General drawing practise

In order for my zine to be more presentable, and more professional looking, I am really trying to work hard on brushing up on my drawing skills.

I've been using lizards as a means to practise my illustration, as I find it soothing, and relaxing.

Housefly.

Mouse.

Fox.

Since coming back from Berlin, I have attempted to produce at least one illustration a day, and I have noticed some slight improvement over the past few weeks.
I have recently overcome a massive art block, and although I still suffer from some smaller blocks now and again, I have found that my art skills have improved a little bit.

I will be continuing practise with my illustrative skills, over the next few days in the run up to the serious development of my british wildlife zine.







Thomas.

Size of my Zine

Now that my idea is solid, I have been thinking about the size that my zine will be.
Having a large zine will require more content, or larger illustrations, but will be more eye-catching.
Smaller zines suit my style of drawing as I like to work small, and also means that I can carry more.

http://www.newwhyweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/pile-of-zines.jpg < image reference at this link.

Most zines are between the sizes of A6-A4, and I have a preference for smaller zines/books, over larger ones, as I feel that it can be held, and transported more easily.
Due to this, I have been thinking about producing a zine that is at quite a small size, possibly in an A5 format, as I think A6 is too small, whilst A4 is too large for my preference.

For the subject of binding, I have the idea of making my zine staple bound, because I have had experience with staple binding in the past, and I remember researching different kinds of binding techniques in module 1.
I have seen a number of different zines all use the technique of staple binding, so I would like to explore using this method for my zine.

Of course I will look into binding methods later on over the course of the project.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdvQ4rUZbHB1KKycL5bpCS6kQS_BbvbXrKGDaQTPkwLpq9tmSKlKR7zJNCzie6oq0tuRGcdJFdG25JVKY4WtzmU_SbGpkAUDhyfsT6MTlflJkMdgTXQFqoIXmWSRaRD11PMiW-75JHtUW/s1600/brochure_printing_stables_500px.JPG < image reference at this link.

The dimensions for an A5 sheet of paper is 148 x 210mm, and I can get these dimensions by folding sheets of A4 paper, when once folded, will be of A5 size.

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/files/2009/08/FP5N6U1YP0EY95VDQ7.MEDIUM.jpg < image reference at this link.

I think it would be a good idea to have my zine in an A5 size, so I will pursue this sized zine I think.

In terms of the thickness of the zine, I want to aim at having around 20-30 pages, perhaps more depending on animals chosen, and also the time I have to develop, as I'd rather my zine be of high quality, than being filled.

I have the vision of using multiple illustrations per animal featured, in order to make the zine highly detailed, and interesting to look at.
My zine will primarily be illustration based, so this will apply emphasis on the zine.








Thomas.

Assembling my learning agreement - Final stage

The deadline for the learning agreement is looming, and I feel as if I have almost completed everything that I need to in order to have a successful guide to my module.

I recently sent a rough proposal to Amy, who gave me critical feedback.

With this in mind, I went back on my learning agreement, and tweaked certain aspects of it.

Going back on my learning agreement, using Microsoft word.

My final learning agreement, ready to review with Ben and Amy.

After allowing Amy to take a look, I attended a learning agreement tutorial with Ben who I sat down with, whilst we took a look at the draft agreement.

Ben's feedback.

Ben provided me with a lot of helpful feedback, and with using this help to make my learning agreement more solid, I feel as if I am ready to get my learning agreement signed off.








Thomas.

Assembling my learning agreement - Draft Stage

I have been thinking a lot over the past few days about what I will place onto my learning agreement, which is to be viewed, and critiqued by both Ben and Amy, who are my course leaders/lecturers.
My learning agreement is to be as professional looking as the agreements I have received through past modules.

Jotting down very rough ideas as to what I can put in my learning agreement.

The learning agreement is a very important aspect of the module, as it shows my tutors that I have a level of independence, and proves that I can plan out my own tasks, making me more prepared for the real world.
In the below image, you can see me working on my learning agreement. The highlighted pieces of text are the sections that were under construction.

The learning agreement covers such things as my synopsis of study, my learning aims and outcomes, my assessment criteria, and also my assessment requirements.
Below is a sample of my synopsis of study, which is under construction.

I am using my module handbook to act as a guide to producing my learning agreement, as a lot of the content comes direct from the programme handbook.

Over the next few days, I will be adding to my learning agreement, and then showcase my draft document to Ben, who will hopefully provide critical feedback in order for me to improve my final agreement.










Thomas.

Caitlin Hacket - Artist research

Caitlin Hacket is an American artist and illustrator, who produces very intricate, and amazing illustrations of wildlife, in a mythological and contemporary setting and style.
Hacket grew up on the West coast of California, and her early life inspired her to grow a love for nature.

She combines her love for animals and nature, with her interest in mythology, and legends, as the following illustration examples depict.

http://main-designyoutrust.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/caitlin_hackett13600_600.jpg < image reference at this link.

http://images.cdn.bigcartel.com/bigcartel/product_images/116558706/max_h-1000+max_w-1000/toxic_wolf_lowres.jpg < image reference at this link.

https://thehiddenpeople.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/hackett7.jpg < image reference at this link.

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/346/0/1/at_what_cost_low_res_by_caitlinhackett-d6xq576.jpg < image reference at this link.

I really love her traditional style of working, using such mediums as colour pencils, and graphite to produce detailed illustrations. 

She has a very surreal look about her work in the way that she creates hybrid creatures, often consisting of a random animal, and a human.

Hacket's work is very inspiring to me as surrealism is an area that I personally find interesting, and a lot of her work reminds me of Shaun Tan's illustrations, an artist who I looked at earlier on in the module.

https://crowfaceillustrations.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/112.jpg < image reference at this link.

References:
http://caitlinhackett.carbonmade.com/about

Thomas.

Durham Riverbank

Durham riverbank is not only a very beautiful part of my local environment, it is also an area that is full of nature and wildlife.
I have been going to Durham for years, and I have noticed on my travels that the riverbank is full of many species of insects, birds, rodents, and fish.

The Riverbank is quite a large feature of the city, that stretches for many miles on both sides of the river Wear.
Below are some photos of the river, as well as some wildlife that I have encountered on my travels.

With it being the middle of winter, a lot of wildlife has either migrated, or are hibernating.
Please bear in mind this, however I did come across some wildlife on my travels.

A panorama of the river.

The trees in summer.

Blackbird seen by the riverside.

Wood Pigeon building a nest.

Blue Tit.

I wish this project was around the summer timeframe as more wildlife would be active, however it is still interesting to see the animals that I saw on my travels, notably the bird building a nest, this was amazing to watch firsthand.
















Thomas.

Hardwick Park

Hardwick park is situated near the village of Sedgefield, in Country Durham, and is a very large open space, with free access to the public.
I went last year, and took some amazing photos of the park.

The area is very beautiful, and consists of woodland, grassland, marshes, and a central lake.
The park boasts an assortment of different wildlife, ranging from the common grey squirrel, to the dragonfly.

There are plenty of insects around the main pond.

I am aiming to visit this beautiful natural spot again over the course of the development into my zine, so I will update if so.










Thomas.

British wildlife

With my final proposed idea, which is to come up with a small zine that focuses on the local wildlife of the UK, I want to look at some local wildlife around me, as a way to both gain inspiration, and to see what kind of animals I could include in my zine.

http://www.virbac.co.uk/images/UK_Companion_Map.png < image reference at this link.

I have started by quickly brainstorming about local wildlife, and which ones really stand out to me.
I want to avoid choosing animals that aren't really native to the UK, and I also want to choose only a few animals per species, for example, I don't want a zine with one bird image, and nine illustrations of fish.

Below is a bullet point list of the animals that initially stand out to me straight away when I think of local wildlife.

• Pigeon
• Seagull
• Robin
• Red squirrel
• Adder
• Magpie
• Seal
• Deer
• House Spider
• Adder
• Jellyfish
• Blue tit
• Bass
• Perch
• Otter
• Badger
• Fox
• Bumblebee
• Newt
• Dormouse
• Owl
• Duck
• Hedgehog
• Sparrow
• Brown Rat
• House Fly

Some of these animals are relatively common in the local area, so I have the opportunity to go out into the wild, and document the majority of my list through primary research.

In my opinion the most interesting animal listed is the jellyfish, just because personally I feel as if these creatures are incredibly strange and odd.

http://britishseafishing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/RS-Common-Jellyfish.jpg < image reference at this link.

I have recently been walking around Hartlepool, taking photos of various different types of wildlife, and I notably took a visit to the local coastal regions, looking to see what wildlife was lurking around.

Pebbles in the dark.

Sand Dunes.

Most of the beach was quite desolate due to the winter.

I did see some life however.

I was quite disappointed with what was at the beach, I had a feeling that the beach would be quite lifeless with it being the peak of winter.
The sea is of course far too rough to see any fish, however I did come across some wildlife, notably in the form of birds such as seagulls and pigeons, and some insects.

I want to look into going to a number of other different places, taking photos, and documenting the wildlife that I find.

I also went to a local pet store, and photographed some animals there, to get a better understanding and first hand view of such animals as rabbits, and rats.

Although the photos show domesticated versions, they still hold strong resemblance.

Thomas.

My illustrative practises

Over the past few modules, I have been tweaking, discovering, and refining my style more and more.
I now feel that I am at the point where I know what my general style is, and I can adapt my ideas around my skill set.

I work pretty much exclusively in the realm of traditional mediums, using pens and pencils to produce my illustrations.
I do use such digital packages as Adobe Photoshop to tweak, refine, or adjust some of my artwork, however not to draw, this is just solely for such things as occasional colour, cropping, and digital sharing.

I really feel as if I have made a massive improvement with my art since I arrived at CCAD, which was nearly two years ago.
Some of my first illustrations that I illustrated on the course can be seen immediately below this text.

Illustrations from 2013.

Compare these older pieces with my illustrations today, which the newer pieces can be found below.

Illustrations from 2015.

As you can see there is a massive amount of improvement in my work over the past two years, and I am very happy with my progress so far.
I feel as participating in the course is one of the best things that I have ever done for my artistic studies.

I have taken a lot of inspiration from an assortment of different artists, and more recently I have taken a liking for Shaun Tan, an artist who I produced research on earlier on in the module.

A double page spread from one of Tan's books.

I really love his illustrative style, so I would like to assemble my zine with some inspiration from his style, as well as a few other artists whose style I love.

This module is also another chance for me to further adapt my skills, improve, learn new techniques, and to get a better insight into the independent commercial sector, which is something that I will be doing all the time, outside of university once I leave in 2016.

















Thomas.

My project target audience

With the development for my idea beginning, I want to go into detail about my intended target audience.
I briefly discussed what I thought about my zine's audience in an earlier blogpost, however I want to go into more detail about it cause it is a very important aspect of the development of my wildlife zine.

In the past I have worked a lot with the theme of children's illustration, however I would like to perhaps branch out a bit more into a wider genre.
I want to do this because if I choose to solely aim at appealing to a children's market, I will be narrowing down my options to sell my work when I go to London.
If I aim my work to appeal to both children's and adult audiences, then I have a very diverse, and massive market at my fingertips, and it may allow me to be more successful in a commercial sense.

Tailoring toward two different market audiences can be a very hard thing to do, however it is not impossible to execute.
It can be quite a common thing for both audiences to take an interest in for example, a book, or a zine/magazine.
In a earlier blog, I talked a bit about Hildafolk, as it is a prime example of what I am trying to discuss.

http://goodokbad.com/assets/images/books/hildafolk_02.jpg < image reference at this link.

I have read all four books from the Hildafolk series, and each one in the series has clear, and easy to read literature, coupled with illustrations that appear in a cartoon-like fashion.
The language featured in the books are not too simple, and neither are the illustrations, so it really appeals more toward teens, and young adults.

http://www.nobrow.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/HBP_slide042.jpg < image reference at this link.

Of course I can't really aim my product at all ages, it is just too varied an audience to successfully do this, also I don't expect all demographics to be at the market stall that I sell my product in, as the main followers of zines are teens, and young adults.

I think that a pre-school child would not take too much interest in Hildafolk books due to the more complex wording than say, pre-school books, however the illustrations may be eye catching.
Adults who are fans of comics and graphic novels pay attention to Hildafolk, in order to perhaps relive elements of their innocent childhood.

I want my illustrations to appeal to both a young audience, as well as adults, and I will do this by making my illustrations quite detailed, however nice and colourful, and my language will be not overly complex, but just complex enough for young teens to understand easily.

It is easy to aim at one sole market, however when aiming at two completely different ones, it is all about getting the balance just right, something that I will have to do with my animal zine.
The below images display a children's book, and an adult book respectively.
As you can see, they are totally polar opposites to each other, however if I was to make a book that was right in the middle, I should be able to market it to both audiences.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Admin/BkFill/Default_image_group/2010/2/23/1266928362300/The-Very-Hungry-Caterpill-001.jpg < image reference at this link.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8U7uWulIe8-z7qR3jQ0Q7_zCFNdfrslLnz2PNT0xU4wHaTHvQTpf9jTEtuhv7obPn5fQzFR098_NKok2Wuy6TQpmYmllmNM_2CePYGaOv5O1VgyaqeMDJ5ElWOZ5X7nKvkXsy82xgLAA/s1600/Here_normal1.jpg < image reference at this link.

In conclusion I want to aim my zine at older teenagers, and young adults.
This means I want to aim my zine at a 16-24 target audience.








Thomas.