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! =]

Gotham Villains 3MT Life Drawing

Last friday I attended a life drawing session in Manchester at the 3 Minute Theatre with Dr Sketchy. It was very close packed, a literal full house and very exciting to be at - there were 3 models, Cat woman, Poison Ivy and The Joker. It was really beneficial for my work as my FMP is based around villains. The atmosphere was great as was the entire session - they used tracks of music to time each pose and experimented with lighting and props throughout. As usual I started out slow but managed to get the hang of sketching the further in I got, however due to the lack of space I found myself unable to experiment media wise - maybe next time!

Poison Ivy started her section off with a mini performance showing the transformation,  her outfit was really interesting as it lighted up

There were also a number of competitions throughout the night that involved coming up with comic and film titles and compositions. 

I really enjoyed the session and would definitely participate in another one

Rome!

I visited Rome for the first time a couple of weeks back! The city was stunning and full of beautiful architecture, we visited just about every main attraction there was on the map so it was a very busy week.

There were a few sites [where I have no images] due to photo restriction rules - such as the Cistine Chapel which completely took my breath away - and the Capuchin Crypt, which is made entirely of human skeletons. 

We stayed in an apartment block about 10minutes walk away from St Peters Square - it had a really old lift which fascinated us.

We had to climb over 500 steps to reach the top of the dome and the outlook area on top. The passage ways and steps got narrower and narrower the closer you got - and while circling the dome the passage way became slanted which gave the whole thing a very surreal feeling. The last stair case was a windy turret with only a rope to hold on to - it was extremely tight.

  

 

We also came across a 'ghost bike' I had no idea what it was so when we got back to the apartment I did some looking up on the internet. I think it's a really nice idea and a shame it isn't done more often around the Uk /despite the sad reason for one being needed. It's a nice memento.