Back to the Future.

Yesterday, I got a little despondent about work.

It was suggested that maybe I should collaborate, both my love for illustration and craft together to make illustrations.

This is what I did at the end of my foundation, and the work I produced I was proud of, it oozed my personality and I was passionate about it.

Maybe it's time to return to this methodology.

Who says red cake isn't appetising?

Its been a while since I baked. So I decided to make a cake. 

In my minds eye, I envisaged a cake that was so intoxicating and full of chocolate it would tempt even the most savory of types.

The finishing touch would be pink icing.

I may have used a little too much food colouring.

Don't laugh.

It's special. 

I'm still going to devour it.

I think I can scratch cake decorator off possible careers.

Getting Crafty.

So, as the summer progresses on, I still find that I am without a job and without inspiration. It's not that I haven't tried for a job, just where I live there aren't any. Unless I fancy driving and hour away, which isn't feasible as I am minus a car.

So in an effort to try and solve my brain turning into sludge, I've been occupying my time with getting crafty. So far the results have been fruitful, and oddly enough, not very "illustration" based.

Sometimes  I reckon that I might be doing the wrong degree. Although I love illustration, I love to draw and animate, I get more satisfaction from producing textile based work. Whether this is because it is a hobby and so a source of escapism, therefore it brings me more pleasure could be why I find it more stimulating.

Who knows. At current, my illustration work is beginning to suffer. My sketchbook sits aimlessly beside me the majority of the time. It is filled with ideas and thumbnails of drawings of things I want to complete and do. None of which I have begun to even embark upon. I can't find the motivation nor the inclination to sit and work.

Maybe I have burned out? Never.

I think Living at home stifles my creativity. I find it impossible to work here. For starters my desk is of such a shallow dimension, it impossible to fit anything but the Macbook on it. Besides from that, where I live is far from the land of visual enquiry I wish it to be. Although Loughborough isn't much better, somehow I'm more inspired. Maybe its the people I mix with they are a constant resource where I can discuss refine my work with.

At home there is nothing like this. In between running my parents to the shops and back again, I look out the window and the creativity as blank as the piece of paper infront of me. Nothing is coming out.

When I get into blocks like this, I find it overwhelmingly infuriating as well as terrifying. My work means too much to me, so when it starts to suffer it begins to really get me down, and no one here seems to understand that.

I am a very driven individual and highly efficient. Its a well known fact. So being out of routine and inspiration is extremely counter productive.

Maybe the Ear infection i am currently enduring isn't benefiting or helping me either.

ANYWAYS.

Back to the craft. Check out the dresses I made plus other paraphernalia. 

Next time I blog I promise not to winge. AND sorry for bad photo quality. i think it is about time I invest in one that actually performs better than this excuse for one.

From Russia, With Love

The last project I completed before assessment was "An Illustrated Map". I did Russia.

Because I'm a geek, and I like history most of my work is motivated by this. So when I decided to make the map, I naturally took a historical route to my research. 

My map indicates a historical timeline of Russia, how the country first became and how it has evolved to this day.

It seemed an only natural transition to move this  piece into an animation. Further more, all these components have shaped and changed Russia to the country it is today.

от России с влюбленностью

Celebrate Good Times.

Heres some picture of this semesters work for my end of year show.

Please excuse the Poor choice of mannerism, and bad photo quality.

Third year is not so far away!

Projection

Further to mine and my partner Jonny Ray's project, "The Beginning of Civilisation" we have the projected our image and made a short film to display it.

I have done another version of this film with a different soundtrack, however, this one seems to work the best. 

Enjoy....

Jonny, et viola! 

So this was my response to a brief called  "Destination Conversations" from when I went to Chicago.

Basically I felt when I went to the City that it had its own voice that is unlike any other. So many components of the city interacted and conversed to make up the bigger voice which is Chicago. Although not always spoken word, the conversation that might be happening might be a game of chess, a hockey match, the interaction of the seagulls with the subway...

In the animation I wanted a real continuity flowing from each frame to another to demonstrated how all this conversations join together to make up Chicago.

Considering I never do animation much, I'm pretty happy with this outcome and inspired to do more.