I had my first tutorial for BA7 today with Chris to look over my project proposals for my practical work and research report which has been really helpful in helping me to focus for my future actions.
In terms of my practical project in illustrating The Night Circus he said the first step should really be to decide what my images will be and then let my ideas develop, and to not start making decisions in term of technical and material choices too early as this may restrict me later when I've chosen what I'm illustrating. I am concerned because I have chosen such a large text (490 pages!) so I am still in the process of highlighting and typing up my quotes into character, object, setting and significant event categories. Therefore I can't really decide what I am illustrating until this has been done, so my aim for now is to focus on getting that completed so I can start drawing from my quotes and see what feels right.
My reference to using texture to create atmosphere in my work was also discussed and there are a few points for me to consider in how I can achieve that: through different papers, paper cutting from circus ephemera, marrying texture in an abstract way? Chris suggested that I go out looking for textures that I want to represent such as metal surfaces and patterns, so I plan to go out and start taking photographs to build a texture library to use later on in the project and possibly in the future.
Texture rubbing, MSU
I was originally going to do 6-8 illustrations for my final outcome but it was advised that I shouldn't be over ambitious in the short space of time and that 4-6 is a more appropriate number to allow me to concentrate more on content and quality, and I think this way I can create a large bulk of development work and really think about editing that down for my finals.
My proposed question for the research report is "Is it a necessity for freelance illustrators to have an agency to be successful in today's industry?". We discussed how to define what today's industry is by looking into what illustration is used for, whether there is less or more work for illustrators at the moment and whether new technology has affected that. In terms of my structure I need to counter-balance and counter-argument to allow me to thoroughly discuss the question and voice my own opinion. It is important to discuss my viewpoint but also keep my mind open to both sides of the discussion which is something i need to remember when writing my report.
Chris advised I talk to illustrators who have/ have had agents but to also keep in mind that those who are negative towards agents will most likely be biased due to bad personal experience and vice-versa. He very helpfully offered to put me in contact with his agency and other practitioners with agencies that he knows of if I come with a set of potential questions to pass on. I will try and think of a thorough set of questions as soon as possible, both obvious and in-obvious to get the most varied and revealing results I can.
So the plan for the near future is to finish annotating and quoting the book, gather found textures and to think of questions for my research report.
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