without you', i'm not going to review all the details, but channel 4 has this initiative to say that animation can be anything, there is a very wide range of 'what is animation' , and i started from this poem, i chose a part of it, and found an abstract painter, joseph albers, who made lots of shapes and colour, people don't know him as a poet, they know him as a painter, so this was the starting point, i went to heathrow, i was in the cab and i saw this kind of lego construction thing, i found this place, it looked funny and interesting, amazing colours, and this was the centre of london, now i thought 'whats the connection', then someone told me what if you take this radius and draw it circular around so you can see the continuity, and seeing that all these places are in the circle, its not suburbs its not london, its basically a consumer driven area where they sell things, they need to set up the building really fast, some of the desicions are really fast but amazing, i filmed steady shots and its all locked by walking into a number of shops, you make connections between colours and shapes. another thing i was trying to generate was getting away from classical music. i wanted to do something seeing what happens if i don't work with music, leaving the sound on when i do my editing when i'm recording, changing the footage every 5 frames, but what would happen if i do leave it on? so these amazing soundscapes that are integrated into the footage. this is some of my latest work, but the one im most proud of.

BELOW: without you
http://www.talrosner.com/without-you/video.html

"its a game. between seeing something really boring when actually there is life inside of it, you try to restore it, that secret life and colours, making it work together." my work has come from doppleganger to this in the last four years.

Questions

in the last one you did, didn't the sound you used in the film already did that sound affect how you edit it?

when i was filming, i actually sat and listened, i had already listened to the clips, i had already remebered the sound from recording it, that noise started to develop, i had to find the right interesting noises, compile them together deciding how long i needed them, then building like sections, i had a section of 10 seconds, and another of 17 and deciding what worked together, it was accidental, but there wasn't an obsticles just about whether it worked or not.

in your animation, especially doppleganger there is a lot of negative space especially with the colour, was it natural or artificial in the editing process. there are extreme darks and exteme whites.?

again it was quite accidental, all the diamond shapes, were actually the sreenwipers, if you multiply the triangle shape you get the diamond, its just the multiplaication of shapes, the only things i did change afterwards was just altering the contrast if it needed it.

when you made the piece, with your visuals linked in with the live orchestra, i was wondering whether the conductor had to keep an eye on your visuals to keep in time?

well there were technicalities of that were in order to project the 6 films of .. and on one of the them, i had this mock up of how the piece was going to sound, like an electronic screen then made the movie to it.

you mentioned you came from a background of graphic design and using grid systems, which you then tempered a lot of your work, and set yourself the limitations or perimeteres to work with can you say a little bit of how that helps you create the work?

i think that its more already i have to set myself limitation in photoshope for example creating a doccument that shows a half way and half way for an imaage, but sometimes its less accurate when i hav the images and make the videos, its just a case of sometimes moving it slightly up or down, in the doppleganger, with the circles, it becomes more accurate with the timing of how things are moving.

the carrow piece, it had a look with kandinsky, and the last one, a look of mondrian, i was wondering if you were influenced by modernness or these artists?

i like everything, most of the things i like were done between 1905 and 1935, a lot of the things i aspire to, if you think about, movement in that time, and the terms of modernism being just a think line or a white box, and sometimes i think of the turn of the century, there is so much imagery, its so ornamentel, everything is so complex, everything has a lot of people working on it. kandinsky, yes i was influenced by him, but maybe bauhaus, and again, these things like abstract, early 20th century, you could do a BA in abstract filmmaking, and there were a lot of people doing it. people start experimenting, they were not showing something configurative, they were showing movement, for example, what happens if a small circle becomes big, do you feel scared..?? what do you feel if this circle moves from side to side, do you feel danger?? its much more abstract and much more basic and over-posessed.

Circus visual reference

One of the Year 1 students told me about LIFE magazine online, which has a fantastic and rich image archive. There is tons of imagery on the theme of circus. Have a look.

Kim Smith

I came across the work of Kim Smith lookin for blogs on the internet, her work is quite whimsical and she has created a good many illustrations for childrens books, these two being my favourite. Some of her work looks almost 3d as if it has been cut out and layered like a theatre set production. I think the characters and some of the shapes of which she captures elements such as the trees in the piece above are beautiful, simple, yet effective!

Meet with Andrew Pavitt and Big Orange Studios

finally, arranged the visit with Andrew Pavitt, after a few ping-pong phone calls, its is done!

hello again!

I just missed your call! The wednesday is more suitable for myself and other colleagues as they have arranged further meetings on the thursday morning. Possibly morning or dinner time on Wednesday 4th of March if that would be ok? If you could mail me back a time at which is suitable for yourself. Otherwise if the thursday is more suitable for you we can make further arrangements.

Couple of questions,

Will we be meeting at your studio?

and, is the address,

Big Orange Studios 150 Curtain Road, 2nd Floor back buildings London Greater London
EC1R 3AN

Thankyou ever so much, I look forward to hearing from you!

Sarah.

REPLY FROM PAVITT

Hi Sarah

Yes the address is spot on and Wednesday is good also.
Late morning say 11.30 would be great.

If you can come to the studio and either buzz the door downstairs or call me on the mobile and I can
come down and let you in.

Look forward to seeing you.

Best

Andrew

meet with Cheryl Taylor - schedualed!

Hello sarah,

Sorry to have taken so long to reply but I've been a little under the weather of late.

Thanks for the comments you're very kind.

I could probably meet you on tuesday evening for a chat if you fancy? I work full time as a designer so the days are out I'm afraid. It would be good to chat with you hopefully see gary and ian too.

Bring your folio and I'll look at some of your work. The pdfs you sent look great by the way!.

I hope you're and I look forward to seeing you next week.

Cheryl x

reply:

Hello!!

It is so great hearing from you, I hope you feel better soon! I am absolutely thrilled to be able to meet you. The Tuesday evening would be fantastic!

I shall mention to Ian and Gary about seeing you, If it's ok, may I bring along a friend too, to have a chat?

Where abouts would you like to meet and what time?

We have a meeting with Nick Defty from YCN at 3pm on Rivington Street on the Tuesday but I can arrange around it, just let me know. :)

Maybe I could take your number and give you a ring when I'm in London to arrange further details?

Again, I hope you feel better soon.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Sarah x

Nick White - Illustration For 'World of Interiors'

This is an illustration created by Nick White, which was produced for the 'World Of Interiors' magazine! His work fascinates me! I love all of his collected ephemera and his website!. wow. just have a browse..

http://www.thisisnickwhite.com

Nick white - ((world of interiors illustration))

This is an illustration created by Nick White, which was produced for the 'World Of Interiors' magazine! His work fascinates me! I love all of his collected ephemera and his website!. wow. just have a browse..

http://www.thisisnickwhite.com

LONDON - notes for visits.

Visiting illustrators
Practitioners
Agencies
Art Directors

Myself and Kachia Rafferty have been schedualed to visit the company "Big Orange - well more of an independant team or studio of illustrators, of which we have already been introduced to Andy Pavitt (below), who (hopefully) we will be meeting up with to discuss the big world of illustration. 

From here, myself and Kachia began to circle and pin down other companies around London that managed illustrations and started to ring those who we thought would specialize around illustrations similar to our own.

CIRCLED COMPANIES OF EDITORIAL DIRECTORIES - CONTACTED

Blueprint -

"Monthly architecture &design magazine. Regularly contemporary colour illustration, mixed styles- hand drawn, paint, abstract, computer, collage. For cover design and spots."

--we rang this agency but it seemed that it had moved or we didn't have the correct contact number--

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Building Magazine - 

"Weekly magazine on the building industry. Colour, b/w, contemporary, architectural, business, financial imagery."

BOOKED - THURSDAY 5TH MARCH - 2 o'clock

--One of the first agencys' of which we contacted and arranged an appointment with the art Editor, Sam Jenkins.

below is the website for this agency.

http://www.building.co.uk

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Campaign - 

"Advertising industry weekly commissioning occasional front cover illustrations. Loose briefs with a leaning towards digital montage. No cartoons."

BOOKED - (well hopefully) THURSDAY 5TH MARCH - 4 o'clock

--Upon contacting this agency, they required a contact number of which i didn't have at hand, stupidly! but we had already set a date and time at that point and i sent a mail with an enclosed contact number..

Contact details - Sarah Hilton‏
From: sarah hilton (white_rabbit3@hotmail.co.uk)
Sent: 13 February 2009 16:37:02
To: justin.marshall@haymarket.com

Hello,

My name is Sarah Hilton, I rang earlier today to confirm a visit on the 5th of march at 4 o'clock.

You requested a contact number, you will be able to reach me and my colleague on 07545034233.

Thankyou very much.

Sarah.

see website

http://www.brandrepublic.com

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Design Week -

"Weekly commissioning mostly contemporary, abstract and conceptual illustration on a fairly regular basis."

--After ringing the agency, myself and Kachia were told to send samples or a PDF to..

sam.freeman@centaur.co.uk

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

New Scientist - 

"Weekly Magazine with the latest science and technology news. Goes through phases of style, always varied and fresh."

--Upon calling this art director of new scientist, we were told to ring back on WEDNESDAY 18TH FEBRUARY to discuss further details.

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Observer -

"Weekly supplement with the newspaper. Uses colour and b/w, all styles. All subjects. 18-20 illustrations per month."

--we rang this agency but its seemed that we did not have the correct contact number as we couldnt get through.

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Prospect - 

"Topical monthly with a political slant commissioning 5 pieces per issue. Styles range from graphic, conceptual, medical and traditional cartoon gags. Occasional maps and graphs."

--Following this phone call we were told to send an email to the director. I will update this post once I have done so. there was something about this agency that caught me when I read the notes, maybe for my interest in maps and graphs. Here's the website to have a browse..

http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

World of Interiors -

"Monthly commissioning 1 piece per issue for regular "Journal Of A Collector" feature. Styles range from traditional to contemporary, often with the narrative element."

--As soon as I read this, I instantly began to research into the phrase in inverted comma's and a found a piece by an illustrator named Nick White. (I will do another post for this piece as I already once messed up this one when I was trying to place the image - wasn't successful at all!)

Anyhow following this phone call, similar to the 'Prospect' Agency, we were told to send an email detailing this visit.

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

CIRCLED EDITORIAL AGENCIES - NOT CONTACTED

• Cosmopolitan
• Daily Telegraph
• Financial Times - Weekend
• Health Insurance
• Healthy
• Hedge Funds Review
• HSJ
• IBM
• M & S magazine
• Machinery
• Red
• Science In Society
• Sunday Times
• T3
• The Banker
• Top Gear
• Time Out
• Wallpaper

If we send out the mails and PDFs to the Agencies we have already contacted, who requested a further mail or sample images, and we don't get a reply or we get a cold reply, these are the various other agencies from a range of editorial illustration companies, will we contact upon this refusal or happening.

Cheryl Taylor - London meet email!

Dear Cheryl,

Hello!
It's Sarah Hilton from the third year Illustration at Stockport College.

I was looking over some of your work on the Synergy website, it's still fabulous! a few of your new pieces caught my eye, they are amazing. I love them!

I know how busy you must be, I wanted to inform you of a visit the third years are making to London between the 3rd of March and the 5th. I was wondering, if you don't have a busy schedule, if myself and a friend, could meet you for a visit, only an hour or so I would have thought, if that, for a few questions about your work and the industry of Illustrators?

I can appreciate if you are unable to make it, but I would be thrilled to meet you and discuss some work with you, get a few pointers!

I have enclosed a PDF with a few pieces of my work, still needs a few tweaks I must add!

I hope to hear from you soon.

Sarah x

REPLY

Hello sarah,

Sorry to have taken so long to reply but I've been a little under the weather of late.

Thanks for the comments you're very kind.

I could probably meet you on tuesday evening for a chat if you fancy? I work full time as a designer so the days are out I'm afraid. It would be good to chat with you hopefully see gary and ian too.

Bring your folio and I'll look at some of your work. The pdfs you sent look great by the way!.

I hope you're and I look forward to seeing you next week.

Cheryl x

(((so hurray for London!!!)))

Secret History book cover

After a series of endless changes, I have finally got to a point where I'm happy (for the time being) with this piece! I still think it needs a lots of work and I feel that the shape on the front cover is somewhat dominating and going off the theme and style of my own work, netherless, I think the space on the front cover enhances the piece, this was overcrowded with a dark image to start with and through discussion was taken out to give the image room to breathe, the communication is still lacking but I'm quite pleased with the way it works and the general style. More changes yet though! 

Max Huber

I have come across the work of Max Huber in the past, but Ian mentioned his work to me when I was tweaking the mindmap, again! I chose these two pieces out of a book of Huber's, based upon his use of coloured shapes and forms and the overlapping of them on photographic imagery, I felt it related to my work from that point of view. I particularly like the image above due to the way the shapes overlap upon the type, they are not exactly box bound, I like the way they interact. I feel onlooking these pieces, they also keep the image quite spacious, overlapping the colours because they are semi transparent, they create another 'level' of integrity to Huber's work.

--Space--

While I was developing the Mindmap design amongst other pieces, I had a browse through a new vintage type book. Im fairly interested in type, but in terms of integration into my work, I never quite got round to it. I have used a handwritten type within a previous work in the second year, through the making of my artist book, I thoroughly enjoyed this and the combination of elements, and this handwritten type, made the illustrations much more original. But anyway, when I was looking through this type book, primarily discussing the type of work throughout the era's, there is a few chapters, discussing the work over the Modernist periods. Obviously mentioning the work of Alexander Rodchenko (constructivist) (below)

and Jan Tsichold (bauhaus), and it led me on to thinking about the space within illustrations, as I tend to clutter. The colour throughout this period, or more prior in significant with these artists was also fairly limited. From the observation of the Mindmap (previous post), this piece too, had a restricted colour pallette, but I think the aid of the shaped and intensity of the colour seemed to clutter the piece somewhat. I will most probably post another rendered design!! 

" The early revolutionary avant-garde stage on constructivism was noted for geometric abstraction, while the later Productivist stage was more minimally representational.

The common Modernist graphic traits of asymmetric layout, sans serif type faces, austere geometric ornament, primary colour palette, photographic illustration, pictograghic imagery, were not always universally employed in purist ways."

Mindmap- take2!

I posted an image earlier, of a mindmap which I created for the self-generated brief, which I chose to base around Location. A few tweaks, and here it is again.

You can see the development of shape and colour, in comparison to the first piece. Of course with specific colours, and the placement of elements, things can be brought forward and dimmed back. Ian enlightened me with these ideals, and hopefully from now, my work will progress in the same manner, but hopefully not lose it's 'subtlty' and become too over whelmed with shape.