Comma Film

I went to an Arts Council Funding meeting last week and though this might seem a strange time to promote looking for public funding after graduating, the good news is that the "Grants for Arts" scheme will not receive a funding cut. Grants for Arts supports and funds proposals from artists and you can find all the information needed, plus examples of successful bids and projects at the Arts Council website. I bumped into a friend there, who has been able to fund his publishing company Comma Press through this scheme for several years. Ra Page (of Comma Press) also runs Comma Films, a springboard site for new graduates to showcase their work. Much of this is animation, all drawn from poetry. He will be holding a screening for Comma Press this Saturday and you're all welcome to attend, here's a link:

http://www.versionfestival.co.uk/
Or follow on facebook ('Vresion Fest' and 'Comma Film')

Do you read me?

A super find in Berlin, a dream shop called 'Do you read me?'. As you can see I have also greatly added to the list of magazines that we hope you will absorb yourselves in and seek inspiration. Many of them were on sale here and some titles were new to me.

Studio visit to Olaf Hajek and Martin Haake

We have just returned from a great trip to Berlin - even in the rain! We packed a lot in to the 5 days. First stop was a visit to Olaf Hajek's studio. Olaf was very welcoming and made room for the 12 or so students who appeared on his doorstep. He let his riffle through his book collection, talked about his career, the industry and how he firmly rejects working digitally. He finds that there is so much work being produced digitally, he feels that the work is "too much the tool". He talked to the group about how he has to explain his working process to clients who sometimes don't understand how long it takes to produce his images using traditional techniques. The studio was filled with brushes, inks, paints and reference books. Olaf exhibits his wonderful paintings as well as working as a commercial illustrator. He feels that he has been able to sustain his career as he has stayed true to himself and while at one time thought that his work would be deemed old fashioned as it was not produced using digital media, he now feels this is his strength and one of the reasons why clients like his work.

We learnt that he shared the studio space with Martin Haake (one of my hero's!), who then arrived and I nearly fell over. Martin had just returned doing a talk at a college in the UK, so did not mind casually showing us the presentation that he had put together for this. In contrast Martin had let his work develop naturally with digital processes. He found the advantages were that it made his work more flexible and he could make changes for clients. Thankyou to Olaf and Martin for letting us be so nosey!

House of Illustration and The Folio Society's book illustration competition

First prize a £4,000 commission from The Folio Society. House of Illustration’s are working with The Folio Society on this competition and have chosen 'The Outsider' by Albert Camus as the book to be illustrated. The judges include Quentin Blake & Laura Carlin. The competition is open to anyone over 18 who is not a Folio Society published illustrator. The deadline is 10 January 2011. This website tells you everything you need to know about how to enter.

The Visual Telling of Stories

I came across this website by Dr Chris Mullen, a while ago and it has recently been updated. It began as course support for the MA Narrative Illustration/Editorial Design course at the University of Brighton for part-time working illustrators and designers, much of the material can not be found elsewhere on the internet and comes from Chris's own archive. It us unlike most websites I have been on and more like a bizarre delve around an Aladdin's cave. It is a rich resource for any magpie illustrator. Take a look!

Working Drawings: Exhibition and Conference

A date for you diary: Friday 3rd December

Drawing can be used in a number of ways and settings. From a pictogram that transcends language barriers, a visualisation of topography, an emotional response to words or thoughts and as a formal means of communication - working drawings are the (sometimes instant) solution to many problems.

The exhibition includes drawings by Jill Calder, Roderick Mills, Ken Garland, Ed Fella, Abram Games, Alan Fletcher, Saul Steinberg, Jason Ford, Lee Ford, Frazer Hudson, Lydia Monks and Simon Spillsbury.

Here is the link to book your tickets http://www.shu.ac.uk/ad/workingdrawings/

Guess who's coming to Stockport....

The wonderful Riitta Ikonen is coming to do a talk for us on Dec 7th. She will share with us her wonderful world. A description of her work explains,

"My work is concerned with the performance of images, through photography and costume design. Certain items, usually small and insignificant, excite me to the point where I have to wear them and then document that process. The super- garments I make open up new experiences. In my costumes tremendous things happen - to me and to the people I work with. Today I exploded an egg in the microwave. Next, I want to make an egg costume."

If you aren't familiar with her work read more here (source of quote).