Professional practice 3
My Portfolio
I used art station to create my digital portfolio. I found a lot of websites very frustrating to work with. Artstation was user friendly and easy to upload my work on, and I’ve already had interest in my work because of my digital portfolio.
Artist statement/ My Manifesto
I’m a Brighton based illustrator currently studying at UWE. Throughout my life I’ve always created, whether that be drawing, painting, or sculpting. My main practice now is digital drawing. I use watercolour, pens, and pencils digitally on procreate. I use mixed media to emphasise characters against backgrounds. My artwork is mostly inspired from my real life experiences. My style is stylised realism, growing up on graphic novels, I was definitely influenced by the many illustrators of the books I collected.
Promotional content
This module pushed me to finally set up ways to promote my art. This has always been something I’ve put off because of fearing that I’m not good enough. It’s been a struggle to add stuff and it took me awhile to actually start posting my work because I’ve never posted publicly before.
I created business cards to promote viewing my work which will accompany my degree show work. The QR code is a direct link to my website
Researching opportunities and reaching out to agencies
After the alumni talks and listening to Ellie Rose’s table talk about agencies, I researched different agencies which felt well connected to me to help set me up for my future.
INKLING
Inkling is an independent and female led agency which represents illustrators across different disciplines such as editorial, children’s book, and publishing. Offering many opportunities for artists. The portfolios on their website are strong and I like the variety of different styles. The work is clearly well presented. Inkling aim to find artists with a unique, distinctive and flexible style to work with people’s briefs. Though my style may not be so unique, I think it’s distinctive and cohesive. My style is flexible enough to work with clear briefs. They have an impressive list of clientele working with Google, Louis Vuitton and Financial Times. I preferred their submission process as it felt less intimidating for me, as someone who finds emailing a bit daunting. I like what Inkling stands for with their support of real artists and ethical practice.
Toop Studio
Toop Studio is an independent studio ran by professional artist Shadric Toop. The studio is Brighton based and features illustration, graphic design and branding. Their client list is strong as they have worked with Penguin Books, Oxford University Press, and BBC. Toop shows how illustrative work can be used professionally in industries for example for album covers, packaging, and advertising. I think I connected least with the work from this studio however I still appreciated it.
Big Red Illustration
Big Red Illustration is a Brighton based illustration agency that connects professional illustrators with clients. The agency works with established and emerging artists. Their websites was one of my favourites to go through, they are supportive of the artists. If they don’t accept a submission from an illustrator they leave guided feedback to help improve the work and portfolio submitted, which shows the level of care they have for this industry. They have worked with clients such as Pepsi, Selfridges, and Hallmark. I liked the work presented in the portfolio section on their website, as there is a vast range of styles and feels like something I could fit into.
After researching different agencies I started to draft an email
I used this as my template to be able to send to different agencies to tweak certain parts as needed be. Some agencies only needed a form filled and submitted.
Artist talks
Throughout the module we had multiple artist talks. A lot of the time I felt quite positive in the presence of the artists, and it made me feel optimistic about the future. I enjoyed Dave Bains talk, even though I’m not a mural artist. I still appreciated and enjoyed his talk, I found it beneficial as he went through his process with getting the work and how he priced it, also learning about the importance of connections to other artists and how that can help get you work. I learnt about different artists processes.
Live briefs
I created pieces for the Tobacco Factory. I produced flowers based on floriography, to fit with the theme of love and hate.
I entered the ‘Bristol short story prize anthology’ book cover. Portraying readers on hot air balloons to represent Bristol, also insinuating the book is so good you’d read it anywhere.
I made sure to have my work completed before the deadline to have time to adjust anything necessary and I made sure my dimensions were correct.
CV
Going into the creative industries, I’ve decided to go by my mother’s maiden name instead of my surname Jackson.
Evaluation
This module forced me to come out of my comfort zone. Being someone who has never promoted their work in any way before, I was able to learn how essential self-promotion is when preparing for the important first steps after university.I do not think I would have been able to push myself to create my own branding for example, my website and a social media platform because I have never been one to share my work publicly before. I struggled a lot to to get my work out there and my anxiety was a significant barrier. I put off sharing my art for awhile because of the fear of rejection and not feeling like I was ready for it to be seen. But the feeling of needing to indorse my work for this module was enough impetus for me to start promoting myself. I bit the bullet and started an instagram account. Though I have been anxious about posting publicly, slowly but surely, I have added to it. I posted examples of my artwork and have included my portfolio as a link in my bio. As I carry on posting my work on the account, I expect my confidence will grow and I will get used to the feeling of putting my artwork on display. A good way for me to practice that was by reaching out to illustration agencies. I sent them my portfolio and presented my top pieces. I have learnt how to contact illustration agencies appropriately and have got used to the submission process. I have figured out my style, and I have stayed true to it. I create stylised realism with line work using watercolour, pencil, and studio ink together in Procreate. My competition pieces and current projects in my other module were created using the same techniques to show I have a cohesive style. I recognise the needs of my audience and how I can tailor my work to fit their wants. I took part in the Tobacco Factory event presenting prints I made following the given theme of love and hate. I sent a book cover design into a competition which gave me the opportunity to work to a strict brief. I created my own business cards that I plan to have displayed at the degree show to help showcase more of my work to the public. There is still room for improvement when it comes to promoting myself and building my self confidence. I feel it is holding me and my work back from reaching a wider audience. I need to keep promoting myself professionally in order to progress. I feel like the steps I took were rewarding with my website, social media, and online portfolio, I have been able to start my branding. However, I didn’t take advantage of opportunities I had regarding competitions, and I have learnt I need to get my work out there whether or not I hear anything back, it is better than not taking a chance at all. My steps going forward are to keep trying with agencies, post more on my accounts, and prioritise finding employment.