Illustrator Research: Axel Scheffler

• I have selected Axel Scheffler to research because i am intrigued by the idea of the successful illustrator/author partnership. I also really admire his style, characterisation and (from reading lots of online interviews) his enthusiasm and attachment to his illustrations. 
• I would describe Scheffler's style as the use of bold lines, bright colours and slightly anthropomorphised animals. His images are playful and his effective partnership with Julia Donaldson shows in his interpretation of her rhyming text. 
• On viewing Scheffler's work, i would certainly say that it sits within the children's publishing genre with an intended audience of young children (2-6?) but keeping in mind, like with many contemporary picturebooks, his illustrations appeal to many different people on different levels. 
• Some of Scheffler's best clients have been Macmillan and Faber & Faber. In an online interview, Scheffler suggested that many publishers do not tend to stick to the same author/illustrators to help them progress through the industry but Scheffler's work for these two publishers in particular has been pretty prolific. 
• If i could chose a project from Scheffler's portfolio to work on...I couldn't chose! Any of his books working with Julia Donaldson would be fine by me! I am a great admirer of her writing for children, i think the stories and characters she creates just with her words are fantastic and aimed just at the right level. I think that half of the battle in creating successful picturebooks is finding the right words.
• Axel Scheffler has taken on commissioned/commercial work before. Earlier on in his career, Scheffler was commissioned by Faber & Faber to create new illustrations for Old Possom's Book of Practical Cats.
• It is somewhat difficult to reflect on Scheffler's self-promoted work and avenues of promoting his work. From what I can see, he is not on many social media sites and does not have a personal webiste, only some that relate directly to one piece of work or series (e.g worldofpipandposy.com and gruffalo.com) and offer only a small written piece about the illustrator himself. 
• I can see no evidence of Axel Scheffler taking on other work to supplement his income. This is most likely due to the fact that his illustrations are ever popular, his collaboration with Julia Donaldson (and others) is so strong and successful that he has no need for other work. How awesome!
• Although Scheffler has written some of his own work to accompany his illustrations, he is perhaps better known for illustrating the literary works of other children's authors. This is the sort of thing that will inform my statement of intent as i have always been worried that, although i really want to make picturebooks, I do not know much about writing them. I will look again at the projects and competetions, seeing where I can perhaps use an existing text to work with.

Illustrator Research: Owen Davey

• I have chosen Owen Davey (mainly because i love his work!!) due to his effective narrative telling with little or no words. Not all of his work is like this but i just think he manages to communicate ideas really well and his picturebooks are amazing! Another reason is that he is has only graduated from his illustration degree a few years ago so i thought it would be a good chance to research somebody who is relatively new to the field. \
• I would describe his work as detailed with careful linework but using simple shapes (with simplicity not meaning unsophisticated). His limited colour palette and use of textures really makes his work identifiable. 
• In terms of genre and intended audience, i would suggest that Davey's work belongs within the indie publishing sector, perhaps within advertising, and also in the young audience market, with particular emphasis on his picturebooks. 
• Owen Davey has worked with some really impressive clients so far; Lego, BBC, Templar, New York Times, Time Out, Nobrow and Walker Books. 
• From his portfolio, i would have liked to work on the book covers he created (The BFG, Hansel and Gretel). It would be great to put my own spin on some of my own childhood favourites. 
• Davey mainly gains his work from his agents at Folio. He also takes on commissioned work like the piece he did for The Guardian Weekend which he secured one week before he was due to graduate! 
• In terms of promotion, Davey uses alot of social media sites and belongs to some online collectives which advertise his work. 
• Owen Davey also produces some self-initiated work but this is done mainly for enjoyment purposes, Davey says "It's not valuable per se". 
• Although he graduated only a few years ago, Davey does not seem to need to supplement his income with other jobs. He mentioned in an interview that in his spare time he likes to play in a band but this is also for enjoyment. 
• This research has helped me to reaffirm my choice to enter the Pan Macmillan competition set by YCN. I was hesitant before because the story they want illustrated is a famous one but i am convinced that if i use my own style, and create something i would like, then i will hopefully achieve an outcome that is original, uniquely me and of high enough quality as it can be placed in my portfolio.  

Illustrator Research: Amanda Visell

• I chose to research Amanda Visell because of her ability to apply character design effectively onto 3D models which is something i have been working on myself and hope to improve on in time. 
• I would describe her style as quite linear, Visell uses simple, exaggerated shapes to create the forms of her characters and backdrops but at the same time they are very sleek and stylised. Her paintings can seem to be rather different in style but her illustrations and models show clear parallels in design aspects which can be seen in the above image. 
• It is difficult to define a genre or target audience for Amanda Visell's work. On the one hand she created charming characters and gorgeous toys but you could argue the quality and collectiveness of these products makes her work more suited to a wider ranging audience. 
• From looking at her portfolio and client list I would label Disneyland USA and Kidrobot as her best clients. 
• Personally, i would love to have worked on her wooden idols project, recreating fun and famous characters in her own style, mainly because i think it would be really enjoyable!
• In 2007 Amanda Visell formed her own design brand, Switcheroo, with notable artist Michelle Valigura. 
• Visell has been known to create commercial and commissioned work, notably her stop motion work for the Disney Channel, The Simpsons and feature film Elf. 
• In terms of promotion, Visell has her work in many galleries and having her designs printed on a famous range of resin toys by Kidrobot can only help promote her work.
• Amanda Visell does not seem to supplement her income with other work. In an online interview with 'Brothersbychoice' she said that her day-job is simply being an artist. 
• Seeing how Visells work carries through in different mediums and noting how her work ignores any kind of stereotype when it comes to intended audiences has influenced my outlook on my own illustration work which will be reflected in my statement of intent. 

Illustrator Research: Sara Fanelli

• I have selected Sara Fanelli to look at primarily because of her background in creating stunning children's books but also because I really admire her work ethic and the way she manages to make anything her own. 
• I would describe her style as a mixture of different media, brought together with a refreshingly bright colour palette, interesting characters and innovative stories created with hand-drawn type. 
• On viewing Fanelli's portfolio/client list I think I would put her work in the younger audience genre (due in most part to the amount of picturebooks she has produced) However, it is apparent that her work appeals to people of varying ages. 
• Some notable clients include; Tate Britain, Penguin, New York Times, Faber and Faber, Victoria and Albert Museum, Walker Books and many more. 
• Looking through Fanelli's portfolio, I would (somewhat unconventionally) choose the commission she had for the Tate Britain, creating a visual timeline. I really love the work Fanelli did make for this but I also think that it would be a really fun project with alot of scope for typography and composition. It would be different from other projects i have been working on but i think i would enjoy the challenge. 
• As well as working on her individual projects, Fanelli took part in an exhibition called 'If you could collaborate', which was a self-initiated project led by London art directors Will Hudson and Alex Bec. 
• Sara Fanelli takes on a variety of commercial work and commissions including, as mentioned before, the work she did for Tate Britain as well as one of her picturebooks Pinocchio which was not self initiated but commissioned by Walker Books. 
• Many of Fanelli's picturebooks can be seen as self initiated work as well as effective tools of promotion. 
• Sara Fanelli does not seem to be supplementing her income with any other work, mainly because she does not need to! According to her own website she divides her time between "books, self-generated projects and commercial illustration commissions". 
• Looking at Fanelli's work has made me think more about creating pieces of portfolio standard work as common practice and effective means of self promotion. This will be an integral part of my statement as i fully intend to create work i am proud of for this module, which i will be happy to have in my portfolio and be able to promote online etc. 

Summer work continuation

When i was working on the little book of texts during the summer I made a start on some ideas for illustrations influenced by the poem "I wanna be yours".
I really liked the way the poem was written and what struck as an idea was the lines of the poem could be separated and seen as puns on greetings cards.
I did some watercolour vignette illustrations with literal objects that reflect the line of text. To show the scope of my idea i chose three lines and illustrated them. Im really happy with them and think they would make great alternative valentines cards. The message of love is there but it not so in your face as some other valentines cards that can be found on the market. Im pleased with the result but if i had more time i would have liked to design some envelopes for the cards too, or perhaps come up with some more designs.

The Illustrator's Story

I was really excited to do some more narrative work and i enjoyed doing this task. Finding the story was more difficult than anticipated but once i had found a character i could work with it was much easier.
I tried to stick to the 6 panel format but it just didnt look right on the page. I knew from when i started drawing that i didnt want to include text or speech, it didnt suit the characters or story. After the workshop I decided to change the panels and turn my story into a wordless concertina story. I havent made a concertina so far and i have wanted to for ages!
I didnt find it too difficult as i had my story already and i was happy with the pacing and sequencing as well as the style.
I tried coloured pencils and watercolour at first but it did not sit well so i decided to colour my concertina digitally which allowed me to change the scale and colour palette with much more ease.
I'm really happy with the result and of course, me being me, I made a box for it to go in because you can never have too many boxes!

Adventures in Stationary

Editorial illustration is not my forte but i do enjoy the challenge of taking a text and interpreting it in a way that communicates to the audience effectively. I was intrigued by the story about the original idea for the Pritt Stick so i played with some concepts involving lightbulbs, lipsticks and other ideas but i was not really happy.
I had fun playing with different materials for my first idea but even after i had finished it still felt incomplete. I dont know if that was due to the fact theres no text with my image so it is, at the moment, out of context?
Whether it was or not, i still decided to try again. This time, instead of trying to think of a clever concept or witty way of illustrating the origin of the Pritt Stick, I decided to illustrate it as more of a celebration of the invention itself. I am comfortable with watercolours as a medium and it allowed me to work outside the lines, creating a more visually dynamic piece of work to really emphasise the fact that there is something special about this item. I think this still reflects the ideas and feelings of the original text and i am really pleased with the result.

Wild Swimming

Of the two options, i chose to create an illustration depicting a wild swimming scene.
I did alot of character design but i was not very happy with the results. I then decided to use animals as opposed to humans, I thought i could play about with the characters and poses more.
I created a photoshopped version, drawn first in fineliner, then coloured. I like the colour palette but i think the image looks far too flat and i don't think there's enough energy in the illustration to make it interesting.

 To gain a bit of texture and depth to the image i tried re-rendering it in watercolour. I added each element separately which has made the image seem quite disjointed. I like the colours and the richness of the image but it still doesn't seem to sit right and somehow the characters look even calmer in this image. I really want to show some energy and fun in my wild swimming image...I think the content lends itself to being playful.

I found that there are not many ways i could change this image to make it look how i wanted so i tried again using different animals. I took the yeti character from my retold story ( a character i am really proud of and love using!) and created a group of yetis having fun swimming!
I changed the background colours to make it look like the sort of location you may find yetis (in the snow) and designed them so that they interact and create a pleasing composition.
I found this illustration really tricky to grasp for some reason, and i am quite pleased with the result, but i think that this particular outcome is probably my weakest. I know now that although i am ok at drawing characters, i need much more practice in the way of creating more complex illustrated scenes.