3rd Sherlock print- The Man with the Twisted lip.

This final image again is based on one of the Sherlock Holmes stories, the man with the twisted lip. The wife finds items od her husband's clothing in the middle of an empty room with the window wide open and blood on it. ‘Thrust away behind the curtain in the front room were all the clothes of Mr.
Neville St Clair, with the exception of his coat. Hi boots, his socks , his hat ...’
It would have been good to have tried to tackle an image containing the man as he becomes a key part of the story but it was hard to do that so it would fit in with the rest of the images. As such, I decided to keep key elements that have to reoccur across the series, the window, the hands, but in this image, they are much smaller but help the illustration to keep a strong narrative.

I gave myself a short time in which to do this in, I made it within a day and an hour for printing the next. However when exposing the negatives they didn't come out in a solid image, they had unwanted texture. I later found out that this was because the printer was running low on ink so when I digitally printed the images out the black in was not a strong as it usually was. But the added texture isn't too bad and add to the aesthetic. Size also became a limitation again, the women could be much clearer again.
The red leaves were added in at the last minute but they give the image that more sinister touch but does take away from the sophistication. I am happy with how the curtains, in particular, turned out. Digitally adding textures over them helped create the netted feel and help frame the main part of the image well.

Overall I have really enjoyed this breif. Having text and descriptions to work from is much easier than having to think of a theme or narrtive form scratch. I felt that I got into this breif more than I have done in the past year. I was fun allowing my self to decorate and become absorbed in the story telling.  Screen printing the images means that I choose to I can use them in the final protfolio.

Crit Feedback

A key point made was that potentially trying to tackle too many projects. I agree I need to scale back and think about the briefs that I really want to do! Prioritise what will I benefit more from and I need to put together a really accurate times scale of what is going on. Keep the ideas open, don't just design for one application, create images that can be applied across a range of platforms. The key aim is to become stronger in narrative illustrations and then think about applying them to different applications. 

I need to do more research on applied illustration. I think that this research could help me decide on a theme to explore in my self-lead project. Giving my self a set time frame in which to do projects and STICK TO IT! 

This also to help with this I need to find extra methods that I can add to my process and potentially speed it up, so this includes the current expeirmentation with digital brushed, but also possibly using hand mediums. 

10 slide presentation.

2nd print based on Sherlock stories - A Scandal in Bohemia

This second print took slightly less time than the last one as I was able to incorporate other features from the last image and repeat them in this one. I also chose to stick with the same colour scheme, the red leaves, and the hand to make the series flow.  I plan to do one more image to make it a series of 3.

The final quality isn't that good because the final print is A5 I was printing small details and these are not that clear. It would have been better to print A4. The would have allowed the details on the women to be easily visible. A larger scale print would have been easier to line up the different layers. The majority of the test prints are off. I would have been good to add some more detail to the mid-ground but I felt that this was in danger of overcrowding the image. there may have been the subtler ways I could have added additional texture e or shape but I gave myself a day to get this made and printed.

This series could go towards my editions but illustrating stories quickly like I have done here is something that I would like to keep going. It is pushing me to speed up the making process and develop ideas quickly.


‘Irene Adler , as i will still call her, had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with the superbe figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking back into the street. ’

Revised action plan.

Action plan:

Live briefs –

·      Penguin one or two covers. – I want to do the penguin briefs as this time I have a better understanding of how to approach these briefs and it is working with narrative. So it will help break me back into working with text and image , also is possibly another product in which my images can be applied to. But must not get hung up on this! spent way to long of it last year! Week and a half MAXIMUM! AND IM NOT SCREEN PRINTING THE FINAL THINGS AGAIN!

·      So Young – another passion of mine is music and so I am really keen to do this. Only be a mini project but I have already started it and it shouldn’t take much longer to finish, day and a half ? Another side note of this is I want to screen print the image A2 , but this can be done at a later date.

·        Hookworms – same as So Young , but have yet to start it so may need a good few days on this (4?) The way I work could be good to apply to music and so it just another option to try out.

·      Batsford – This deadline is close , but if I work effectively over the net few week I may be able to get something in for it but this is right before penguin , so depending on weather I decide to do a second cover or not. This one however has an open brief ‘craving colour.’ and textiles can be used, so could be a good opportunity to push the larger project on.

·      Biennial – Going back to political and social issues, would like to do this as it is print based and I like the idea of a competition supporting political and social issues , but will see how time is.

·      I-Dott- this is the one in which I am adding in to submit some of my personal project work for. Like Batsford it is an open brief but much more focused on textiles and pattern.  Deadline isn’t till April so I have a while, but this is just an extra add on, aiming for nothing new to be created specifically for this.

·      Mcmillan – I am also considering this , but am going to see how time gose. But my main aim of this module is to have fun and create work that I want to make. And with Mcmillain being aimed at children, not sure it is my target audience. More adult fiction/ non fiction.

·      Manchest gallery brief- Deadline is the 23^rd march. This would include a trip down to Manchester gallery , but luckily this seems to fall in a calmer time when deadlines are not close together so will probably attempt this brief too.

(up to week 6 including the live briefs mentioned above.

·      Week 1 – write new action plan! (tick) Start researching themes or narratives to illustrate for larger project and get experimenting with ideas soon as possible. Investigate/ ask about wood cutting (cheaper than Lino.) 10 slide Pitch for Friday. Carry on mini brief of illustrations for Sherlock Holmes stories (no more than a two days to round this off !), within this play with wood cut and carry on experimenting with digital brushes.

·      Week 2 – Start roughing hawking cover. Also Hookworms and So Young, try and get so young finalised and submitted.  

·      Week 3 – Get Making !!! So young mag and hookworms deadlines, hookworms finalised and sent off. Continue research into larger project idea, also towards the end of the week also begin research into Stephan Hawking.

·      Week 4-  Continue with making for larger project and Batsford deadline is this week, but may not enter depending on other briefs.

·      Week 5 – Get Hawking and other design if possible done and submitted ! deadline is this week. Also Biennial deadline.

·      Week 6- Breathe , really get working on personal project ! Aim to start printing ideas and seeing how these can be applied to different products/textiles.

Will be able to revise this again when research has been done into the large personal project. From that I’ll be able to break it down and create mini briefs and deadlines to meet.

Revised Statement of intent.

In line with my previous statement of intent, I wanted to step away from doing hard hitting and complex political and social issues. After trying to tackle a hard social issues by undertaking a deep level of research and working out how best to visually communicate this within context of practise. I have found that I get burnt out quickly and struggle to get the work up to a high standard that im happy with. So in this module I am going to create work on much lighter subjects, focusing more on narrative and the idea, whilst mastering the techniques I use to make the images. One of my aims is by the end of this module is to have designed a collection of silk scarves. Incorporating image and narrative onto textiles is something that I am trying to grapple with and am going to continue to do. The reason behind wanting to design silk scarves is it a simple ish way of applying narrative illustration onto commercial products and once it is on fabric it is easier to visualise being applied to other fashion based products. Scarves also have a simple format, they are just a square. This means that I will be able to create multiple designs that can be applied to other ideas, such as wrapping and wall paper , product packaging. This all however need to be research. I need to find a target audience, an appropriate theme and investigate how the images could work on different products. Currently it appears that the overall project will be extensive but split up into shorter briefs. As I learned from COP, I work better with shorter briefs as with single long brief I get burnt out and loose a steady work balance. With regards to becoming burnt out, this can also be put down to time management. I have been failing to keep a healthy working life style, in the last few modules and as a result leave no time to rest and refresh. So, as a more personal aim, when planning time of deadlines I am going to schedule in an afternoon or a day a week off. This will improve not only productivity but my reflective practise which I feel has been lacking.

I will also be working on external briefs. One or Two of the Penguin cover briefs, So Young Magazine and Hookworms also serval textile based competitions. With the textile briefs the personal project that will be running through the module can be used for this. The briefs are open and so it is easy to incorporate the work into this.

The biggest challenge is going to be homing in my practise and having confidence in it. I must make sure that my portfolio is consistent, that I am confident about the work and over all in this module I lose the worry over grades ,making work that I want to make and am proud of and create a practise that is sustainable for when I lea

Penguin mono samples and roughs.

I began to create this cover for a history of time , but i am really struggeling for time for getting this donw and the sherlock illustraition , so I am going to drop this breif. I can still use the mono prints in other work and the type too, as I created last year for penguin. I was a difficult book to get your head around and it was hard to try and come up with somthing orginal, but i like the idea of the circels and building the text around that. I think my design skills are improving but The curling and alinement of the title page is slightly off.