World Wide What?

Original screenshot from the homepage of wesleepintrees.com

So here it is, after much trial and tribulation WeSleepInTrees is here! I've tried to make sure the site is as easy to navigate as possible and as far as I know everything is in working order! I also run a Tumblr account by the same name, that you can check out here, that contains more regular updates of personal and commercial work.

I've had an excellent amount of feedback on the website so far, little tips of corrections and compliments, so I have to say I'm very pleased with my efforts. A couple of months ago anything technologically adept would have been beyond me but after learning how to apply to small amount of coding knowledge I had, in order to modify templates and customise pages I'm happy with my website.

Updated banner with text and edited image for wesleepintrees.com

The Helpful Hand of Dominique Byron: Portfolio Visit

Not so long ago I posted about Dom Byrons' exhibition up at Kosmonaut bar in the Northern Quarter of Manchester, 'Conspiracy Theories'. Well I contacted her afterwards to say well done for hosting such a well presented show and asked her if she had the time to take a look at my PDF portfolio and website. Of course being such a generous person she obliged and didn't hesitate in sending me reems of advice on both.

All images taken from dominiquebyron.com

In regards to layout she didn't have any recommendations on adapting them, only kind words about how clean, well annotated and consistent the PDF is and that the website was easily navigated. The navigation and usability of my website are two things I've been eager to receive feedback on, posting links on Facebook and Tumblr have helped me to gain knowledge on this matter and gain public opinion. A big reassurance. Next up was the range and consistency of my work, she picked out straight away that one of my favourite subjects to illustrate revolves around animal form and fictional characters, something that has always caught my attention in narrative or real life. She commented on how well informed my line drawings were and that potential clients would have confidence commissioning me from these examples. I'm not really one for ego inflation but it's rather nice to hear that your work is seen as high standard by successful Illustrators in comparison to you mam telling you it's lovely even if she doesn't know what the hell it is.

"Your work seems to stay consistent and look good with the use of different materials or processes. The paintings are cool and add a nice splash of colour throughout your portfolio. Your screenprint looks ace too, having the detailed fox with the block colour of the leaves is a really nice balance. I think that showing you can do both b/w and work with colour is a real plus and just adds another string to your bow. The attention to detail and time you've spent will really set you apart I reckon." (Byron, taken from an email conversation shared between us)

Again, she put another worry to bed for me when mentioning how she could see ways in which my work could be applied to different media easily; books, album covers, products and textiles. Distinctly my 'Piece for Protest' Fox and Pig as a pair work instantaneously as text supplements, perfect for editorial content as they hold extra concept to accompany an article. For me, this is something I'm going to make the effort to try my hand at more regularly after university. I believe that applying concept to my work will bring out the best in it. She added that if editorial or merchandise were areas I could be interested in, I would benefit from creating templates and mock-ups to place my illustrations in as clients will immediately be able to visualise a much wider window of application.

Really helpful and encouraging words, again thank you Dom for your kindness!

Portfolio Visit with Chris Madden: Good Egg

Taken from robotmafia.com

I remember my first day at Stockport College, feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed, full of hope and clutching sharp new pencils. The first thing I saw walking down the corridor to my new studio was the image above...'Fireworks' by Chris Madden. Three years later and I've met some wonderful people, successful in every weight of the word, including Chris Madden who I had the pleasure to meet at Draw North West; a Manchester-based creative meet-up, that he coincidentally runs.

Now although Chris may not be a potential client, I trust that he knows Illustration inside out and surrounds himself with more creative people on a daily basis than you could shake a stick at. I've had a hard time trying to contact agents of agents of illustrators and even worse experiences being told I have no direction by self-inflated baffoons who feel they've made it if they've got a couple of ten pound notes to rub together. However, it's no secret that Stockport fledglings tend to have a quality that sets them apart, kindness. Taking time out of a busy schedule to do something for nothing and the courage to be honest without breaking someones heart is rare in such a competitive industry. I'm sure I've been looking in all the wrong places elsewhere, but Manchester, Leeds and York exude such a beautiful attitude via their young creatives that I didn't really need to.

Anyway, getting back to the subject. I emailed Madden in the hopes I would catch him when he would have the time to talk to little ol' me, I wasn't dissapointed. In response to all the material I sent him I received a wonderful response again reinforcing successfully balancing my black and white drawings alongside colour, maintaining loose drawings in contrast to detailed images and using the simple, clean layout of my website/portfolio to harness the style of the drawings.

I asked him specifically about branding as it's one element I've always been unsure about. Mentioning the banner on my website in particular Madden suggested that I used the icon of the bat to tie my work together instead of one small logo i.e using the bat on the banner, on products, at the forefront of my portfolio etc. Considering this I would probably use the colour version of my banner illustration as it highlights the merging of watercolour and fineline drawing, my preferred media. At the same time, I would have to be cautious not to exhaust imagery, try and keep my portfolio and website varied so that clients have fresh illustration to look at across the board and I'm not constantly repeating myself. Another reason why I connect my Tumblr account to my website, Tumblr is an easier way to update regularly without the pressure of all the pieces being finalised. The connection between viewer and artist becomes more personal as they can see you process, read as much or as little about you and intertwine your personality with you work.

As a final thought; "Overall, you are on the right track and are doing more things right than you are giving yourself credit for! If you need anything else over the next few weeks (or ever really) i’m more than happy to give advice/critique etc.

just give me a bell - Looking forward to seeing your work at the degree show!" (Madden, conversation via email)

Eternal thanks to Chris Madden for being an excellent role model and all round nice guy!

Plain Sailing with Kris Sale: Portfolio Visit

Taken from Sale's Twitter, search Kris_Sale

I've known Kris Sale for a long time, I respect his opinion as a friend and an Illustrator in equal measure so thought it would be beneficial to ask him to take a look at my Portfolio and website as I knew he'd be honest with me. He graduated Stockport College two years ago and was one of the very people to recommend it to me in the first place, sometimes it's nice to get opinions from people who know you and your capabilities well.

One of my favourite pieces of his 'VS', taken from cargocollective.com/krissale

After showing him my Portfolio and Website he commented on how much my work had improved since last time he saw it, which must be well over a year ago now, and how it seems I'm starting to find myself and a consistent working style. This has been something that has preyed on my mind for a while now, worrying whether all my work has a similar look and if potential clients could link pieces as my own through the style. I contrast to this, I would never want my work to be over-stylised and lose the raw edge my drawings tend to keep. 

One of the main frustrations when organising my portfolio had to be finding a balance between my preferred black and white drawings and more colourful paint and mixed media piece. Luckily this was something Kris picked up on and helped to re-order so that everything flowed much more easily with balanced intervals between the different illustrations.

The main bit of advice Kris had for me was also related to organisation, to start and finish the portfolio (and to some extent the website) with two very strong pieces, so that the viewer is instantly impressed and left remembering you on a high. In reguards to the order of my portfolio at the moment, my opening piece 'Nevermore' I would consider one of my strongest pieces, featuring on my business cards alongside my portfolio and website. However the final piece 'Headache' doesn't say anything extra about my work. Kris suggested either creating a new piece intended for the final page or use the wolf that features on the other 50% of my business cards, food for thought and something that I will definitely switch around.

Thank you for all your help and worldly guidance Kris!

Artsnacks

Logo taken from blog.artsnacks.co.

Interesting little website and blog I stumbled across via good ol' social media. ArtSnacks is a monthly subscription service that you can sign up for online, that provides artists and really anyone with a creative interest, with tastes of top-line art products. The creators also run a 'user-submitted art site' called Eat Sleep Draw, you might have heard of it... it's one of the largest sites of it's kind aiming to inspire creativity and pushing 'quality over quantity.' So, they must know what they're on about.

Sample photograph of one of their tasty boxes, taken from artsnacks.co

Anyway, for $20 a month, approximately £12, 4/5 surprise items of full-size premium art supplies will arrive at your door including a menu card with descriptions, tips and usability information, sometimes even a few sweeties are thrown in. It's a fantastic way to try equipment you wouldn't normally use or little testers of something you wouldn't want to pay for in bulk. Other than that the site is wonderfully simple to use and beautifully designed. They even have a blog where people can share their thoughts on the latest

boxes and show off the images they've created.

Hopes, Fears and Opportunities Part Two.

It's that time again, racing toward the end of the tunnel desperately trying not to stumble or flail or burst into tears. Except this time, this tunnel isn't just one within a succession of tunnels. Leaving this tunnel marks the culmination of education, the end of every routine procedure I've known for the past twenty two years. Gathering up every ounce of knowledge and confidence I've gained, applying them to the lessons i've learned and throwing the whole lot into the real world is more than one small step for girl. In one way I've been eager to step into the industry for over a year but I doubt the hungry momentum would have lasted. This year has been the slow and steady making and the fast and brutal breaking of me but as always I am full of hope, loaded with fear and embracing opportunity.

In part one I talked about how my hopes for third year encompassed overcoming the barrier I felt stood between my ideas and ability to communicate through illustration. The mental barricade between premise and product and the struggle to contextualise my images. I've become much more comfortable in myself and my ability, I'm not one hundred percent there but I think most creative people are a work in progress. I accept that. If you have nothing to strive for, no challenges or torment it would be almost impossible to improve and your work, stagnant. For me, the relationship between language and image will always be distorted, I will always struggle but every day little victories lead to a war being won. The grade I receive no longer holds the importance it once did, because leaving education is merely the beginning of my uphill hike and the past three years have equipped me with a sturdier survival kit. In terms of progress, sketchbooking has become enjoyable, messier and much more logical rather than a chore and a bore to navigate through. My working process and developments no longer amass dead ends and cliff faces, the journey represents a larger quantity than the destination and an amalgamation of techniques; watercolour, biro, fineliner and elements of rough collage have begun to seep through. I'm particularly happy with my resounding success in the technological department, harnessing photoshop as a relevant tool has sped up the editing process and allowed me to tidy up elements of my painting that I'm still not happy with, that I don't have time to re-do. Thanks to Illustrator my physical and PDF portfolio echo the professional appearance and layout of the Illustrators and artist's I've poured over. My hope to find a happy medium between hand-craft and digital has been fulfilled. Finding a healthier balance between university, work, life and sleep has also been extremely beneficial, for months I've suffered with severe headaches mostly due to anxiety, exhaustion and admittedly not wearing my glasses enough. Exercise, water and sleep are the best things to refresh a tired mind no matter how horrible you feel, I finally feel I can focus myself without having to write off a week for recuperation. Re-assessing my hopes over the year I would have to say that I hope the progress I've worked so hard for continues to build, I hope that my efforts to find whatever truth it is I have within spills out and that people understand, people want to contribute and to work with me. I would love to collaborate with as many people as possible, to create as much positivity as possible and to wonder, to learn, to always ask questions.

I'm no longer fearful of unfulfilled hopes because I know that whether it's these exact dreams or a variation of sorts, I will achieve them. I'm sure of what I class as successful, in a person or as a career. Happiness is the only constant I've come to recognise as a manifestation of success so far. However, an under-pining dread never dissapates, only transforms and weakens. The nauseous feeling that rises everytime i'm getting close to hitting a nerve within my work frightens the hell out of me along with the idea of losing passion for art, illustration or creativity in general. Therefore my residual fear is uninterupted, being at a loss for something to say.

Last but not least, opportunities. Opportunities present themselves in the most unlikely situation and I think that all should be taken. Whether the benefits are presented immediately or not; meeting one person, learning a new skill, having a helpful or a difficult day, visiting new places, earning some money or volunteering your expertise to assist another, you will almost always gain something. You can say no, be stubborn and get out of there at a later date if it doesn't go to plan but regrets are a huge creative drawback. I've gained invaluable opinion and advice on the pathway of my work and mind-set from close friends, peers, potential clients and employers and i'm happy to take any criticism I get. Fig Taylor asked me the usual, toe-scrunchingly frustrating question of  'what do you want to do?' and my answer, although still true in many ways, was 'whatever I can get my hands on'. Her advice was to guide my existing knowledge and natural enthusiasm for text into editorial pieces, start with set briefs that allow my mind to rest and my hands to work and move forward into intellectually challenging pieces that indulge both. I've taken recent opportunities to work with local bands, designing merchandise, album covers, promotional material and web content which is another way to contextualise my work and experience the different medium within products and advertising. I think the next step is evolving the way I hold myself as an Illustrator, finding a voice loud enough to promote myself and brand my illustration to keep to a specific audience whilst being accessible and versatile in content.

Taken from medinalind.com

Looking at the bigger picture and I can't see myself working as a conventional Illustrator forever, I want to teach, stand up for what I believe in, in more ways than one. I would love to combine all my passions; for creative endeavors, coffee making, trade and music to be housed somewhere, for others to enjoy and contribute to. Being jack of a few trades, master of some sounds alright to me.

Furiously Mad: 300 Years of Legal Insanity.

"A fascinating insight into mental health, past and present."  - PHM.org.uk

Exhibition flyer taken from 'artsforhealthmmu.blogspot.uk'.

'Furiously Mad' an exhibition funded by the Heritage Lottery, has allowed Pool Arts, a group of artists from diverse backgrounds, to research and respond to the framework of law that surround mental health. Each member contributed their personal response to reveal an interactive timeline, ranging from historical legislative information to modern day care and treatment of the mentally ill.

I visited the People's History Museum for the first time today especially to catch a performance in relation to this exhibition and I was knocked for six at the overwhelming creativity and spirit bursting out of the hall. The work presented was incredibly diverse, everything  from drawings, printed posters, installation work, paintings, animation, performance and activities. Circling the room gave you invaluable insight into just how expansive the term 'mental health' is and how terrifying it can be living with conditions such as schizophrenia. But for me, it was the positives that were illustrated best. Of course a few of the installments were intended to shock, but in order to let the viewer to formulate a complete 'mental image' if you will, of previous and (sadly) current discrimination of people with mental health problems. It all stems from misunderstanding, even the people who suffer from such issues must learn to accept and overcome the fear of terminology, side-effects and hospital visits just like everyone else must eradicate barriers between themselves and fear of those with mental health issues.

I met Galen, a young man working a badge machine to let children, well actually mostly adults, personalise their own brightly coloured badges. Galen was admitted to the Priory Hospital in Darlington with various long term problems, he spent his time during hospitalisation drawing and encouraging other patients to express themselves artistically. This culminated in him initiating a art competition with treats and chocolate as rewards for everyone who part-took, he continued the same style of competition during the exhibition hours allowing everyone attending to decipher a colour-scheme and render and copy of his drawing. His work in particular held a statement; to help others even when you struggle to help yourself.

A lot of the artists were available to talk about their pieces, their experience and their reflection encompassing the topic. They were so open, even when it came to receiving feedback it seemed the comments left upon leaving were welcomed over donations for the fund. I have never met a more inspirational group of people, the show was an absolute success and I would urge everyone to visit.

Day Job.

All images taken from Dayjob.org including logo.

Dayjob is a cleverly named collective comprised of 10 graduates with very different working styles but a mutual love for illustration. Based in London, the group have all sprung fresh from Camberwell College of Arts situated in Peckham and now spend as much time outside of their day jobs as possible, collaborating on bigger projects and installations. They work with a huge range of media as each member has preference over materials which brings depth and variation to large quantities of work generated interdependently. Personally I felt the playful characteristics of the members we met will be a real help for the longevity of the collective and a great asset when running events.

Their studio was tucked away in a far-flung industrial estate amidst Elephant and Castle, isolated but spacious. The top floor of the building was dedicated to a whole raft of various artists tucked into their allocated booths or spilling out across the hallway. Seeing the walls lined with work, homely belongings, decorations and found furniture scattered around Dayjobs' studio pushed pangs of jealousy into my heart, it was like their second home, their peaceful getaway crammed with inspiration and helping hands. To me, this seems like the most logical step after university and after to speaking to Charlotte and Grace I feel extremely motivated to find a place with a few friends to set-up camp while we find our feet.

 

A nice little bonus at the end of the day, after being pumped full of inspiration, was a little confidence boost in the form of a very constructive portfolio review. I felt more nervous showing my work to the girls than I had been previously, even with established Illustrators. I think the fact that they were at such a similar age to us whilst being indoctrinated into the industry in such a viciously competitive place as London intimidated me at first, but the friendliness and laid-back attitudes they all adopted acted as comfort rather than confrontation. Two of the girls spent a good fifteen minutes looking through my work stopping to ask questions or pose comments every so often, very reassuring that they didn't rush through it like a flick-book and yet another pointer as to the kind ethos they uphold. I was especially pleased with the response my personalised portfolio received as I spent such a long time getting it how I'd envisioned it. The main comments I took away in regards of constructive criticism were mostly related to attention to detail; print every page on good quality paper, clean the plastic sleeves regularly, tidy up the text and descriptions so they appear on the same line on each page but justified to the edge of each separate image. Seemingly standard prompts but things that had obviously slipped my judgement. All comments in respect to my work were again positive, the pieces they picked above the rest were all line drawings, for a reason slightly different to the usual. They mentioned that the control I had shading with lines could lend itself to anatomical drawings of educational posters, the thought of which had never crossed my mind. They echoed the idea of adding more balance into the portfolio or refining it down to one specialism which I feel will become more apparent over the next few weeks.

All in all a really brilliant and insightful day, I hope to keep in contact with the team and hopefully see them at our end of year show!

Abram Games.

'Maximum Meaning Minimum Means.'    - Abram Games

Taken from postalheritage.org.uk

Taken from creativereview.co.uk

Abram Games (born Abraham Gamse, on the day World War 1 began) belonged to the Golden Age of British graphic design where commercial artists produced hand crafted concepts and combined traditional techniques to create innovative styles. Games worked for an astonishing range of clients in his day inlcuding; Shell, London Transport, Guiness, The Times and The Financial Times. Abram Games' reputation as a graphic designer is based on his ability to weave together layers of ideas with a great economy of means. He realised that if you combine several images in one iconic design, the result involves the spectator in a visual game to unravel the layers of meaning within. Games explained, "A poster with a measure of intrigue engages the mind of the spectator and he looks again. You have to take him along with you so he follows your line of thought. The best way I can describe what happens is to say that as the designer you wind the spring, and it is released in the mind of the viewer." (Artyfactory.com and estate of Abram Games.)

During our trip to London we had the real pleasure of visiting Noami Games in her lovely home situated near Kilburn. Noami Games is the daughter of the late Abram Games, keeper and co-ordinator of all his outstanding work. I cannot express how wonderfully inviting she was to a group of complete strangers waltzing excitedly into her home and entrusting us with precious originals. We even sampled coffee from an early Cona model (if you don't know what the hell one of these wondrous inventions is you can take a look here ) that Games designed, not only a Graphic designer but his inventive mind came in handy for functional objects too. The coffee was delicious if you're wondering, and that's coming from someone who's made coffee for a living for 5 years now. Noami's reasoning behind being so open and welcoming to was simple, it's what Abram would have wanted. His work was made to be seen, to inspire and educate as many people as possible and a lot of the delicate drawings and developmental paintings never get shown to the public, which is a real shame since they're usually the most interesting and raw. 

Photographs I took, with permission from Noami, of two original pieces by Games.

It was overwhelming the amount of work she had filed for us to look at, since half of the finished pieces and inventions are included in various shows, a real eye-opener into a true designer's thought process and methods of working. Noami shared some beautiful stories of Paul Rand (a family friend) being incredibly fussy at dinner, how Abram would always ask her as a child, whether she understood his work...if she didn't he would scrap it and start again because if a child didn't understand it, it wasn't simple enough and chances are nobody else would understand it. He made work for the companies he believed in, on topics he felt passionately about. They hold an undeniably strong message yet delivered through simple design. Something that gets lost very easily in today's overly critical and mistakenly complex generation.

One of the greatest experiences of the year, thankyou so much to Noami Games, what an honor.