Personal & Professional Practice: Study Task 1

5 things I've learnt so far on the programme:

How to use digital applications such as indesign, photoshop and illustrator to a higher standard, as well as new skills such as animation.
The necessary components to consider in order to create a satisfying image - shape line, colour, composition, media.
My own personal preferences and aspirations within illustration as a practice.
The relevance and importance of research and theory to a successful practice.
How to effectively analyse and reflect upon my own work and the work of others.

5 things you want to learn more about:

Illustration and product - ceramics, clothing and homeware.
How to successfully run your own buisness (art brand).
More about the different opportunities there exists for an illustrator within the creative industries - becoming a tutor, inhouse, freelance.
How to promote my work/get a job.
Where does my work fit in to professional contexts.

5 things you think are your strengths:

Creating simple and graphic images that focus upon shape, texture and composition.
Evaluating and reflecting upon my own work and the work of others with relevance to my practice.
I think I am quite a self-motivated and self-sufficient student.
Using critical feedback as a method in which to develop and shape my final outcomes within a brief.
Identifying things I need and want to progress within my practice.

5 things I want to improve:

An ability to initiate and successfully collaborate with others.
My limited understanding of typography.
My confidence in approaching others and presenting my work within a professional context.
The range of skills and understanding I have across different medias - I would like to branch out and start learning how to print on to fabric, create illustrative ceramics, create/use embroidery within my practice, and develop my drawing style.
As always, my time management skills.

5 practitioners that demonstrate your interest in illustration:

BfGf

Bfgf is an art brand created by Lilian Martinez based out of Los Angeles, LA . Her work is inspired by 'transcendent experiences, internet, snacks and both tropical and desert landscapes', and exists across a range of different media and products - tshirts, jumpers, cushions, blankets, ceramics and paintings. Creating an art brand in which my work exists across a range of different products, such as homeware and clothing, is something I would potentially like to achieve in the future of my practice.

Charlotte Mei

Charlotte Mei is an illustrator and designer based out of London. Her work primarily consists of gouache painting, ceramics and sculpture. I really like her simple, bold and occasionally naive drawing style, as well as her playful approach to her work - especially within her ceramics.

David Lemm

David Lemm is an illustrator and designer. His work often derives from concepts based upon experimental mapping and gridding of his surroundings, whether this be within an architectural or natural context. I really enjoy the contrast between the systematic and structural nature of these diagrams, with the illustrative nature of his use of texture, colour and shape.

Anthony Zinonos

Anthony Zinonos is a collage artist and illustrator working out of Oakland, USA. His unique collage style uses a combination of found images and cut paper, and has a strong focus on form and composition. I find it really interesting and inspiring how he continually manages to adapt his work to a range of different editorial and commercial contexts. It helps me to understand how my more simplistic and shape based collage aesthetic could fit into this side of the creative industries.

Jake Hollings

Jake Hollings is an illustrator, living and working in London. I really enjoy his simple shape based aesthetic, as well as the naive and playful quality of his drawings. An interesting part of his practice is how he manages to maintain a similar aesthetic across a range of different media - such as digital print and collage - which is something I need to achieve in my own work.