Four Sharp Knocks: Lino, Ain't It Lovely.

Lino print over oppositional photographic material.

 Ok, the picture above, was a second thought when experimenting with lino. In hindsight I now regret not delving deeper into using photographs as the foundation when printing, especially when adapting the actual lino cut to reveal or disguise elements of the photograph.

Daily Carry.

You do the math.

In regards to the process, I couldn't seem to get my head around the back-to-front preparation when cutting the design into the lino, at least not without spending a good half an hour studying incoherent doodles from the day before. Once I'd made enough initial copies to reassure myself nothing could go wrong, the repetitiveness of the printing procedure was actually cathartic. Using separate lino plates would have made more sense for my design as the colour palette had to remain limited because of the reductive technique in forming the image.

Although I spent a fair amount of time experimenting with lino, and would be happy to use it again maybe in conjunction with other media, I was disappointed with the resulting prints. They lacked the precision they needed to work together as a series.

All That Is Solid Melts Into Air.

Image of Adrain Streets and Father (Dennis Hutchinson) used to represent Jeremy Deller's exhibition.

In 'All That's Solid Melts Into Air' (being shown at Manchester Art Gallery until January 19th) Jeremy Deller combines contemporary music, film and photography with 19th century images and found objects all representing the influence and impact the Industrial Revolution had and still has over our lives. The large room it occupies is thankfully filled with an intelligent range of perspectives rather than the usual doom and gloom attached to such a sentimental topic.

Deller with mural backdrop by Stuart Sam Hughes; sourced from bbc.co.uk.

The title of the exhibition originates from The Communist Manifesto, written by Marx and Engels in the late 1840's, and has previously been used as the title of Marshal Berman's 1980 academic text 'All That's Solid Melts Into Air: The Experience of Modernity'. The book examines social and economic modernisation using Goethe's Faust as a literary interpretation of modernisation, Marxist text to illuminate the self-destructive nature of modernisation and a range of French Poetry/Russian Literature to enforce. Much like the title and the aforementioned book, Deller's masterfully curated exhibit is a reminder that extremes generate extremes.

Hopes, Fears and Opportunities Part One.

Each year of university has been a completely different animal to handle. I feel that over the past two years I've overcome substantial hurdles and managed to tie myself up in knots, in almost equal amounts. First year provided a shed full of confidence, new techniques and skills, nurturing of existing skills and exciting opportunities. Second year consisted of two steps forward and one step back in my opinion. I excelled with set briefs and collaboration which were two of my biggest fears to begin with, but drifted into a minefield of identity based crisis'. I've learnt to separate normal fears from anxious worrying which has helped my productivity and self-motivational skills,

So starting third year I reserved three bags full of hopes, mainly to overcome my biggest demon, the concrete wall cemented between premise and product. For me, talking about my ideas, what i'm excited about and what gets my goat is a breeze, as is writing about it. Language is simple and I have no problem articulating what I have to say in this way. When it comes to technique I'm comfortable using paint, sculpture, photography, pen and paper, I am neither jack of all trades of master of one but I am satisfied I can create. However, what I am dissatisfied with, (well closer to horrifically frustrated with) is not being able to transfer my notes and ideas into something visual. My developmental process is entirely illogical, basically all over the place and on occassion non-existant. Working late into the night every few days works on a 'creatively fuelled purge' basis but not long-term. It puts me out of step for the remainder of the week, ruins my energy levels and affects my attendance. I've started with tackling my perception of the end result, and tried to divert my focus into the process and developmental stages of any project. I hope to build on this by using my knowledge and love of language into 'attachments' to blend the early stages and create a step-by-routine to enable the utilisation of my ideas. By applying the idea of 'little and often' to my working process, the pieces I create should progress contextually and leave me with a greater volume of work. If I can hone this into a habit I will have automatically opened doors for myself in terms of which briefs I can comfortably take on.

On a different note, I also hope to finish the course with a strength in technological software, i.e photoshop, illustrator, in-design etc which I previously thought a waste of time. I already happily enhance and edit my work on Photoshop and I have basic knowledge of In-design but now that I've set aside my differences with technology I feel it would be appropriate to strengthen my skills in this area so as not to restrict myself when I'm released into such a competitive industry.

As far as fears go, I'm guessing the most obvious answer is not achieving my hopes. I'm not terrified of failure though. In my eyes every time you fail at something, you fail better each time, as Churchill once said; "Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiam." So in place of being afraid of failure, i'd say my main fear is based on losing sight of what I'm striving for. Having no passion or goals to reach for, having nothing to say and an empty mind scares the hell out of me. Naturally I'm fearful of finishing University, after being safe and sound in education for has been my nightlight for twenty two years and although I'm no stranger to the world of work, I am quite aware becoming a successful illustrator does not get handed to you on a plate.

And of course, I'm a little bit scared of Gary.

Moving onto opportunities I would have to say that I'm really looking forward to working with Age UK again early next year. It was an emotional rollercoaster dealing with such a sensitive issue as dementia but entirely rewarding. The original brief was enjoyable to navigate and produce rich images for and after recently completing the third image for Age UK I am proud to say that early next year the pieces will be used in a publication and will become a possible selling point. Editorials are now an exciting opportunity for me especially as I get to see my work in context and it automatically sets me boundaries which my mind otherwise blurs. I have the pleasure of meeting with graduate Ben Jones for a portfolio viewing at the end of November which will hopefully give me an insight into the fast-paced world of editorial based briefs, as he has recently championed the New York Times.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Sharp as Laser-Wire.

One of the most beneficial workshops we were given the chance to attend this semester was the Laser workshop with LaserLea at Hotspur House, in Manchester. It was a very basic introduction into the prep, procedure and alternative outcomes regarding using the Laser machine.

Before attending the session we were asked to create a design that could be used as a small circular keyring, on either thin balsa wood or perspex. Depending on your individual working style, your work could be imported as either a bitmap (suitably better for hand-drawn designs or anything requiring a more organic finish) or a vector file (clean lines and precise designs). I opted for a bitmap and decided to use my design alongside the current Beyond The Book project.

'Four Knocks' Simple Keyring Design

Cai (who runs LaserLea) was fantastic, she explained everything thoroughly in easy to understand terminology. She allowed us to look through previous clients laser-cut odds and sodds which gave me the idea to get my portfolio cover personalised next year by having the leather engraved with my own design. It was particularly helpful to me because I've shied away from having my work projected onto products or even progressed within context in the past, so seeing how the simplicity of a design can be effective on unfamiliar materials was invaluable.

Light Balsa Wood Keyring.

Engraved Leather Patch.

I ended up with three separate items featuring the same design to take away with me at the end of the day. Only two are photographed, the wooden keyring and the leather patch, as the perspex keyring was difficult to photograph from reflection and ended up splitting from the pressure of the key-loop.

I feel my design worked well for the purpose as it was simple and easy to navigate although I wish I'd spent more time on the type as it's uneven and the spacing wasn't thought out. The leather patch was my personal favourite and the result has definitely left me interested in Laser for future products.

The Beach.

A visual interpretation of The Outsider by Albert Camus, focusing on the beach scene as the critical turning point.

'Beach Exposure 1'  35mm,Panoramic, Self-automated aperture.

'Beach exposure 2'  35mm, Panoramic, self-automated aperture, exposed.

"Since we're all going to die, it's obvious that when and how don't matter." - Albert Camus.

In accordance with moral nihilism; killing someone, for whatever reason, is not inherently right or wrong. My focus on the beach scene illustrates how the 'turning point of the book' is only central in relation to human morality. I wanted to portray my work in a sequence; linear and almost repetitive, to reflect the regimented mentality of Mersault (focal character) and project his descent through the subtle variations of a singular symbol.

'In the midst of winter...invincible summer.'
2 X 35mm film, hand processed, ink.

With everything aesthetic; photographs, paintings and drawings, the tone is set and atmosphere changed by the lighting or colours used. I took the time to spend a day at Thornby beach taking test shots on a Panoramic 'Sprocket Rocket', stupidly without a tripod so a fraction of the photographs didn't turn out how i'd hoped, although the majority of the time this can make the photograph interesting. The first two photographs (Beach Exposure 1 and 2) were rigged on a spinning roll and taken identically, aside from the shutter speed which I managed manually. Decreasing the shutter speed by just over 5 seconds can darken an image by over 50% and completely change the aura emitted from the photograph.

Film strip developed from 35mm camera, sections cut and edited together.

I wanted to cut and edit film strips into a narrative, using seemingly unrelated film roll and everyday objects to portray the beginning, middle and end of the story. Selective use of chairoscuro would help to illuminate how Mersualt's physical needs got in the way of his emotions, which is easy to emphasise with film.

Franz Kafka, Carl Plackman and Me.

“I am always trying to convey something that can’t be conveyed, to explain something which is inexplicable, to tell about something I have in my bones, something which can be expressed only in the bones.”

Written by German writer Franz Kafka, a quote to sum up the week, and basically the entirety of third year so far. Over summer I turned some corners, but it's definitely not enough. I've become more confident as a person and towards my work, I've focused on my weaknesses, took time to adapt my skills photographically and accessed new briefs outside of University. Yet, as I have been told on too many occasions, I still fail to connect what I say or write to my product. I don't attach meaning from the premise through development. I am not oblivious to this fact. It's incredibly frustrating for everyone involved and sounds horrendously cliche but I genuinely don't know how to express myself. I've suffered with severe anxiety for a number of years and always attempted to stop it affecting my life, of course constantly over-thinking mundane tasks is tiresome but it's never been a real problem until now. Feeling overwhelmed has stunted my productivity. I've come as far as to isolate what matters to me and what I have to say which I've struggled with for a long time now but I still feel paralyzed when it comes to taking the words and putting them into pictures. I'm beginning to doubt my ability in all areas of Illustration. I need to put the hours in, work out what needs to be said and what needs to be left alone and stop disappointing myself.

I know that success always comes after a struggle and I won't be beaten, but I'm terrified it'll take more than this year to achieve clarity. I've determined to move past this, and swiftly. Finding artist and photographer Carl Plackman has been a huge helping hand in understanding that awkwardness and feeling uncomfortable are not necessarily negative, that nothing is what it seems and what you find on the surface is usually related to something completely oppositional underneath. His works examines the communication and obstruction, using sham objects and animals as metaphor. 

Hung, Drawn and Quartered (1975)
Nine separate elements; Three drawings, three objects and three b/w photographic prints.

As he described: "No object in this world is neutral. In a sense they are embodiments of value systems which have been decided by others." So by each individual attaching meaning to the objects, a different narrative is written and projected through the drawings and installation. I want to be able to create with simplicity, for others to take something valuable from my work, or even just to spend ten minutes wondering after it.

Manchester Print Fair 2013.

Yesterday was one of Manchester's key bi-annual events, Manchester Print Fair, held at NQ2022, Dale Street. It's a fantastic opportunity for local designers, illustrators or anybody interested by print design to get together in a friendly environment to sell, buy and browse.

Flyer sourced from manchesterprintfair.co.uk.

 You can keep up-to-date and learn more about the independent event on their well managed blog; http://manchesterprintfair.tumblr.com/.

I went along about midday and the venue was absolutely packed, obviously a great thing to see so many people on both sides of the stalls, although did make it difficult to manoeuvre without breaking a sweat. If there's a bit of advice I could give to people intending on paying a visit to the net print fair it would be; take minimal baggage, easily removable outer-wear and triple the money you think you will spend. The array of prints, products, trinkets and postcards was amazing and all for very reasonable prices!

Intentionally I was visiting to lend a hand with my other half and good pals collective stall, Foursight. Three very talented individuals banded together with a passion for illustration and strengths is all corners of design. Dom and Kris were manning the ropes as Jord was previously engaged, which ended up being a better for everyone involved as there was barely room for one person behind the stall, let alone three.

Selection of tasty prints for sale individually or bundled at Foursight's stall.

Other than Foursight, Lyndsey Green and Alex Frazer were two illustrators that really stood out for me. Their products were exceptionally unique, well branded and at the best prices aswell. I bought myself two of Alex's prints for £5 each, hand pulled and based on songs by two of my favourite bands.

All in all, the day was a huge success and a massive eye-opener. There's some serious competition in Manchester alone but with the event growing every year there's chance for everyone to get a slice of the action. Keep your eyes peeled for the next event in 2014.