 |
| Yulia Brodskaya - Paper cut |
I chose to study illustration as I have always drawn. My dad studied as a draftsman and went on to become a software designer/engineer, therefore I have always been surrounded by illustration, artwork and design including some of the great children's book illustrators which inspired me from a very young age.
 |
| Arthur Rackham - Watercolour, pen & ink |
I enjoy learning new skills and I feel the more skills you have under your belt, the less limited you are when creating a new piece of work. Opportunities creative and visual should be endless and I feel illustration lends itself to the many ideas I have and holds few boundaries.
I have also chosen to study illustration for the obvious reason that I love to draw and be creative. It challenges me and I get a buzz from creating something that I feel is aesthetically pleasing and which others might enjoy looking at, interacting with and get an exciting experience from.
 |
| Claire Scully - Pen & ink |
Illustration at Leeds College of Art is a new programme, therefore I feel it has a more current 'up-to-date' approach to illustration and I chose to study here for that reason.
The programme is also part of a great independent art institution. I have previously experienced an illustration degree programme as part of a small department in a bigger university and it is not the same. Being able to feel part of an artistic community as a whole with the opportunity to collaborate is even more inspiring and motivational.
The facilities available to students whilst studying on this illustration programme are second to none and I feel I could create and do anything here and also branch out into different areas of study, not just design, in order to improve my skills as a whole and get the very most out of being on a creative course at university.
The creative design courses here at LCA have won numerous prestigious awards with big names graduating and moving on to do big things. This didn't go unnoticed when making my university choice and I hope to bring something new to this course and add to the universities growing reputation in the years to come.
Identify 5 skills that you think are your strengths:
It is hard to say what I feel are specifically my strengths as in my eyes all areas of my creative work can be improved upon.
I really enjoy the use of line, pattern and etching in my work and have spent some time developing the skills to use line creatively. I'm also not afraid to learn new skills and enjoy incorporating multiple styles and mixed media into a piece of artwork.
I think the use of colour and tone is really important within creative work and I like to think I have a good amount of knowledge when it comes to using colour and colour theory. The use of a lot of detail within artwork is something I find really interesting in other peoples work. Adding a real sense of depth to a piece through detail is a method included in a lot of my own work and I like to think I am improving this skill with every new piece.
 |
| Berni Wrightson - Pen & ink |
Identify 5 things that you want to improve:
There are a lot of skills and areas of my creative approach to artwork that I would like to improve on and look forward to doing so during my time here on the course.
A few main areas I feel could be improved include lifelike drawings of faces and figures. I feel it is a really important skill to be able to communicate and draw everything from life accurately and this includes people. On the flip side of this, I would also like to develop the skill of character design. I really enjoy stories and story telling and feel a memorable relationship with a character is really strengthened by what they look like visually and how that links with the characters personality.
I really enjoy the use of any media I can get my hands on but would really like to improve on my painting skills. The variety of colours and depth achieved in some illustrators work makes the image 'pop' in a way like no other and I would like to be able to achieve this in my own pieces.
A lot of my work is geared towards paper cut, pop up and paper engineering. I really like paper and the idea of giving this 2D medium a 3D interactive quality without incorporating digital media. This is something I am always trying to improve on.
 |
| Daniel Merriam - Watercolour |
Identify 5 images that
demonstrate your interest in
illustration:
The pieces of artwork I have chosen to include are a
reflection of the illustrators, artists and paper engineers
that influence me along with their unique styles and
approaches to creating visual work.
Yulia Brodskaya uses a wide variety of colour and strips
of 2D paper to create a 3D experience like no other. The
precision and attention to detail I feel really help capture
the composition within her images and help boost her
typographical work.
Arthur Rackham is one of the first illustrators that I came
to love. His use of detailed watercolour and ink work help
create this almost stained, washed out look that goes
hand in hand with a lot of his fantasy story and faerie
work. I feel he is one of the masters and composition in
the above piece makes it one of my favourite
illustrations.
Claire Scully is a fairly new find for me but the skill in the detail of her pieces is like no one else's work that I have found. To me, the use of pattern within an image within another image, makes this work more than just an ordinary illustration. It makes your eyes work hard for the information and I am forever finding more and more detail the closer I look. Claire is also a Rotring user, which happens to be my favourite tool when creating a detailed illustration, and how she manages to get so much tiny detail into her work.
One of the first books handed down to me from my dad was Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein', illustrated by the well known DC (and later Marvel) comic artist Bernie (Berni) Wrightson. Despite falling in love with this story, it was Berni's use of line and negative space that really brought the words to life for me. His skill in these illustrations became a reason to flick through this book endlessly, not just for the story and for me this is a sign of a great illustrator. The words and images really do go hand in hand.
Lastly I chose an illustration by watercolour surrealist Daniel Merriam. Having a strong imagination is really important to me, its where ideas grow and take on new unique lives of their own. Imagination, I feel, is the cure to boredom and Daniel's work epitomises this for me. His work is so busy in all its colours, layers, lines and fantastical creatures, and so much meticulous work has gone into communicating these perfect yet impossible scenes, that they are the furthest from boring. I look at Daniel's pieces and simply want to be there.