Finished Angora Poster and Self Publishing

Since earlier on this week, i've been up to a few little things.
Firstly, i've printed out my dissertation and had it spiral bound ready for hand in tomorrow! (Just need to check it over then it's all ready to go)

I've also finished my Say NO to Angora posters (i chose to do two, and still debating on a 3D piece),
One of them:

Here i used dip pen and ink, with a small bit of collage and oil pastel.

I really wanted to experiment with some text also, which is used in my second poster too, i really enjoyed doing it! 

The concept behind it is trying to come up with a different slant of portraying what the rabbits go through, instead of showing obvious plucking, this shows the dominance of man over the rabbits and the rough treatment they receive, which may make the viewer question our motives for doing this to them!

I've also been up to self-publishing. Well not really as such! But i've ordered my own book on Blurb with all my folklore creatures illustrations so i can basically see how the colours turn out and the quality overall for if i decide to go onto doing a picture book before i finish!

I'm really looking forward to receiving it! And when i do, i will do a post specifically for it, looking at the quality of printing, the colours, binding etc!

I'm currently undecided what to do at the moment too, i feel so much time has passed and i haven't accomplished very much! I'm debating whether to carry on doing some more screen prints (which actually do take up a lot of time between preparing the picture, coating screens, exposing, printing, cleaning) or whether i should more onto something else,  maybe a small picture book would be nice! (i can always go back to doing some more screen prints...or maybe lino prints)

Hopefully in my next post i can fill you in on all the stuff i've been (or will be!) doing.
Thanks for reading and see you next Sunday.

Bunbuku Chagama Screen Print (and angora rabbit illustration)

Now that my dissertation is completed, i can concentrate 100% on illustration work now! What a relief!

Last week i complete another screen print! So now that's three down, hopefully i'll be able to get some more done soon;

"Bunbuku Chagama"

This one was really enjoyable to do, and i think the composition turned out great

This is also another image from my Angora awareness project i have done more recently, inspired by some of the photos i've seen of the rabbits being plucked (horendous!). I've done another 2 illustrations and i will be putting them together into posters and maybe doing some 3D work. I really hope the rabbits get the freedom they deserve after so much tragedy and horror surrounding them....Stop buying angora! I just wish i could do more to help...

2 Screen Prints Complete and REDBUBBLE Store

So since last week, i haven't managed to do too much. I spent the first few days this week getting my images put on screens and exposing them etc. I started printing on Weds and finished printing on Thurs!
I had 8 layers to print, which was a lot of work saying that i had to change and clean each screen (which were varying sizes) etc. in inbetween! But here are my first two finished images:

NINGYO

Edition of 10

UMIBOZU 

Edition of 10

I am also selling the prints for £25 each so if you are interested in purchasing one of a kind prints, don't hesitate to contact me!

I have also gotten my next image ready and i can announce that it is...

a Tanuki!

One of the creatures i admire the most which takes me back to my Foundation Diploma FMP! I'm hoping to get it printed this week in addition to the possibility of doing some laser cutting (trying to make the most of everything before it starts to get busy!!)

As well as all of this, i've been working extra hard on my dissertation and i feel that it is finally coming together...i still have some stuff to do on it, but i'm looking forward to finishing it.

I've also created a REDBUBBLE account, and i've started to upload some of my folklore creatures illustrations onto it, so if you're interested, you can purchase cards and prints of them!

http://www.redbubble.com/people/hcoote/shop

Some of the illustrations on there:

SHACHIHOKO

SHUG MONKEY

Check it out!

That's it for this week, hopefully more will be happening in the next few weeks to come, thanks for reading.

Screen Prints and Angora

Sunday has come around quickly! The weeks are going to fly by.

As well as working very hard on my dissertation and its deadline in 3 weeks time i've been working on a couple of projects!

The first one is the folklore screen prints. Because i couldn't get around to print my first this week (which has 4 colour layers) because the UV screen is being fixed (because people don't use it properly and don't dry the screens after being coated!) I went on ahead and did my second screen print.
What i mean by that is draw up all the elements and construct it on PS, colouring and deciding on the different layers - that being 4, one black line layer and 3 colours!

This is just a small sample of the picture, and the colours aren't yet finalised, but it gives me an idea of how it will look when it is printed! I'm modernising that long procedure of using light boxes and re-drawing! They have been really enjoyable to do, but they've taken a lot of my time up already!

I've also just started on another project, that being an awareness campaign, to link in with my other one for Save the Arctic! I have chosen to do Angora fur, as after recently looking into it more, i think more needs to be done and awareness raised. Here are a few initial sketches and ideas:

So a lot of work has been done in the past week, but not as much as I would have wanted to; but to end on a lighter note here is my current desk at uni. I take up so much space, and even though it may look tidy at the moment, just wait until i get going in my last semester!

Thanks for reading and the next update will be next weekend.

Final Semester Plans and Current Work

So now i have just started my final semester at university, and it's safe to say i do not want to leave!
I have enjoyed these past few years so much, and i have grown up; both in person and in artistic capabilities, i definitely have my wonderful tutors to thank!

But before i get ahead of the game, i do still have around 17 weeks left, where i have planned no less than 6-7 projects to do.

I am currently working on two;
Folklore screen prints - taking my image a day brief and developing it. I have already created the black line work for my first print, i just need to put it together in PS and add the colour layers/decide on them

 Some of the ink work...

The second project i am working on is a collaboration with Rachel. We're both making masks based on two of the four symbols of the Chinese constellation. I'm doing the Azure Dragon, and Rachel The Vermillion Bird. These will also be used in a performance later on in the year, but for now, here is a miniature (i mean miniature) mock up made of masking tape of how i would like the frame to look. Tomorrow i will most likely start on a rough wire version, then move to the final willow one. They will then be decorated.

I will now be updating once a week, most likely on a Sunday to show progress for that week.

Thanks for reading!

Image a Day and New Portfolio

Nearly Christmas!
I hope you're all ready!
But for now, here's just a quick post as to what i've been up to!

So for the past few weeks, i've been working on my dissertation, and also working on a new brief; an image a day. I decided to focus on folklores, and draw a different creature a day! I've been really enjoying it.
Here are just a small selection of my images...

I've also invested in a new, decent, portfolio! a Prat Pampa portfolio with cristal laser sleeves!
It is fantastic, and i love it to bits! It did cost me over £50, but it was worth it (see pics below)! I'm gonna find some nice fabric and make a slip cover for it too.

Anyway, short update but that's pretty much it!

Happy holidays and lets see what the new year brings!

Paper Cut Animation inspired by Lottie Reiniger and Japanese Folklore

Although for a deadline which was a good few weeks ago, i have gotten around to posting it here!

For our 'Obsessions Brief', we had to create an animation inspired by our obsessions which had to be exactly 2 mins long. I decided to pursue Japanese folklore as it is something which has always interested and inspired me (it's something i concentrated on in my final major project in my foundation diploma!)

The basic story includes several links to Japanese folklore/tales, such as Hanasaka Jisan, Bunbuku Chagama and the well-known Kappa!

I was utterly captivated by Lottie Reiniger's animations when i saw them a couple of years ago, and i wanted to try out the paper-cut style myself - trying out using different paper transparencies/textures and colours. It was a lot of hard work but a lot of fun! I hope you enjoy my final video! (do excuse the jumpiness of the video, it was exceptionally hard to do as i didn't have a studio to work in for it, but instead used my small bedroom!)