Artist Statement

For my FMP, I decided on the theme of 'Fantasy'- all things mythical, out of the ordinary, bright colours, gloomy colours, animals, witches etc. My inspirations for this theme have been the artists that I shaped my drawing styles around since I started to look to the internet for ideas from around 2012- 'Fukari', primarily.
I also recently found online artists that had works that also apply to the character and fantasy aspects of my FMP- 'Papeebs', Justin O'Neal, 'Phobso', W.Mantus (sketchalumps.tumblr.com)- all of the same styled art, illustrations, character design and development, some creating large, detailed pieces of art to accompany their designed character(s) and some deciding to let them remain as colourless sketches.

W.Mantus-

Fukari- 



Papeebs- 



Phobso- 



Justin O'Neal- 


For this project, I wanted the chance to develop my own skills and imaginative imagery. I wanted to develop characters that I designed when I was 12-13 and bring them back now that I am 18 and my styles have developed and been inspired by new artists. I expect that people of all age ranges will be coming to the show- the families of my classmates, their friends, my friends and family, anyone that is curious. Therefore, I will not include anything that may cause offence or that could be viewed as inappropriate, I will aim to include a mix of bright and colourful pieces that are light hearted and fun and others that are monochromatic but not dark enough to ruin a good atmosphere.

FMP Evaluation (1000 words minimum)

For my sketchbook, I feel that I managed my time really well – I achieved what I set out to do, I also included the majority – if not all of the key elements from my project brief. For example, I incorporated the letter design idea and carried it through to the end of my project - I created 2 final piece design sheets that featured the letters including their stamp deals with my signature carved into them. However, this design has recently changed and been updated to a symbol of a moon instead because it is a lot less obvious and feels like less of a lazy idea than it would have been previously, it also holds more personal value to me and I feel that that is an important aspect to my work seeing as this is my final major project and I wanted to make more of an effort with subliminal imagery- it gives people more minuscule details to take notice of, rather than skimming over my work and seeing all they need to with only a glance.

To gather primary research for a project based around 'Fantasy' was my most troubling aspect of this FMP, although I managed to find good sources for Japan, manga and character design painted on a nightclub's walls and doors- a few doors featured a Japanese Geisha and there were huge monochromatic prints of manga pages spread along the walls of the inside rooms, so I found much needed research in unlikely places. The rest of my primary research was a lot easier to come across, I took the majority of photographs while on walks around outside, forests with winding tree branches surround where I live so it was easy enough to gather plenty of images regarding creepy tree branch images and floral patterns from outside. Because I was including images of women with piercings and all black eyes, I didn't expect to be able to gather many primary research images for the latter- but luckily enough, the app; Snapchat released a filter that allowed me to take photos with all blacked out eyes and I,  myself have piercings that I could capture images of to include in my sketchbook. I had to think outside of the box for this project in those regards and it is something that I ended up enjoying.

As for secondary, I found that very easy as I had already got my selected artists in mind- artists that I had followed online from as early as 2012. I ended up narrowing them down to 'Fukari'- a well known name online- most famous for her original character designs and comic panels including said people. And also Justin O'Neal- another online artist who has his own website as an online portfolio for his character design work as well as recreating famous faces such as Wednesday Addams in his own, unique style. All hand done, then worked into using a graphics tablet for some. Through this project, I also discovered new artists while developing my secondary research. My favourite new discovery being a secretive artist from Instagram/Tumblr nicknames 'Papeebs'. She mainly dabbles in monochromatic line art which I suspect she first draws free hand and then later scans into photoshop to neaten the lines and sharpen the images- a method that I also use often.

While I was experimenting with textiles, I discovered how much of a difference creating different textures makes to art. As a result, I used batique frequently throughout the project and also most recently- on my final piece. I used the batique to create my backdrop and also to create a silhouette through the dark inks for my main features- the wolf and my original character; Fia.  I allowed the batique to settle in small, thick dots around the page to replace distant stars in a night sky and have decided to keep them rather than iron off the wax because I like the 3D element of it. The wolf aspect was heavily influenced by a Fukari piece which I did a critical study of in my sketchbook featuring a young girl with blue hair with her arm around a huge wolf with a bone mask on. I loved the height difference and how the huge, shaggy haired wolf made the girl look so small but her facial expression contrasted it so well because she seemed completely unfazed. This is how I decided what I was going to do for my final design- it spurred me into creating 2 A2 sketchbook pieces of the wolf alone and another design development sheet because I felt confident painting a new subject (other than people or nature), so I developed the design of the wolf and made certain that I was going to keep it similar in size to that of the one featured in Fukari's piece and the scale would be the same between it and the girl (Fia). I, however, decided to use a tie-dye style backdrop for the piece with partial dark coloured ink- but only in the top quarter of the piece to contrast the colours of the wolf and the backdrop itself. The method of creating the backdrop came through experimentation in the textiles room- while painting inks onto small samples, the newsprint that I was using to prevent the inks from going through onto the table absorbed the different colours and when dried, created a smooth blend of warm oranges with random splashes of blue in patterns that I could not recreate by hand, so I used calico and painted onto that instead using the same colours, blending as best as I could and by luck, the result was very similar.

I do not feel that I had any constraints on my design, I planned out how much money I had remaining on my blue card throughout the project (how much calico and silk would cost as well as the A1 frame for my canvas), I also booked into the workshops on the days that I knew I would be needing it to develop and work on my final piece(s) and the design sheets that came before it- on days I could not book in or left it too late, I made space on my desk and continued on with what I could using that work space alone, I also left a good amount of time to work on it because I knew that it would be the most time consuming part of my FMP and did not want to rush what I felt was the most important part- the end result of all the 16 weeks spent leading up to it. Although, if I had more time I would have liked to create some more in depth artist sheets to showcase more of their diverse work and perhaps created more ties within my own pieces to theirs, as well as featuring more artists in my sketchbook and more of their critical studies to practise drawing in unfamiliar styles.


For this project, I do feel that my sheet work was my weakest point, I did not plan around my research file work well enough, instead I assumed that I would have it all done a lot quicker than I actually did end up doing it, although I kept a time management diary as I went along, I should have written future plans in it also to make sure that I was clear on what I was supposed to do and get the file work done so that I would not have to rush my other sheet work and would have spare time to increase the pages in my sketchbook and annotate it more.
As for my blog, I do not think that I used it to document my work progress as well as I should have, instead I documented it through writing in my journal when I could have provided visuals to accompany the information as evidence that I was doing the work that I claimed to be. Therefore, I do not think that I took advantage of my blog and did not use it as effectively as I could have, I did however use it as a platform to get my research file done, as a result of a lack of access to Microsoft Word at home- where I do most, if not all of my written work for projects, aside from sheet annotation.


Overall, I have enjoyed working on this FMP, I am happy with the subject that I chose and feel that it allowed me to play to my strengths- I allowed myself to be free to draw from my imagination and also to develop my own art style through experimenting with other people's that are similar but simultaneously very different to my own. Still, I would like to improve on my own, unique style- it is still in development and most likely will be for my next few projects, depending on the amount of freedom that I am allowed. I would have also liked to have planned ahead with certain aspects such as the written work side- the business cards, the CVs etc. Rather than assuming that I will get it done, if I could do it again, I would plan ahead, write down in detail what I have to do, when and how I will do it and tick it off the list as I complete it. It would save me a lot of stress and I would then not have to force myself to rush through work just to get it done by the deadline and have to present pieces that are not to a standard that I am not proud of.

PRINT Examples of Job CVs

For my first example of a regular job CV, I chose this one - It is simple and straight to the point, the sections and paragraphs are separated neatly so there is little to no chance of a potential employer being put off by the word count. I am aware that a large chunk of text can be unattractive and unwanted.
However, this design is my least favourite out of the 3 that I have chosen to look at, simply because it is too plain for the types of jobs that I personally would be aiming for - much better suited to a corporate job.



For my second CV, I decided that this one looked both professional and creative without looking too disorganised. Again, every section is clearly separated, sentences are spaced out evenly and the colour scheme is simple but effective due to its natural looking grey tones. The font is easy to read and the choice of the writing colour contrasts nicely with the white background again, making it easy to read, stress-free.



And for my third choice - A completely different idea. Instead of using a picture of themselves, she chose to use geometric shapes as her signature look. Again, the simple gradient colours give a professional look and the sub headers have a slightly artistic feel to them.
I like this design because it is a mix of both a creative CV and a corporate- especially if this is a CV designed with a job in graphic design in mind. It's smart but shows the creative side to the person who is handing them out.

PRINT: CV Guidelines

If sending a CV as a hard copy, along with a job application, then it needs to be neat and typed if possible. Most libraries have public computers which can be used by those who do not have their own.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15573447

Increasingly, applicants are asked to send a digital copy of a CV. If this is the case then the first set of "eyes" to see it might be an automated search for key words, so experts suggest applicants ensure mandatory requirements in the job advert are included in a CV.

Corinne Mills, managing director of Personal Career Management, which provides career coaching, says that digital CVs should be in a simple format and font so readability is not affected on different screens.

Other tips from Mrs Mills, the CIPD, and the National Careers Service include:

• Tailor a CV to a specific job - it is vital to ensure the script is relevant to each job application, rather than sending the same generic CV
• Keep it simple - it should be easy to read and use active language. Two pages of A4 is enough with a mini profile included in the first half page 
• Include key information - personal details, including name, address, phone number, email address and any professional social media presence should be clear. A date of birth is no longer needed, owing to age discrimination rules. A photo is only essential for jobs such as acting and modelling, otherwise it is a matter of choice
• Showcase achievements - offer evidence of how targets were exceeded and ideas created, but always be honest
• Check and double check - avoid sloppy errors, take a fresh look the next day and ask for a second opinion from a trusted friend or colleague

PRINT My Creative CV

The blue backgrounds and thin, white text over the top go very well with the rest of my FMP work- which explains the moon and sun icons that also appear quite frequently in my work and the crescent moon having become a signature of mine suited these designs very well, linking my project together piece by piece. 

PRINT: Fantasy Sketchbook : Character Design

Fantasy Sketchbook: Character Design

My main inspiration has always been the online artist Fukari:

And now more recently; Justin O'Neal (whose work is featured directly below)

O'Neal has his own designs based around the images of Little Red Riding Hood from the Grimm's fairytales, I chose to carry this through my work because I also enjoy re-imagining characters that people recognise and developing them through my style- whilst retaining their main features so that they are still recognisable. I also enjoy trying new things and since I don't usually draw anything other than nature and people- having the main feature of my work be a large animal like a wolf will be interesting and will help me evolve my style- I might find this to be a new strength.

For this piece, I decided to compare my own character that I designed to a famous one like Sailor Moon but drawn in my style. I wanted to make visual comparisons to pin point what it takes for a character to be designed to be so visually appealing that it is recognised solely by clothing or a hairstyle in most countries by many age ranges. To make them oppose eachother visually, I made my design monochromatic with pointy edges instead of curved like the Sailor Moon design who is smooth looking and warm. 

I designed this character when I was 15 and had started using the website; Deviantart- where I found the artist Fukari. She designs her own characters and through short but frequently updated hand drawn panels, she gives them each backstories that sometimes intertwine with eachothers and it's what makes them so popular with other members of the website. My main influence for her hair colour was the singer Halsey, who for the beginning of her career, kept it as her signature look. Up until I had seen Halsey, I had always drawn this character in black and white and her hair was an instant confirmation that Fia would have colour changing, uniquely bright hair.

The piercings were a result of my own and the many characters of Fukari who also have many facial and ear piercings. 

The following are a few examples of characters I have designed as well as other iterations of Fia and my own change of styles:

Bibliography

References

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