Design Context
Thursday, 29 March 2012
From Theory into Practice// E-mailing the Illustrators
Slightly cheesy e-mail to Gemma Correll, very similar one was sent to Julia Pott aswell.
Gemma Correll
Julia Pott
There are many similarities between the work of these two illustrators. The colours, the subject matter, the process.
From Theory into Practice// Vice Magazine
Vice Magazine started out as a reaction against the humourless, self-righteous posers of the end of the 90s. Originally s black and white fanzine, the magazine is published in 30 countries across the globe, and has grown into a multimedia empire. A conglomerate of writers, photographers, artists and filmmakers, they report first-hand on war, terrorism the environment and how everything is going to hell with as much relish as they do sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll - all served up with a large dose of humour. Now it's time to find out for yourself. Welcome to the world of Vice. You'll like it.
From Theory into Practice// Idea Explained
I took inspiration from the Aesthetics workshop - What pleases you and why? This workshop helped us to find out the style/kind of work we enjoy looking at, and share interests with other students in the class so we could help each other discover new work, artists, designers and illustrators. I chose this workshop to look at further into as it was the one I enjoyed most out our of context of practice sessions.
I've decided to look at two up and coming (pretty much there) female british illustrators who share a common quirky style. So far I have researched their work and looked at a few interviews other people have carried out with them but I intend to e-mail them a few questions myself.
From Theory into Practice// Examples of Magazines
Excuse the awful picture quality.
I found this article about Christopher Wahl, photographer in 'Communication Arts' journal. The layout is minimal with a lovely fresh and clean cut feel. The article is spread over four double page spreads. Until now I was just planning on designing the one double page spread about the two illustrators but was worried that I hadn't set myself enough work but couldn't think of another context to put it into.
I was surprised to see the company my dad works for (DuPont) in a design journal. Apparently they're helping to push forward the boundaries of colour and aesthetics. (Mix).
Was also happy to see my favourite colour is acceptable in the design world:
Interview with Gemma Correll by Tomogotchi
Artist Interview: Gemma Correll
The lovely Gemma Correll is an illustrator of illustrations hailing from sunny Norfolk in the UK. Her pug’s name is Mr Pickles. I like her work.
After being shown some of her stuff from a friend I thought it’d be a grand ol’ idea to fossick around in her head and work out what makes those synapses fire in in such a manner that super awesome pictures come out of her marker-holding hand. So… after concluding that a lobotomy was a bit cruel, I sent her some questions…
What’s your personal favourite drawing that you’ve ever done?
I get asked that a lot but I find it difficult to choose because I’m not really particularly fond of any of my drawings. I look at them and see mistakes. Maybe my “Who invited the Herbivore?” drawing, because it made me giggle when I thought up the punchline and I’m flattered that it’s been so popular, because I wasn’t sure that other people would find it funny when I first drew it.
Have you always been a pug person? and um… why pugs?
Actually, no. I had never really seen a pug until relatively recently. I fell in love after seeing one in the US a couple of years ago… before that, I was more of a cat person, although I grew up with dogs- labrador retrievers- too. Pugs are just lovely dogs, they’re very friendly and playful and generally very funny. Mr Pickles makes me laugh all the time.
you do a pretty wide range of stuff (installations, murals, patterns, typography…) what’s your favourite thing to do/draw?
My favourite thing to draw is anything with a narrative- so comic strips, single page narrative illustrations (like my kitties) and my daily diaries. I like to combine text and image. I don’t think I’m particularly good at creating pretty pictures, it’s the accompanying text that gives most of my drawings meaning and saves them from mediocrity!
Do you keep drawing for fun now that you get paid for it too?
Yes, I do, as much as possible. A lot of the time, something I’ve drawn for fun will turn into something bigger, or become a card design, or inform a project that I do in the future, anyway… but I find drawing in my sketchbook a good way to de-stress.
your daily diaries are awesome – are you gonna keep going with them? what made you start recording your daily activities in drawings? (They remind me of RSA animate BTW)
Thanks… I am going to keep up with them, I enjoy drawing them but recently I haven’t had much time (although I have been drawing them, I’ve missed a few days). I’m moving to Berlin next month though, which I think will inspire me to start drawing the diaries again. I think my day-to-day life here in Norwich has become a little monotonous and therefore uninspiring (although I do usually find at least one semi-interesting thing a day to draw).
I hadn’t seen the RSA animations before, they are really brilliant but a little more intelligent than my drawings (or at least, the subjects are) but I guess the aesthetic is quite similar, especially with the red and black colour scheme.
I hadn’t seen the RSA animations before, they are really brilliant but a little more intelligent than my drawings (or at least, the subjects are) but I guess the aesthetic is quite similar, especially with the red and black colour scheme.
what are you working on right… now?
A greetings card design for Hallmark, some work for an exhibition next month, and my first book!
Please describe your perfect Sunday.
First- Coffee and a long walk, preferably in the sunshine, with Anthony and Mr Pickles. An afternoon of sitting on the sofa doodling in my sketchbook, reading magazines and snacking on yoghurt covered almonds. Either Indian or Chinese food for dinner and then a movie.
Interview with Julia Pott by Lou Lou & Oscar
I Think I Love You… Julia Pott
Stone the crows, get out the best china; Julia Pott is gracing Lou Lou & Oscar with her words and pictures today! It is so hard to know where to begin with Julia’s work, ace illustrator, stellar animator, purveyor of candy-sweet unicorns and the most beautiful inter-species love affairs. Julia’s funny and heartbreakingly tender tales of love, loss and unrequited passion posses a universality that we can all relate too. Everyone can understand the emotions conveyed by Julia’s anthropomorphic animals, who doesn’t pity a heartbroken Panda? Julia’s work is also aesthetically dazzling, her animation so ‘warm’, she is bringing hand drawn animation back! It is no surprise that Julia’s animated films clock up hits into the millions on YouTube, she is such a star.
Tell us a little about yourself, the media you work with and your creative process.
I am an illustrator and an animator based in London, England. I am a bit obsessed with drawing and need to stop myself every so often so I don’t become a bit of a hermit (although I fear it’s too late!). I graduated in 2007 and since then I have been taking up various freelance projects and trying to establish myself as an animator. I like to work with hand drawn animation and all of my work, whether animation or illustration tries to steer away from the computer as much as possible.
I like to incorporate collage into my work and most of it comes from things I find in charity shops and old photographs of my parents. In terms of my creative process I tend to draw inspiration from my own experiences and stuff thats going on in my everyday life…and being the somewhat soppy person I am this usually revolves around boys and relationships. The animals I draw and animate I tend to see more as people in animal costumes, exhibiting human behaviour from a more comical perspective.
From where do you draw your inspiration: music, books, people, nature etc?
My studio is cluttered full of my little ponies, china dogs, unicorns and poodle money banks and I draw a lot of my inspiration from this weird collection. I also read a lot of books and love to draw ideas from short stories..my favourites are J.D. Sallinger and Miranda July…speaking of which Me and You and Everyone We Know was the movie that started off my obsession with love and relationships so I owe Miranda July a lot because she is a genius. I also look at other animators, my favourite being Igor Kovolyov. Music is probably one of my main inspirations. I listen to a lot of bands while I am working, mainly casiotone for the painfully alone and kimya dawson because their lyrics fit best with the subject matter I like to focus on.
My friends are also a great source of ideas..they’re all working illustrators and animators and we have the same sense of humor so meeting up with them usually means running around finding loads of joke things to draw and laughing at funny looking animals and watching cartoons. When I used to live with them in a big house in London we never got anything done but we did consume a lot of cake.
If you could talk briefly about the background to one of your pieces which would you choose and why? Please tell us the story behind the piece.
The ‘This is My Boyfriend’ zine is my most recent book and it includes personal drawings created over the last 6 months. Most of my illustrations are autobiographical and this book contains a lot of the illustrations from a book I made for my boyfriend for Christmas about our relationship so they are very personal to me.
The rest of the drawings are those I have just made in my spare time, maybe to work through a problem I’ve been having (such as the ‘It’s No Big Deal’ Piece, included in the book) or just because I really wanted to draw a unicorn that day.
I also try and make paintings for my friends for their birthdays and a lot of them are contained in the pages of this book . The book is designed to flow through, starting with ‘I think we should split up’ and ending with ‘Let’s get back together’.
The illustrations in between look to explore the ups and downs of relationships, and life in general! I suppose this book to me is like my diary in pictures.
Yippee! Julia is such a busy bee and it was lovely of her to take the time to answer my questions. Thank you so much Julia, now I just need to find a bigger house in which to hang all of your wonderful illustrations. Yes, I confess I am a Julia Pott obsessive! There are some more links to Julia’s work below, I told you she was super busy. My son Ishi adores the animation for White Corolla, especially the Horse/Unicorn, it always elicits squeals of delight. Notice all the wonderful details, Panda-Limb-Tag, I love it! Did I forget to mention that Julia has an Etsy shop!
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
From Theory into Practice// Gemma Correll
Hello, I’m Gemma.I’m a freelance Illustrator and comic-making person.
I currently live in Norwich, UK with my trusty sidekick-Pugs , Mr Norman Pickles and Bella.
My wonderful agents are Anna Goodson Management
What other people are saying about my work …“wtf. worst cartoons ever!” – Luc Hook Walker of Australia“ugly, pig-faced drawings” – Angry Canadian lady“so, do you draw anything other than cats?” – various people“How is this funny? Like at all?” – Mariah
ling magazine (spain)
Where did you study?
I went to art school in Norwich (England) – I have a BA (hons) degree in Graphic Design specialising in Illustration.
Why do your illustrations look like a five year old drew them?I hire a five year old to do all my work for me. I pay him in fudge. His name is Alan.
Maybe… e-mail me at gemmacorrell at gmail dot com
What’s your favourite colour?
Turquoise.
What’s your starsign?
Aquarius.
What’s your favourite word?
Albuquerque.
What are your favourite Movies/Tv shows/ Books?
Movies – The Rocky Horror Picture Show, La Vie en Rose, Wayne’s World, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, The Royal Tenenbaums, Anything by Michel Gondry or featuring Gael Garcia Bernal.TV Shows – Project Runway, Louis Theroux’s documentaries, anything involving models or Australian people. I don’t actually have a TV though.
Books – I’ll just tell you some authors that I like, or we’ll be here forever – Bill Bryson, Jeffrey Eugenides, Torey Hayden, Margaret Atwood. I like books, I do. I have a Goodreads page, here.
How do you scan your images / contrast them / clean them up?
I scan my images into photoshop and then use the “Levels” tool to adjust the black/white until I’m happy with the result. Same if the image is in colour, although that makes it a bit trickier to get the balance right. I just use the good ol’ fashioned eraser tool for any mistakes (although often, I’ll just leave the mistakes in the drawing)
Which pens do you use?
I use PITT artist pens, Uniball Eye and UniPin fineliners, as well and Kuretake ZIG Art & graphics Twin. For colouring, I use Letraset markers, PITT brush pens, Kuretake brush markers and Kuretake Clean Colour brush pens. For murals, I like Posca paint pens, or Kuretake “Paintys”
Are you related/married to Damien Correll?
No. It is funny that we have the same surname though, as it is quite an unusual one…. but we live in different countries.
Is being an illustrator a real job?
No, it’s a fake job. I actually run a very successful drug smuggling ring. I just pretend to draw things and distract people with my cute pug.
Who are your favourite artists?
Margaret Kilgallen, Jim Houser, Camilla Engman, Lab partners, Sandra Juto, Beatrice Alemagna, Elisabeth Dunker, Quentin Blake, Tom Gauld, Simone Lia, Sara Fanelli, Ray Fenwick, Aya Kakeda, Carson Ellis, Brian Rea, Oliver Jeffers, Mary Blair, David Hughes, Harriet Russell, Anouk Ricard, Lizzy Stewart, Mia Christopher, Julia Pott, Lizz Lunney, Marc Johns, Anke Weckmann, Jen Collins, Maira Kalman, Liza Donnelly … the list goes on, but my fingers are tired.
I post a lot of my favourite illustrators and artists on my Tumblr blog – Drinking the Paint Water.
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