Ladies first

One of the themes im working with for my newest illustration is "ladies first". I wanted to show this idea in a non smarmy way as we are living in an age of equality and it is an outdated notion that i think would be frowned upon by many women today especially feminists! I thought about running races as if getting to the door first which would give the illustration a competitive edge. I thought the best way to denote male and female is to use the symbols off a toilet door! However I felt it would communicate the wrong message and as it is an old tradition from an older generation I felt that old fashioned hats would denote this better.

Goldfinger/ give your seat up for the elderly

One of my all time favourite movies is Goldfinger not just for the great plot but the introduction of the first gadget car that many classic James Bond films are famous for. The Aston Martin DB5 was equipped with machine guns, a bullet proof shield, oil slick and the passenger side ejector seat. For my latest illustration I am illustrating giving your seat up for the elderly. I thought a humurous approach is necessary and I remembered the scene in Goldfinger where James Bond ejects an intruder out of the roof and thought it would be good if I could bring this element in. So with this combined with the moral element of honouring the elderly I composed an old lady boarding a bus pressing a button ejecting a youth out of the roof. I think that the elderly generation are viewed as weaker and out of touch I like this illustration for the power that the little old lady holds.

Improved diary image

Diary Illustration- Beaufort Windscale

This is my diary illustration for the month of January

Andy Martin- Beaufort Windscale Project

We had the opportunity to work with Andy Martin on 4th and 5th of Februaury to work on a brief that he had set. The brief was to design 12 Illustrations for a proposed 2009 Diary with front/back cover and endpaper illustrations. We each were assigned different roles, my role was to design the illustration for January. The Beaufort Windscale is one of the first scales to estimate wind speeds and their effects designed by Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort, the scale is still in use today to estimate wind strengths. As stated on the brief the 12 illustrations must reflect the months characteristics but also incorporate the definitions of the wind speeds and effects for that month.
Initially I found it difficult to respond to the month I was given as there was very little in the definition. January is denoted as calm and smoke rises vertically. The first thing that sprang to mind was chimneys as they are associated with smoke but it seemed too weak and mundane to go with that idea and in any case it wouldn't reflect the month's characteristics. I started thinking of incorporating snow as January is a cold month but still disatisfied I explored the idea further. January, particularly the begiining of it is a time for New Year's resolutions and a popular one is giving up smoking. Smoking is also seen as calming for many so I decided to combine the chimney idea with a cigarette packet to make it look like a building and a theme in my work is boxes. I don't know why I doodled a fag packet with a cigarette sticking up but that was what began the idea. I placed the cigarette vertically upside down with smoke rising from it to reflect the definition I was given. The last part of the idea was as the fag packet looks like a building I thought a good way of denoting giving up was to collage a wrecking ball swinging towards it, I felt this humourous element was just what the piece needed. Overall it was a great experience working with Andy Martin particularly the professionalism aspect of it, working to a two day brief was a taster for what life is like for an Illustrator after graduation.

Willard Wigan

I love the sculptures of Willard Wigan because of the scale of them theyre tiny! They look impossible to produce and are smaller than a needle. The artist works with gold, gems, glue, dust and paint. I have always enjoyed collaging small elements and have started to work more in this way as I think it can make the elements look more charmful.

Two Ronnies

This is an interesting scene, not for its comedy value but for its true resonance with society. I find it interesting that garments signify class and accent, poilteness and speech signify this also.