final major project update2

This is the book cover that I am pleased with compared to the last one. I have balanced it with different tones of white and I have hand wrote my type which I think makes it look more like a children's book.

I have got rid of the odd 3d objects and kept the background paper, so that the main focus can be on the charter Ben. I think that it's important to keep the focus on him in this book, as it is about a boy who struggles, so there is a message in it that I want to make sure the readers understand.

 The back cover (for now) is kept simple, however I feel something needs to be added or even taken away… I will redo it to a better finish for the deadline.

final major work update

After taking pictures of my work, I had edited them on the computer to finish them off. However they didn't exactly print out how I wanted them too. It's really frustrating how sometimes, images can look a little different on screen to how they look on paper. On screen I made my characters look brighter so that they don't look to dark when they print out, but that made them look a little orange on paper.  

 In theses images I had originally mixed paper and 3d objects, rather than have everything in paper I thought it would look better with a few odd things in 3d too. Like the bed which the mum is in and the desk behind the teacher and the kids school desk, it was also just to add a bit more colour. But I realised that I should only make an object 3d if there is a significance to that object, or if Ben (the 3d character is holding something) so therefore everything else should be made paper as it would only confuse readers as to why some objects are 3d and other's aren't.

This also is my first attempt at creating the front cover of the story, but this I felt could do with a lot more work done to it. For example...adding a better fitting title, and brightening up my characters but this time so they don't look orange on paper. (hopefully)

New buisness cards

I have made new buisness cards, one reason being that I needed to put my website on, my number changed and I wanted to show more of my work so I have different images instead of having just one. I think that it's a nice way of showing more of your work if you have an exhibition on, and it will also tell me what type of work people may like, if one paticular card has been taken the most....so that could be interesting to see. On the last card I made my name quite small, so I made it stand out as well as my number, as it is the detail you want people to see as clearly as possible.

Final Major project work

These are my characters and some scenes that I have been working on,

I have tried to keep it to having only a few different settings so that I don't have a break down trying to make lots of different settings as well as characters.

There is a lot to do, I just hope that I haven't gave myself too much to do and run out of time putting the book together as that is my aim to have the book printed. I have now wrote the whole of my story as I needed to get a move on a decide what will happen and so I can just continue to make. At the moment this book will contain at least 25 pages as the story takes up 3 a4 pages (not including front/back cover) so there will be a lot of images to make. Which I have started on and now will need to edit them.

Ben's house

 

Ben's living room

  

My website

I have finally made my website, which I am not quite finished with yet, it as I am going to work on and change a few images and lay the page out better. I want my images to be small so that they have the option to click on it to see it in full. I think this way is a more effective way to get your work seen as they can see all the work you have done on the one page and if one catches their eye they just have to click on it.

this is the link to my website...
http://cargocollective.com/CatMcCillustrator

Final major project

I have chose to write and illustrate a story for my final major project (again) as I want to make something a little different and have a message for children, just like the other project I did which was about a girl called Penny, but this time..I want to create something that helps children understand something. The Penny project was about a little girl who is very spoilt and for her consequence she turns into a life sized doll! Then as I continued with the project I changed the idea to the girl that struggles with her appearance, as that is a big issue for a lot of children (and adults) out there. However I didn't manage to make a whole book and so I was a little unsure as to do it for my major project.
But there is something about illustrating and telling a story that I love doing so much...I love getting caught up in the making of it (I think it is the excitement of making up something that I am in charge of, where anything I want can happen or not happen and if I someone reads it and enjoys it or takes a little something from it than that is a bonus!

After brain storming some ideas for a story...that can help a child to understand something (that is my aim of the story). I decided to make it about a boy age 12 named Ben who is a young carer, and looks after his mum who suffers from a diabetes (and on some days it becomes so bad she is not able to walk). Ben has no one else to turn to, and even though he likes to help out his mum, he does struggle to make the best of his life.
On the days that his mum wasn't well enough to move around she teaches Ben how to sew, as it meant they could spend time together and it was a good skill to have...as I develop the story more, the skill comes in handy for a school project.

The style in which I am going to do it in is 3d (again) except not everything will be in 3d. The only thing that will be in 3d is the character Ben and everything he touches (like in Paddington Bear animations) I absolutely adore the paddington animations and as 3d paddington really stood out and worked really well with the 2d people in its 3d surrounding. I thought that this would work well for my story so that the focus will be on the main character throughout out.

portfolio feedback visits-

I found this trip to London very worth while, as I have now got some very useful feedback from the agencies we went to see.

Illustration Ltd was one of the agencies we went to see and they gave me some great feedback - they mentioned my 3d work looks like I really enjoyed doing it and they said I must carry on doing if it's what I enjoy doing the most. They mentioned the plasticine images and said that they had never seen anything like that before, so to carry on doing that too.

We also visited a collective called day job, who are a group of 10 illustrators based in Peckhan, South London. They were really great to talk to and they were very helpful in giving us lots of advice for when we graduate. The main one being to keep ourselves busy in creating our own projects if we haven't got much work on.
I had also shown them my portfolio and they too mentioned my plasticine images, which they said they really liked and that I should do more of. I was very suprised that they commented on a image that I thought wasn't the best pieces of my work, but they really liked it. So it just goes to show we really are our own worse critiques.
To check out day job, you can visit their website -http://day-job.org/

I also got some feedback from Fig Taylor, who is the author of a book called How to create a portfolio and get hired. She is also a lecturer and a portfolio consultant. It was great to get feedback form someone who has a lot of experience working in this field and knowing what a good portfolio is from a bad one. She too, mentioned my plasticine images and said she would like to see more in that style. Also that, if I want to create children's stories than I should show more character's and some short narratives. This is something I will need to get around to doing when I graduate.

Hopes, fears and opportunities (x2)

My fears are still the same as they were the last time I wrote this.
I have the confidence and the determination of getting work done in college...but will I have it when I leave when I have to do EVERYTHING on my own. It is a very lonely job, and it can become quite daunting for people like myself who have only been used to other people taking control and telling me what I need to do etc... and that is the part I am going to have to get used to. I need to get used to the idea that it is me in charge of me, and if I want to get work I have to go out and get it myself..because .it won't come to me! I also have to get used to the idea of motivating me all the time, updating me on what is new and popular all the time, keeping myself busy all the time and time keeping and making sure I meet deadlines!!!! I do fear that when I get my first job as an illustrator, that I won't hand it in ontime...not because of laziness, but because I work mainly in 3d and it can take a little longer than a drawing so, if I make a mistake with it than I won't have a lot of time to redo it. I hope that I do get an opportunity of working on a breif in 3d however, as that is what I am most passionate about.

We went on a London trip recently to visit some agencies and it was a really good experience to be able to get a taste of what I will be doing when I graduate. I felt like I'd have the confidence to be able to do it on my own because I had such a good time but not just that...because I really know that I want to do it. And I think that that definitely helps, because for obvious reasons what would be the point if I wasn't sure and secondly I know that if I really want to do this, then I know I wouldn't/won't give up and that's an exciting feeling!
I have a little job lined up for me in the prop house when I leave and after that I will enter as many competitions as I can and work on illustrating and writing some children's short stories, as I would like to push myself to get something published...I won't stop. I will also keep updating my portfolio, trying to find a perfect style for me, as even though I love what I am doing now, I feel there is always aaaalways room for improvement and I may touch up on some other images in it that I think could look better too. I am in more ways excited to be leaving than sad, because I feel I'm now ready for an adventure of a life time.

Inge Lavrijsen

http://ingelavrijsen.be

Inge Lavrijsen has a very unique style, you can instantly tell that it is him when you see one of his paper scene images. He uses cut paper people and drops them into a digital background or he makes the set. Doing it digitally allows you change the background and change colours etc which is something for me to think about when I do my sets as I may need to change them and I could lose time if I have to make the set form scratch.

Elly Mackay

http://www.ellymackay.com

Im genuinely lost for words when I look at her work every time…they are stunning. She adds the right amount of lighting which makes the images really come to life.  

illustrator and designer Helen Musselwhite

Illustrator Helen Musselwhite
http://www.helenmusselwhite.co.uk

This is an illustrator who I have found to be very inspirational for me, the layering of her images are beautifully elegantly brought together and the use of different materials and colours work really well together. this is something I need to think about for my images.