What's happening now...

The creative industry in the UK is one of the biggest contributors to the GDP, with a huge 8% and is continuing to grow. This is one of the main reasons I myself decided to peruse a career in the arts, almost two years ago.

After I lost my job due to ill-health I found it very difficult to get back into work. Many companies weren't hiring and if they were, the hours they were offering just weren't enough and with the emergence of zero-hours contracts, job security was non-existent. Add that to the fact that what I was trained for, many others had the same qualifications, the same experience and the same level of competence that I was boasting about on my CV's, it literally felt I was lost in a proverbial sea of Business Admin!

After speaking to the National Careers service during a scheduled meeting set up by the Job Centre itself, I got to speaking about my love of art and how I would have loved to do something with it. Lorna was thrilled by this, though at the time I didn't completely understand why and after we discussed the ways in which I could get myself back into education, she explained that, even in a recession, the creative industries continue to grow and thrive, unlike many others.

The UK as a whole is known for their creative exports, with £1 in ever £10 coming from the creative sector. Boasting the second biggest design sector in the world, employing over 1.5 million people and worth a staggering £36 billion a year, the UK is a cultural role model, with London one of the most influential cities in the world.

So what is happening now? Up and down the country there are exhibitions and events that draw the creative elite of the UK for a chance to display their work on a very influential stage.

The House of Illustration opened its doors to its first permanent home at the heart of Kings Cross regeneration area of London. They host all matter of illustrations, featuring masters past and present as well as emerging art. From adverts to animation, political satire to scientific drawings, the House of Illustration is definitely the place to be seen.

https://www.houseofillustration.org.uk

The London Illustration Fair is another unique home grown event for artists to come together and sell their work to a wide audience of people, who come from all over the world to purchase original pieces and affordable prints.

http://www.thelondonillustrationfair.co.uk/about-us/

There are many events and stages for any budding illustrator to launch themselves from in London, but what about our own region, the North East?

The Animex, in Middlesbrough an annual animation fair, hosted by Tees University. A number of leading animation artists and the studios they represent, come to display their work and provide workshops for this interested in breaking into the industry. Studios involved include Dreamworks and Disney Pixar as well as many others.

SCENe, which stands for Sunderland Creative Enterprise Network is a social networking team who advertise and inform the public about events happening in and around the city of Sunderland. This is a great way to stay up to date about events happing in and around the city of Sunderland. Events such as the Sunderland Shorts Film Festival which will be taking place in various places around the city on the 2nd July 2015.

We also have a host of galleries and exhibitions in institutions like MIMA and North East Art Collective.

How to write a...

Today we discussed effective writing and the different ways in which approaching a subject can be written about. This will be especially handy for submitting the report at the end of this unit.

The report must be on one of the subjects we have covered and include my thoughts on where I might fit in the industry.

• Reports - These are a written account of something that has been observed and investigated and is based on any research that has been done. It is the presentation of analysed information.
• Essay - These are the presentation of opinion and seek to answer a question. The question posed is then answered with in the content. An essay is a piece of writing on a particular subject that is analysed and an academic opinion is based upon.

Both Reports and Essay's follow a similar layout. They have an introduction and conclusion, with the main bulk of the discussion and analysing being in the centre. Referenced images and Bibliography are also included in both.

Research

What am I exploring?

How will I research?

Read the brief and learning outcomes.

Think of a title.

Be creative about it.

Primary research

• Questionnaires (Survey Monkey).
• Interviews (Peer to peer, Contact industry professionals).
• Visits.
• Own experiences (This is the only research that you can base your own opinion off).

Secondary Research

• Books.
• Magazines.
• Internet.
• Journal.

Cover sheet

• Neat and tidy.
• Legible.
• Name.
• Report Title.
• Module title.

Contents Page

• Page number.
• Contents.
• Bibliography.

Main body

• Should include primary and secondary research.
• Tell the reader what I discovered.
• Explore subject
• Can include Questionnaires
• Include opinion.
• Graphs, tables and charts, images.

Conclusion

• What have discovered?
• What's important to me? Where I see myself? What I have concluded about the information I have gathered.
• Images.

Life after my Degree

Today we were asked, once we had completed our degree what area of the discipline we wanted to go into.

There are many fields of Illustration, more now than ever before. Illustrators are no longer confined to children's books or scientific texts. Now we have magazines, books (of various content), walls, billboards, clothing, skin, floors, ceilings, interior and exterior platforms. There is not a surface or medium an illustrator cannot create.

But my degree can lead into other careers, the most obvious one being to teach.


Teaching

Going on to teach requires me to gain a teaching qualification, such as a Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (a PGDE), but to gain entry for this qualification requires a good level of Math and English.

There are a number of ways in which I could gain this qualification. One is through a college or university or by working in the schools themselves via School-Centered Initial Teacher Training (SCITT).

• College and University: If I chose to study for a PGDE in a college or university, I would have to apply for this via UCAS in the same way I applied for my Degree. This would require me to take out further tuition fee and support loans. I would also be given a placement in schools to gain hands on experience.
• SCITT: Training directly with the schools, I am placed within the actual classroom, on the frontlines. I earn a salary and may receive additional help with the cost of the tuition fees. This largely depends on the school and the area in which I am to be teaching.

Give these choices, I feel the best route would be with the School-Centered Initial Teacher Training.



Art Therapist



Another, rather unusual, career track would be into the Health and Social care track as an Art Therapist.

I have already had some experience working with families who have suffered domestic abuse and the breakdown of the family unit due to this abuse. During my time working as a support worker for this charity, I attempted to bring art as a means to relax into the lives of some of the families who were open to the idea.

To become qualified as an Art Therapist, usually a first degree in a relevant subject is required. Then I would need to be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Fees are somewhat different compared to the teaching qualifications. There is no specific course in a college or university to teach this subject, training would have to be done at NHS institutions who are funding the course.

The student is also required to pay their own tuition fees, unless they're already working within the field then their employer may cover these costs.

Students are trained in the psychology of image making, therapeutic relationships, the importance of boundaries and psychological and psychotherapeutic practice. 

Copyright

Intellectual Copyright helps to protect your work from others who might pose it as their own. It serves as a deterrent to this end, but it can not stop theft of this kind in its tracks. What Copyright does, is provide a platform for you to launch countermeasures should this happen to you.

No one can own an idea. If you are inspired with an idea but do not physically create the work and someone else does, you have no rights to the image in question. It is now that other artists intellectual property and is covered by 'Automatic Right'.

Automatic Right is a form of Copyright that protects a persons intellectual property upon its initial creation. This happens mostly with images.

There are four main types of Copyright

• Patent - This protects an idea or invention and once filled, prevents any other company using this idea/invention for profit.
• Trademark - This is a companies signature. Companies like Disney, Dream Works, Dyson, Black and Decker etc.
• Designs.
• Copyright.

The Public Domain.



The Public Domain is were creative works are placed when they are no longer (or never were) protected by Copyright law. They are generally free to use and allow the user free access to create, or re-create as they like.

There are some works that enter the Public Domain automatically.

• Titles, names, phrases, slogans and symbols (these, however, maybe be protected by other laws, such as with a Patent or trademark).
• Ideas, facts (historical facts, dates, places etc).
• Processes, systems.
• Government works and documents.

The creator of the work may choose to release their work into the Public Domain, however for those who wish to protect their intellectual property, Copyright will restrict usage of the creation, until the artist has been dead for seventy years.

How can I protect my work?

As I'm creating images and works of a visual nature, my work is automatically protected upon creation. However, this alone will not stop unlawful duplicates or even other artists from claiming my work as their own.

The emergence of the internet has made the sharing or work and the ability to create social circles much easier, but it has also made it easier for intellectual property to be stolen and while it's possible to deter the thieves, with water marks and limiting exposure of the work itself (especially on social media), it doesn't always work.

Exhibitions

An exhibition is a body of work, displayed publically that centres on a theme or message. There are a number of venues one can host an exhibition and various exhibition types.

A gallery, dedicated to the display and sale of art works are a good start. They are already established within communities and have a loyal following of art lovers interested in purchasing original works.

• House of illustration
• Illustration Cupboard
• Beach London
• Kemistry

National exhibitions offer a great deal of acclaim and publicity, it maybe significantly more difficult to get work featured, as it first needs to either win or be shortlisted to feature in these prominent events.

• Serco Prize
• Grafik Magazine

Festivals are great in number and appeal to a wide audience because they are more accessible to a broader range of people. They are usually very informal affairs, open to new and established artists of all ages. They often host events that the public can get involved in and are dedicated to the production and sale of original, affordable art.

• Artists Residence Brighton
• Pick Me Up Summerset
• London Illustration Fair
• Illustrative Berlin
• Design Event
• London Design Festival
• Holts Yard

When preparing your own exhibition there are a number of things to take into consideration, these are very important if your exhibition is to be a success.

• Target your audience
• Know the market
• Set prices costs to expectations
• Design the whole show
• Promote promote promote!
• Invite guests to a VIP or private showcase
• Consider how the whole package ties together

Sponsors can be a god-send and those who are directly involved in the art world can be great financial backers, especially if you're using their products to create your master-pieces since this is great advertising for them. It is a symbiotic relationship and if done well, both artist and sponsor will do well and perhaps the partnership can be duplicated in the future.

Talk by Frances Moffat

 

Frances Moffat

Frances Moffat is a fashion illustrator from a small town outside of Middlesbrough. She studied for her MA so she could deliver lectures and teach.

Frances studied fashion and was an assistant accessories designer for Luella, creating rough, quick drawings of jewelry and fashion accessories before stepping out on her own as a freelance illustrator. 

She started by purchasing up to date contact information of publishers and agencies, then conducted a self promotion campaign using this information as a point of contact within those companies.

She decorated her envelopes (which contained her portfolio information) with red thread, making them different and stand-alone. This is likely how and why she caught the eye of the Bright Agency. The agency is a Children's Fashion, Illustration and Greetings Card publisher.

Frances wasn't happy initially with the publisher, as once she was signed up with them, they took 35% of her profits as commission for representing her. They would take this even (and in some cases this happened) they had nothing to do with her receiving an offer of work.

After only being with the agency a relatively short time, Frances decided to go freelance and she looked back at this decision as well timed as, eighteen months after her initial self promotion, she was approached by Batsford. They had seen the material she had sent them and being impressed, kept her on file for when they had a fashion project available.

If Frances had still been with the Bright Agency, then they would have been eligible for 35% of the advance, commission and book sales following the completion of the book, Frances then went on to publish in June 2014.

Frances had a lot of freedom working on the 'Fashion Exercise Book', which is a 190+ creative pages aimed at people of all ages who wish to express themselves through the creative fashion process.

Cover of Fashion Exercise Book by Frances Moffat.

Every page is filled with very simple, stylish designs and while the pages are far from blank, they are plain enough for anyone to have-at and stamp them with their own creative flair.

The Pitch - LINO PRINT

Our task this week is to research in depth a form of printing.

I have chosen Lino Print as I have some experience with this method and it is also a process I have enjoyed and I feel this is imperative when trying to sell something. How can you sell something you do not believe in?

The Process

Lino printing is a very simple affair and the materials are readily available to all.

You will need;

• Linoleum
• Lino cutter
• Block printing ink
• Paper

Linoleum is a soft, flexible material, almost like plastic which was invented in the 1860's but wasn't used for printmaking until the 1900's in Germany. It was used to create the repeating patterns of wallpaper and artists such as Picasso and Mattisse have created art using this method.

 

Henri Matisse; Pasiphae

 

Because the linoleum is so soft and supple, it makes it very easy to work with and the cutting tools used, glide through the material like a warm knife through butter.

 

The designs are also easily marked out, graphite transfers well onto the surface of the linoleum, making it easy to first sketch out a design and then cut out.

 

Depending on the effect you're after, you can either cut out the lines themselves and end up with a image similar to the one above, (since the ink is only printed where the linoleum makes contact with the page) or you can shave away the negative space, so only the body of the work is printed, leaving the surrounding area of the image, white (see below).

 





 

Hellish Lino-print (my own work)

 

The material used to make the impression is Block Printing Ink and because we are able to wipe clean the linoleum of the water soluble ink, it means we can use the same stamp time and time again.

 

Commercial uses for Linoprint.

 

Lino printing is no longer used in any great commercial practices anymore. Those who use the technique do so for the love of creating wonderful works of art. That's not to say it can't be used, its just not financially viable for any companies to do so. Most rely heavily on digital methods to create their produce as its quicker and more cost effective (if very impersonal).

 

While using lino print is no longer the best way of producing repeat-patterns on wallpaper, it was once the only way this was done. There are now more user friendly and cheaper ways to produce these items, but if you want a truly unique piece of art work, that's different every time you print, then Lino print is the way to go.