Commission Examples

I've started working on some example pieces for my agent. I'll just be uploading all the images into this post as I go along so it'll be updated constantly until I'm satisfied with the number. Then the best will be sent off to my agent for preview.

We're hoping that people will take an interest in the pieces ranging from A4 to A3 sizes printed on canvases. The artwork uses a range of random objects provided by the individual.

Portfolio Visit and Agent Meeting

For a couple of weeks prior I have been communicating with an agent via email and last Friday I managed to meet up with them over coffee to discuss my potential career with them hosting me.

I had previously forwarded this blog to them alongside my photography links as they also specialise in photography printing. Regretfully my personal website is still in the works so I was unable to link it through but luckily my blog contained enough information for them to grasp my style and way of working. I took my portfolio to the meeting and a separate folder on my ipad with my photography prints and talked them through the pieces including the methods and information behind each image. 

They took interest in my cover image and mini calender examples and talked about starting a commission based service involving taking elements and requests from the buyers and then drawing up their images in a similar style. The calender series was composed using 4 elements from an individual - favourite animal, colour, accessory and favourite fruit, we discussed how this could be adapted to suit a family in a series of small portraits or one long one. The same idea for my cover image but just taking random objects instead of a set of questions. 

We discussed the time each piece would require and I found myself considering things I'd previously not thought of, I worked out time allowances and methods which was beneficial as I realise these are very important things in terms of freelancing. I feel much better about my future in terms of becoming an illustrator knowing that these are things I can do, and with an agent helping me I'll find it much easier to branch outwards. 

It was also put forward the fact that they preferred to feature work in exhibitions which is great to hear as this gives the chance for people to see the work in person as opposed to seeing a shrunken jpeg on a random website. It feels more active and will allow more face to face chances in terms of acquiring work. 

Needless to say I'm looking forward to my future chances of work now! =]

Cosplay | Wilykat

Photo credit | Chi

WilyKat | Thundercats Reboot 2011

My latest costume venture! 

This was like nothing I've done before - facepaints - wefting lacefront wigs - resin casting.

All round more focus on makeup and add ons than the actual costume itself!

It was actually really exciting to work on and I've come away from it a lot more knowledgeable especially in terms of wig construction which I can hopefully apply confidently in my future costumes. 

I had the task of making Wilykat for the February convention. I bought a lot of my base materials - such as the base lace wig in advance due to needing to be shipped over from the US. I ended up having about a month to work on the actual costume. 

The leggings were the first thing I made - for obvious reasons - pretty basic pattern

The tunic caused a bit more of an issue than I have first thought due to it's straight hanging seams and pattern. 

But the wig was the real part that I kept putting off - my only experience with wigs was that of buying, cutting and styling them. I attempted to dye a wig once - and it ended badly

 I have personally never ventured into dicing and slicing wefts so I started searching for tutorials - which there is no shortage of - however none of them covered what it was I actually needed to do to replicate Wilykat's unique hairstyle.

So in the end I took the basic gist and made it up as I went along.

I recorded my method and made my own tutorial as I was instructing another member of our group on how to do his wig and the two characters had very similar hair styles. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find it no where near as difficult as I had first imaged it to be - despite having no clear guidelines on what I was doing in the first place.

Unstyled

[before fringe pieces and darker wefts were added]

The bags were a literal nightmare. He has a total of 10 smaller bags on his body and one larger backpack. 

I made a functioning bag to begin with but even when padded out with cardboard it looked flimsy and unlike the reference so I found some blocks of polystrene and sawed them into measured blocks which were then covered with the material pattern and a lot of hotglue. 

I have no fingerprints left. I swear

They were a lot more true to the block style of the animation. 

The clasps were recycled from some left overs from a previous costume. They were made by gluing two different buttons together and then spray painted to shade. 

The 'boot' covers or leg warmers ended up taking all night, I wanted to match the reference again and his are rather baggy almost padded. So I used a base of foam and built around it. The orbs for the belts were the only part of the costume that actually failed. We originally made some moulds out of clay which were then use to cast resin in. I had a lot of incidents with the resin and ended up casting about 7 gems but due to complications the moulds didn't survive and thus I ended up using a papermache top I found in hobby craft which I sprayed with red paint and painted the bases silver.

I made two as I was responsible for another member of my group's orb since the characters had the same design - in return she made both tails - this ensured we matched. 

Photo credit | Foxy

We trimmed the wigs and styled them on the morning of the event to ensure they were fresh. It took several hours to paint ourselves up - we used a mixture called PAX or prosaide which is a professional based catalyst you mix with acrylic paint that when dry gives it a sort of chewing gum texture. You have to then coat yourself in talc powder to smooth the paint out. 

It then does not come off.

Literally.

There is a remover fluid that you can use to aid you in scrubbing - but you do have to scrub the top layer of skin off to remove it. On the other hand it means no smudges on the day.

We used snazaroo and sealed it with hairspray for our faces as pax is a no go in that region. 

Photo credit | Nert

And here we are! Not the full group as that will be debuted in May!

2013 Calenders

For Christmas and New Year I decided to make a small calender to give out among some friends and family  sort of on a whim. I had been browsing Etsy for some gifts and came across a series of handmade calenders which initially inspired me. 

Listing

Owl Listing | Bird Listing

I was really fond of the A5 format and handmade feel. To create the content I picked 11 friends from my list and asked them a series of questions. [11 because I slipped one of my own in to cover all 12 months]

Favourite Animal

Favourite Colour

Favourite Fruit

Favourite Accessory

This enabled me to give the imagery a personal touch and create some interesting collections. 

The images were drawn using a pencil and outlined in fine liner and then scanned in. I also decided on the months for each image as unfortunately the people who I selected had similar birthday months and in other cases didn't distribute the colours well through out the calender. So I layed them out and decided on an order that worked best. 

I then added the base colours to the sketches and cleaned up the line art. 

Then the texture was added and the colours were fiddled with and brightened to create the best combination.

I then typed out the calender for each month and coloured the text to match the favourite colour of each individuals page. The pages were printed on 210gram card sliced and gathered with an orange ribbon. 

I've included a copy in my porfolio and since it's so simple to create now that it's finished - it would make a really good self promoting gift for any interviewing clients I have in the future. 

Rise of the Guardians

shdsjfhes - I really like this film

Interview Links

Over the course of the Summer I've received two links to two interviews I did - one of which was originally started a good 2 years back - so while the informtation is slightly outdated - It was really nice to see it all complete. 

http://www.neomag.co.uk/art/lifestyle/article/938/cosplay-spotlight-charlotteluna-and-emzone

The first is my interview with NeoMag for their 100th issue - they are primarily a cosplay magazine but decided to interview me for a set of photos I produced for another cosplayer previously published in issue 99. We were sent the questions jointly so it was sort of a double interview - the photos used are an older variation of my photography work.

http://vermilion.ehoh.net/Emizone/index.htm

The second interview is the one that was carried over roughly just under a year through various emails, as previously mentioned the information inside is about 2 years behind but the majority of it is still fairly relevant.

I was picked out by the interviewer originally to represent a side of the UK cosplay - they also interviewed  individuals from various other counties such as the USA, Japan, France etc. 

Neither are illustration based - although the second one does touch on it - but hopefully one day I'll be good enough to warrant an interview based solely on that!

Tangled

I've been on a bit of a Tangled/Rapunzel high lately, I absolutely adore the movie, the characters, the animation and the music. As a result I've been doing a lot of Rapunzel themed work - which I luckily sort of ties in with my project so I don't have to feel entirely guilty about it.

I used the ending scene as a reference and paused the film. There are still a few bits I'm unhappy with - Flynn was edited several times - it's still not perfect but I'm happier than I was originally. I'll have a go at introducing some colour at some point- I want to avoid covering all the lines since I spent so long sketching them out.

This was a sketch I started out - I don't know if I'll return to it or leave it as it is - my original intention was to do it in a similar style as my Ariel image [previously posted]