Drawing Workshop with David Hughes!

Before Easter we had the amazing opportunity to spend a day with David Hughes. He is an incredibly interesting guy, you should really check out what he's about.

He collects a lot of ephemera, stamps, envelopes, etc. and so the day project was based around names that he had chosen from his collection of envelopes. From those, we were to make a narrative about these people.

The work we made turned out really well, and the different interpretations were really great to compare. Below are a few photos of my favourites by various people in my year or the year below.

The last photo is of my own.... completely went crazy that day, and came up with this for some reason! The rulebook went out the window and this is what happened. David Hughes called it a 'monstrosity' so I'm going to take that as a compliment. 

Kingston University: Book Project and a Long Awaited Update.

I am so, so so sorry for the lack of blogposts recently, and well I can only blame myself and our final project. But you'll be pleased to know it's going really well this end! And with only three weeks left, I am dying to have some summer time here in London. Reading, writing, seeing and doing is all on the agenda.

So, update. Along with the POP project critique, we also had our book project. The reason why I didn't post up anything was because this year, our final projects are meant to be 'Major Improvement Projects' (not the catchiest of names, but you get the idea) and I decided to extend my book project. My final crit is on Wednesday (EEK) but I'm really happy with the result so I will show you in due course! We also had a much needed three weeks off at Easter, of which I spent a week or so at home. Still working of course. But I honestly have been enjoying everything so much at the moment; I guess every low will eventually have it's high with the right mindset. Admittedly, there has been very very little drawing, but I've realised that's not necessarily where my strength lies...and that's okay with me. I'll still always be drawing. But I hope it means that the pressure is off my back now and I can really enjoy drawing again.

As a taster, I'll show you a few frames from my book project.

We were given very free reign for this project, and we could make a physical book or a digital one. Funnily enough I was the only person to try out digital. I wanted to have a go, mainly to see if I could do some simple drawn animation... It was a really tough job, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I started out with my location drawings from first year of aquariums (excuse the terrifying photos... what a rookie), and I've been meaning to do something with them for quite a long time. I wanted to make an educational book, but that soon got changed around a little to create a narrative. The plan for me was to pitch an idea, including all the animations and interactive ideas which I didn't have to show myself, just more of the idea aspects of it. The story follows a sardine called Sonny who decides to leave the shoal to make some new, more interesting friends.

Honestly, it is just very much a self indulgent project... I really just love drawing fish. It must just be a trait from my mum, but I just find it fascinating. And it gave me an excuse to watch all the The Blue Planet on Netflix. For my final project, I've adapted this a little bit... stay tuned! Lots of exciting things to come!

Kingston University: POP Project, finalised

We had our crit a few weeks ago, and I was extremely relieved to finish this project. Before New York I had planned to print about 100 something prints for a final piece for this project, but alas the beaver press broke right on cue. But actually, it helped me take a step back and see what I actually wanted to do with these prints that I had.

I decided than with the consecutive prints, they really ought to be displayed in a book. I had thought of various things, but I really didn't want to use anything more than wood, newsprint and ink. It really had to be minimal.

We were to submit everything including our research with it a single sentence to describe the project. I decided to print 'end' on the front the go with the ideas within end grains of the wood. 

'The celebration and mourning of a tree deemed too weak to use for furniture and product.'

Overall, I really enjoyed this project, but I think that it was flawed in that it needed a final product. Really I think the important part WAS the process, and meant to be a project that could be continued throughout our careers. I will definitely return to this project but...I think I'll give wood a bit of a rest for now.

Herb Lubalin and EROS Magazine, 1962

Whilst in New York we got to make a couple of special studio visits, but by far the best trip wasn't even a studio.

A couple of us were lucky enough to go to Cooper Union, where in the basement stowed away is the Herb Lubalin Study Centre for Design and Typography. We were met with the curator of the archive, Alexander Tochilovsky. It was a very small long room, more like a wide corridor really, and around a table he introduced us to Herb Lubalin.

We were there for over three hours looking through this amazing work, and we could touch and hold everything with our bare hands, even though some of them are the original works and sketches. Alexander said that the centre believed in sharing 'design as it was made to be experienced', and so we had all this opportunity to be up close to all these pieces as they were intended to be. I was most amazed by a series of magazines that Herb Lubalin and his studio made in collaboration with Ralph Ginzburg, an American author, editor and journalist called EROS.

EROS was a magazine about love and sex. All four volumes were published in 1962 (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter) and was folded when both Ginzburg and Lubalin were arrested; at the time all mail was censored and censorship in the 60s included anything of a sexual nature. Both of them knew that this could perhaps be the end of their careers, but it was a project that both felt they had to pursue. Lubalin agreed to work with Ginzburg if he had full creative control, and he became art director. There's a nice little section in Ralph Ginzburg's wikipedia page about it.

Anyway, when Alexander mentioned that these were still in circulation online etc, I knew I had to have them. I'm planning my dissertation at the moment, and I want to write about sexuality, which makes these invaluable historically. Not to mention that they're beautiful! And lucky me (and Hannah too!) got all four for about £60. Definitely worth looking out for online!

Yay! Unboxing video!

New York Sketchbook.

And yet another New York sketchbook!

It was really great to go back for a second time in such a short space of time, I feel really blessed to have the opportunity. I felt like it was a good way to experiment with the way I work, and make it look and feel really different. For a start, I decided not to focus too much on drawing in the first place. This time it was winter, so I think the bitter cold would have stopped anyone just because it would make our hands go blue ( honestly not a cop out, I got windburn THROUGH my trousers...). So I only really drew in two different places.

Hannah and I have been to New York before, so we went up The Rockerfeller with Rosa and spent a good four hours up there drawing. We went in the afternoon and so we luckily caught New York in three states; daylight, twilight and night time. I had so much fun drawing with them, and I don't think I've enjoyed location drawing that much in a long time.

To update you all, things have been looking up so far this term, and I'm so glad that I didn't leave the course this or last year. I really urge anyone who is going to or at university to see it through as much as you can. Obviously, university isn't for everybody, but it is also as much what you make of it as what they offer you at university. So far, I've been really enjoying these projects and I have been able to fulfil my wants and needs more than perhaps the briefs I've been given. But then I feel like I've been progressing which is, of course, the most important aspect.

New York Photography.

I am incredibly sorry about my lack of posts... It's possibly my worst hiatus yet! BUT it was not without good reason. It's been a super super SUPER busy few weeks and I've barely got time right now to take a breath!

Rosa, Hannah and I got the chance to spend 6 days in New York together with the Illustration trip, and we had an amazing amazing time. I took two films with me, and I took some obvious generic pictures (of course) but I have a few I can share with you!

I took a sketchbook and some surfaces with me too which I will share with you shortly!

As you can see, more piccys of Hannah Swanwick, but you know, can't help photographing such iconic hair...

Also was amazing to spend some time with Jack and Ariel as well!

Kingston University: Experimental Life Drawing, Amanda

Now this was a while ago now, but more experimental life drawing!

So thoroughly enjoyed this module, and it's totally up my street with my way of working. And I've LOVED working with paints as well, so hopefully it will encourage me to use them more!

Amanda was a real character, and was all over the place with her positions and accessories, which made for great colourful compositions.