PPP3: Domino SUBMARINES

This fantastic concertina contains large illustrations and information regarding military submarines.
The imagery has been painted rather traditionally, seemingly from photographic reference. Another interesting feature is the cut-away diagram, showing the endangering that powers the vehicle. The book was a lucky find in an Oxfam shop for 99 pence. Although I do not practice traditional painting abilities, the book is a great example of informative illustration, although perhaps the book would benefit from more diagrams.

PPP3: Progress Tutorial [2] & [3]

I had two tutorials with Patrick and John, on different topics.

After an interesting briefing, I found it was a good time to update my PPP blog, I felt that it was indeed sparse. John and Patrick saw my blog at this stage, and were pleased to see it had been updated for the tutorial. John suggested that I extend how 'personal' the blog is, and add more of my own interests and aims onto the blog.
Patrick had a lot of suggestions including discussions on pricing, and module synthesis. Patrick also talked to me about my over-ambitious big Kahuna brief- that is the huge brief that I would like to engage with in semester two, so far it involves making a diagram-illustraiton based on a public building such as the Leeds College of Art. Patrick suggested other buildings such  as the National Media Museum in Bradford, or the Royal Armouries. I will think further on the subject over the Christmas 'break'. Patrick also suggested that I remove the 'Cosmonaut in the Woods' illustration from my current portfolio range, as it does not reflect my current abilities.

PPP3: Portfolio Shortlist

I have selected ten images representing the variety of aesthetics and contexts I have applied to my work.
The list may need some revilement, as I feel there may be too much variation, which could potentially confuse viewers. Due to the variety of formats, the .pdf seems unusual, I also made a second .pdf that involves heavy handed-cropping.

PPP3: Attempt to Contact George Lucas [1]

During the research for the dissertation I have been unable to find the reasoning behind George Lucas's chose to retain the Star Wars licensing rights. I found a contact email on the Skywalker ranch website and I received the following reply:

'Thank you very much for your email requesting to interview George Lucas. We’re happy to know you admire Mr. Lucas' work, and that you would like to reach out to him for your dissertation. Because Mr. Lucas receives such a large amount of similar requests, we regret we’re not able to accommodate your request, especially in light of his retirement and travel schedule. If you would like to make your request with someone at Lucasfilm, you can try emailing their PR department: publicity@lucasfilm.com. 

If you would like to learn more about George Lucas, we can recommend two books: GEORGE LUCAS, THE CREATIVE IMPULSE by Charles Champlin and THE CINEMA OF GEORGE LUCAS by Marcus Hearn.  You should be able to find them at the library, and they contain a great deal of information about Mr. Lucas and his career. I have also attached a list of other books that may interest you about Mr. Lucas and Star Wars.

Once again, thank you for your email and we wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.

Best,

Kristine

Skywalker Ranch Publicity'


From a PPP perspective, it was certain that I wouldn't be able to immediately ask George Lucas a direct question. Although it is unclear on the copy above, some parts of the message were in different fonts, signifying the message was copy-and-pasted from a prescribed list.
The attached document they sent me included a documentary, which actually answered my question, so I will have to think of something else to ask Lucas.
I was surprised by how useful the answer actually was, which suggests that the ranch indeed recieves a lot of similar questions.

PPP3: Visiting Professional: Good Wives and Warriors

I signed up to the lecture at the last minute, as I eventually found some time for it.
The collective of two illustrators, Becky Bolton and Louise Chappell had experienced some technical difficulties, and were unable to show the slideshow of their more 'embarrassing work, which was somewhat disappointing, as it promised work hitherto unseen by the public.

They described their ascension in the industry as practitioners, which seemed dangerously variable, as they had often agreed to do unpaid work, whilst also accepting large amounts of money for other commercial projects. They mentioned that on of their first agents hadn't secured them work for almost a year, however the benefits of them administrating the financial and legalese was valuable enough.

It was a peculiar story of their careers, as they seemed to focus on the mistakes, which is perhaps something most visitors avoid. This in a way, was far more useful, as it gave the audience an insight into what not to do.

PPP3: Visiting Professional: Victo Ngai

The arrival of Victo Ngai was odd, the murmuring of the tutors and students seemed to veil her in a messiah or celebrity-like quality. I had once seen her work in Illustrators: Unlimited, and remembered the work for it's fantastic clear line.

As a general fan of clear line I did look forward to the talk. The studio had been converted into a make-shift theatre with a couple of large cameras operated by a lone camera man.
The talk consisted of Ngai's experiences with large clients, and how she dealt with demanding briefs, that took a lot of creative control away from her.
A certain fast food chain for example, signified by golden arches described every detail in long prose, and the only input Ngai had was the addition of a little amount of fire being spat out a dragon.
I suppose this might inspire horror in some illustrators, but like Ngia, I don't particularly mind compromising on illustration for clients, as I will always maintain my personal work along side.

I suppose it reflects my own intentions to become part of a larger development team, as I am quite passive and open to instruction.

Ngai also stressed the point that she had never been late to a deadline, which I appreciated as I hold punctuality in high regard.

PPP3: Thought Bubble 2015

This year's Thought Bubble was exhausting.

The first day was the most rewarding in terms of profit, Becky and I both exceeded our overall takings from last year within the one day. I made almost all of my profit from the Serenity prints I had made, which goes someway to evidence the fan-art-centric nature of the event.
To be successful at Thought Bubble one must either be famous, or bank on existing nostalgia; at least that is what I have taken from the last two years.

The table cloth I had sourced was an inch or two shy of the full length of the table, but thankfully the prints and over-all arrangement probably distracted from that fact.

The stand I made was very useful and gave us vertical space as well as horizontal. Because the stand is hollow, it also meant we could hide tools, extra prints and the float behind it, where previously we had simply dumped things in a bag.

On Saturday night our neighbours had a decidedly loud party from 11pm to 7am the following morning, this made the second day of Thought Bubble somewhat taxing on a sleep starved brain.

Another artist asked whether I was licensed to sell Star Wars prints, he was somewhat vexed that many artists had produced unlicensed work, while his own imagery was approved by LucasFilm.

Eventually, when we counted our overall takings, we had both made a good profit, and given out a good quantity of business cards.

We again dressed as Mulder and Sculy, which had a similar effect as last year, drawing in attendees with curiosity. Although I would suggest this is the last time we will dress in such a way, as it is perhaps getting a little stale.

PPP3: Rubber Stamp Logo

I had the notion to make my own rubber stamp that I could apply to the back of my prints. This, I reckoned would make them seem more professional and unified.
The designs I developed were based on my previous logo and the patterns I developed for the playing cards.

Rather than carving out manually, I decided to get the design cut out using the laser cutter. Zatul had an induction relating to her own Thought Bubble products and willingly took my design down to cut.

Unfortunately due to some confused communications the laser cutter only cut an engraving of the lines involved in the design, rather than engraving the entire black sections as it were.

Not to be discouraged I used this as a guide to cut the rest out… manually.

At this point it was already Friday and I had no time to test or execute the stamp using proper ink, as acrylic paint did not work at all.

At least I have now developed a design that will work in future.

PPP3: Travelling Man Exhibition

The event was marked by a gathering of the illustrators involved in the exhibition as well as a few organisers from Thought Bubble. The prints will remain in the shop for a good few months. This will indeed be good exposure, and is an opportunity to make a tidy profit should they sell.