Image A Day Challenge - Day 1

Well, after university I never got work as an illustrator. After months of submitting CVs, ringing companies and filling out endless applications with no reply I realised, well, I realised there was no jobs. And the ones I wanted want 3 years experience.

*insert long, angry tirade about graduates not being able to get 3 years experience because noone will hire them and being stuck in illustrator purgatory forever*

So, I set up my own business (http://www.theemporiumoundle.com/) and still draw. But not enough. I guess there's nothing like rejection after rejection to make you feel your drawing is pants, I suppose.

But I need to keep drawing. I just can't waste these years.

So, every day I will post a sketch or piece I've drawn for this challenge. It will keep me drawing, build up a varied porfolio and hopefully do something about this crushing feeling of defeat. Hopefully! ;)

Onwards!

Big Website Update

My main portfolio website wasn't looking as sleek as it could be, so I've given it a bit of a facelift, adding sidebars to make it easier to navigate.

Big update of conceptual art work to come soon.

Why not give Arcana, my graphic novel, a read?

Arcana

 

 

For my final year at university I created a graphic novel called Arcana, written by Daniel Davies. It's a pencil-shaded creation, unlike more traditional comic styles, and I am very proud of it. I have created a website where it can be viewed in web-comic form and would love it if you went to take a look.

The Exhibition

Our exhibition was a great success - I got loads of fantastic feedback, and completely ran out of business cards and postcards, which can't be a bad thing!

University is now over, and so I am going to take a little bit of a break and update this site and get everything in order before going for a big push on commissions and jobs as an illustrator.

Portfolio Pieces - Day Three

Had a stab at colouring one of the Arcana frames! Colouring loose, light pencil lines is pretty tricky, while still showing the texture and feel of pencil.

Speaking of Arcana, another pages is up on the Arcana page!

Portfolio Pieces - Day Two

Another portfolio piece. Here is another bee, this time in a different style.

Portfolio Pieces - Day One

I would like to have a few new promotional pieces in time for my degree show - to update the site a bit and to use on press releases and pitches and presentations and the like. Every day I hope to post a new one here on the blog, with the best also going on the website.

Day One : A bee and a thistle in my distinctive style.



If you like my work and are interested in working with me on a project, please email me.

The Beginning of the End

And here we are - our exhibition is early next month, after that I will no longer be a student. Perhaps I can call myself an illustrator.

Many things have happened - there will be a huge update and revamp of the site in time for the exhibition, along with lots of promotional work to try and get myself into the industry truly.

There is lots to do in between now and the 4th of June, when the exhibition starts (like printing the exhibition pieces!), an essay, a big presentation and fund-raising. But, the thing I want to concentrate on is creating some fun little promotional pieces to print as postcards etc to hand out to publishers and editors.

So - I've decided to give myself a bit of a challenge! A picture a day which can be used for promoting myself. It has to either be a new picture, or a revamp of an Arcana frame or page fully coloured that can be used as such. Tomorrow will be the first day - today I'm going to try and update this site a bit and get things ready and settled.

Big Updates

After a long Christmas break (which was, actually, mostly spent animating!) I have uploaded lots to the website. We have my Christmas card designs for the Spon End Building Preservation Trust as well as my Paper Princess Animation Project and even a new graphic novel in the works, called Arcana.

In other news, I have been emailing artists to ask for advice in making a name for myself in the illustration business and any information on the ever-changing competition and demands of the trade. Understandably, many haven't replied (it's a busy business), but I was surprised and delighted to have the legendary John Howe reply with advice - one of my illustration heroes who inspired me to learn to draw. As you can imagine, I'm pretty chuffed!

New Fairy Tales

Just finished a series of illustrations for the New Fairy Tales magazine. I am really pleased with these - they were a lot of work in a short time, but I feel they are my best pieces yet. A direct link to these illustrations can be found here.

In addition, for my main project at university I will be creating a new short comic. I will post that here, too.

Finally, I am working on some Christmas card designs for the Spon End Building Preservation Trust on a medieval theme, which should be fun!

Kaos

Kaos is back up at http://kaos.rebeccaholder.com/ !

Packaging and Point of Sale

My last project was for the National Student Awards competition - namely the brief to design packaging and point of sale for Homebase and their new "Grow Your Own" range.

I adapted a WW2 "Dig For Victory" style theme, and created posters, packaging and ideas on the same theme - eventually deciding on several angles including a ration book style of seed packets and books, colour coded for the seasons, and a classic brown paper package style packaging for the main product, based around a Red Cross parcel. All these can be viewed on my website in the gallery, or by clicking on this link: http://www.rebeccaholder.com/growyourown.html

I know it is very unlikely I will win the award - the competition is amazing, and the previous winners' works are incredible, but I hope they choose to display my work, and print it in some form in their published booklets. Although, winning one of the coveted yellow pencils would be lovely indeed...

Catching Up

Long time, no update! Life at university is plodding along - I have been mostly doing a lot of work on my comic (I'm making a good archive of strips so I can update every week for at least a half year - so If I do get distracted by something I have lots of lee-way to catch up), and for a packaging project for Illustration.

Very strange not illustrating in the way I usually do - instead it has been mimicry and design and a lot of research to get packaging in a particular set of styles, and looking professional. I will do a massive update of the whole lot and the varying styles, posters and designs for the project, as well as mock-ups of the packaging on this site once I have handed the lot in for assessment.

A Big Update

Added a great deal to the site today, including all my final pieces for this term at university such as the 3D city created in Autodesk 3DS Max, my character designs and storyboards and several new illustrations. I also moved some older works into the archive area, and tidied up the site a little. With luck, I should be able to do more commission work over Christmas and the New Year over my break.

Autodesk 3DS Max and The End is Nigh

It's not long now until we have to hand in both projects - the city building task and journal in Autodesk 3DS Max, and the character design journal, references and final large scale pieces presented in a A3 portfolio. It's a lot to do - and I am most worried about my Autodesk 3DS Max project.

Luckily I have a 30 day trial copy installed on my laptop of Autodesk 3DS Max, which should last me until after the project is over. Today I found this was a better bonus that I thought - in our lecture today we are using the university PCs to work on our 3D city, but the university only has 50 licenses, so only 50 students can have it running at only one time. Unfortunately I am one of the unlucky ones and the licenses have run out.

Anyway, I can use this time to work on my creative CV and portfolio, as well as my rationalle.

Medieval Textures and a Course Rep

Things have been very busy with me of late - having two big modules before Christmas is scary enough, plus the PDP work and my extra module on International Business Cultures - things are a little hectic. On top of that, I am now, along with my close friend Justine Rugg-Easey, one of the Course Representatives for Illustration at Coventry University. Our first meeting was this afternoon, and it was an interesting introduction into our duties. I hope I have the time to dedicate to it, really.

For one of my modules, as you may have read if you read this blog regularly, I am working on a city in Autodesk 3DS Max. We could choose whatever type of city we want - sky is the limit, but I felt that Coventry had some of the best examples of Medieval/16th Century architecture that I could use as references, or textures directly into my buildings on Autodesk. All of the photographs I have taken around the city can be found here, if you are interested. With luck I will have some interesting city ideas and sketches to post here very shortly.

For my other illustration module I have been working on character designs, although mostly on a small book full of collage work on a circus theme, to which I will add illustrations to match the collage. This book is coming along very well, and I hope to scan some pages this weekend to display here - I like the mix of textures, rough collage and photographs with my neater, inked illustrations.

Enterprising and Autodesk

Something I have only considered fleetingly is starting my own business - it's not because I don't feel I couldn't, in fact, I would love to. I just don't have any viable business ideas. Sure, I'd love a gallery/art shop/freelance illustration company but the way things are financially for me and for the rest of the UK today it wouldn't work - I'd need a really innovative idea to even consider it.

But, it was quite interesting to learn all the options we have at Coventry and the support we can apply for if we do want to set up a small business. Who knows, maybe one day!


Still working on Autodesk for one of my modules. It's slowly becoming much more clearer and much easier for me, although there is still so much more I can't wait to learn. I'm currently writing up my notes as clearly as I can for future reference, as well as exploring cities and towns from all over the world and other cultures for inspiration for my own city. I hope to do some more complex drawings with colours and textures in the very near future, and then import them into Autodesk and start on my final city design proper soon. Deadline is in early December, so I must keep at it as hard as possible.

Life Drawing and Creative CVs

One thing I love to do is go life drawing, although it scares me half to death walking home in the dark through the area of Coventry we live (especially as on Tuesday two guys kicked both our locks out and tried to rob us in broad daylight). Life drawing at Coventry University occurs once a week on Thursday evenings, and they always do a good set of quick poses - which are my favourite. I feel that life drawing is key to improving my skills, it keeps me drawing fast as well as really looking at an object, and learning about shape, shadow and anatomy is important to my chosen path.

In PDP we have been learning about creative CVs. When I worked in recruitment I was always told that simple CVs are best to look out for, and less is always more - don't waste time reading the rambling CVs with half a page about hobbies. It seems we are being told similar in PDP as well as the very basics (like checking spelling and not having rude e-mail addresses). I should update my CV, really, but I have no desire to look for another position currently. I am a little worried we will have to do a work placement this year - we keep getting conflicting information about whether we do or don't. Fingers crossed that we won't, really.

Autodesk 3DS Max

One of our modules at university this year is on 3D Animation and Design, using the Autodesk 3DS Max software. At first I was terrified of it - a completely new experience with completely new software, but over the last few weeks I've found myself soaking up more and more of the lectures, tools and commands that 3Ds Max offers, and it's slowly slipping into place. I have ordered a tutorial book, and am writing up my notes as I go along to keep it fresh - I must admit, I've never found 3D as interesting as 2D design and animation, but I am definately warming to it now.

The best parts of the software for me so far gave been using the extrude tool, while grouping up the shapes and creating more complex shapes - before lighting them and setting up cameras to view it from different angles. I'm so used to almost instant results when I draw or paint, that the wait is strange, but worth it once something is finished.

I have been thinking about my USP, my "Unique Selling Point" in my PDP recently - It's hard to say, really. Learning so much at university has made me think and rethink what I do, as well as the fact that I really enjoy writing in my current job and believe I have the skills to take that further. When it comes to Illustration, though, I think my main selling points that make me unique and interesting to potential clients is definately my imagination and ability to sketch out designs and ideas fluidly and quickly, as well as expand on these in a variety of medias - not only using pens, ink, pencils, paints and washes, but also in photoshop or flash - even directly with a graphics tablet.
Character design is definately my favourite, and I love exploring other cultures, costumes and designs people wear, as well as thier unique surroundings. 3DS Max can help me with this - mainly just for the surroundings of characters and mapping out areas, homes, cities and the like, and visualising things both small scale and massive. I know I'd like to work in the gaming industry - but ideally for conceptual work, illustration, background painting, character design, weapon design, costume design etc, so bringing my ideas from pencil or pen sketch to exciting 3D models and environments.

Nest week I must remember to create some textures and flat images for use in my current ideas (either from my own photos or sketches), to import them into 3DS and see how they can be used successfully.

PDP

First PDP lecture of the year this morning. Hosted by a guest speaker, I believe - not the most gripping of fellows but lots of information to take in.
I must admit, I've never been the type to enjoy having a label stuck to my jumper and being told I'm "that person", out of a choice of several "types", so that part tended to irk me - especially when he rattled off the weaknesses for "my type". It sounds a bit boastful to say, but I am generally a really driven person. If I'm not working I'll be drawing or doing university work - so being told my "type" was prone to lack of motivation wasn't the best thing to say to convince me to learn more about my "learning type."
For the morbidly curious, it was agreed that I am a "Theorist", which makes me well-organised, factual and good at seeing alternatives and the bigger picture. The cons included putting things off, lack of confidence and several other even less desirable things. Not something one wants to hear first thing on a Monday morning!

Being told that when I have my first interviews I'll do this and that, and that I haven't had any experience of life, what with being a student didn't help. I left school shortly after my GCSEs and lived in Alta in Norway for 2 years, where I taught English and learnt Norwegian. Shortly after I worked jobs in the UK, including as a administrator for Churchill before moving on to be a recruiter for Thomas Cook. I realised I didn't want to be recruiting people to work as holiday reps my whole life, so I went back to college and took my A-Levels in Art, Photography and Graphic Design, and also won an award from the BBC and was published for my writing. Upon leaving the college with grades I was pleased with, I was awarded the "College Award for Creative Achievement" - an honour awarded to one student aloneeach year at Rutland College, and it made everything worth it. When I was accepted to Coventry it was a dream come true - people thought I could draw well and actually make something of myself with it! I was awarded with a creative scholarship, and it was a whole new different world for me.

So, what I'm trying to say here I don't really know. I just have this odd feeling about PDP, and about labels. I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks we aren't all drones that can be boxed up, and I like to think I can't be.